ok, so my dog is about 7months. he's a miniature snouzer (or however you spell it). and i really want the best for him. hes not pody trained and he's a house dog. we have training pads for him but he still goes in places he shouldnt or right beside the training pad. when my mom has work and im at school. he's home all day alone wandering the house. how can i train him? should we start crate training? or what? we might consider getting a doggy door so he can freely walk outside whenever he wants to use it.
note: we are not always home so we are unable to always watch him 24/7.
well, thanks & if you help me, 10 points for best answer
Dog Training Evolution
Recommended Answer:If you are not home and watching the puppy, the puppy should be in the crate. No matter what method of potty training you use, you still have to take the puppy to the potty spot, use your commands and praise when the puppy does good. You have to tell the puppy what you want it to do. A doggie door would be pointless, you still have to be home to show the puppy how to use the doggie door, puppies do not train themselves. A puppy should not be allowed to wander the house, it is overwhelming to a puppy. The puppy should only be allowed one room at a time, limited space, and supervised until the puppy can behave in that space, and then they can graduate to more space, but supervised until he can behave. I use a crate* to potty train with, but only for potty training and then I break it down and store it. I put blankets and a small food and water dish in the crate. Dogs don't potty where they eat and sleep. When they are first little, I only expect them to hold their potty for 4 hours, and then 6 hours, then 8 hours and so on. So when they are first little, I set a timer or alarm clock to wake myself up at night to take them *out. I only allow my puppy in the bedroom* or the living room, only one room at a time. They have to graduate to more space. If I allow them to have full run of the house, it will overwhelm them. I take them out the same door each time. I tie a dinner bell to the door handle. Do not use a jingle bell as they could get their toe caught in it. So when they are little, I ring the bell for them, and then open the door to go *outside to potty. When they get bigger, I take their paw and whack the bell and open the door to go potty. Eventually getting to the place where the puppy will ring the bell and let me know when they need to go potty. Dogs want to please you, so it is your job to let them know what behaviors please you and what doesn't. So when my puppy goes potty, I give her a treat*, and clap, and make a fuss and praise her. So she learns that going potty outside makes me happy. If she has an accident, make a disgust sound like “tsst” and take her out right away. I never yell* or spank* my puppies. Take them out when they first wake up, after they eat or drink, before nap, finish romping, when their activities change, or when they are sniffing around. Some puppies go pee right away, but may not go poop until 10 minutes later, so wait for the poop. I have a little play time here, because sometimes I think they are done, and they are not. Puppies train at their own pace. While I may have a puppy that hasn't had an accident in several weeks, I don't let my guard down. I don't expect my puppies to be "fully potty trained" until one-year-old. If they have a setback, shake it off, and start over. I only have my puppies in the crate when I am not watching them. When I am sleeping, cooking, ironing, doing chores, basically when I am not watching her. All other times, she is out of the crate practicing being a "big girl." This is the time I train her how to behave in the house. So we are practicing "no barking", 'no biting", "no jumping", and "don't eat the furniture." I also have to practice "playing inside" so she doesn't knock over things. You must keep the puppy in sight when they are little because they don't know the difference between newspaper and carpet, and you don't want them sneaking off and getting into trouble. Some puppies can sleep through the night around 3-months-old, but their bladder is grown around 6-months-old.
REVISIONS:
*I use a CRATE to train with. It is the method I prefer, compared to other methods I have tried. I noticed that if they are in the crate, while I am doing chores, they are o.k., because the crate allows them to see me and be re-assured. The crate can also be a comfort when stored in the basement for dogs who live in areas where thunderstorms and tornados are an issue. . However, use the method that works best for you.....a laundry basket, a cardboard box, a woof-woof house, x-pen, child gates, whatever works for you.
*OUTSIDE, pee pad, litter box, whichever method you are using. When the puppy is first little, keep the pee pad, litter box near the food and water dish, so the puppy can eat and drink, and then go potty. You can move it away as they get older. The pee pad has a scent that smells and initiates potty. Sometimes a pee pad makes a sound that scares some puppies, so you might want to use a litter box if that happens. The pee pad allows a puppy to walk around, but a litter box keeps the puppy in one place.
*BEDROOMS, I use the bedroom and living room for training, because it works for me. Choose rooms that work for you, but watch for rooms that are damp, or drafty. While my puppies sleep in the bedroom during training, once they are trained, I let them sleep where they want to. They don't have to sleep in the bedroom forever.
*TREATS. While I use treats for training, you don't have to. I like Charlee Bears for training (a little cracker for a little mouth,) I use them for training, but once they are trained, I cut back on them.
*SOME PUPPIES will go potty in the same spot each time. Some puppies have to be told to go potty. A command like "go out" for pee, or "go finish" for poop, might work for you, keep saying “go finish” until the puppy poops. This is a good thing to train if you travel with your dogs. By using commands, the puppy won't get confused when you are visiting someone, on vacation with you, or when you get to a new home. The command will tell them what you want them to do in an unfamiliar place. You might also want to use a leash method, so the puppy doesn't sneak off, or for strange places.
*YELLING. It is not a good idea to "yell" or "spank" your puppy and then take them outside when they have an accident. They may get confused and think that going outside is punishment. While you want to correct them, if you are extreme, they may not want to go outside again. Shake it off, and resume your schedule. You have to keep it real. Puppies train at their own pace, but a puppy can only hold their potty for a few hours. A guide would be 1 hour for each month of age, plus 1 hour, so a three-month-old puppy should only be expected to hold their potty for 4 hours at most.
SOURCE: These tips, tricks, and ideas were contributed from many brilliant minds. Thanks for your help!
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- I would crate train or put him in the kitchen & install a doggy door. Either way the dog has to learn about potty training. Pads are not always the best solution. I would use the dfoggy door & put newspaper by the door just in case he gets caught short.
- See if you can get to a pet store somewhere near you. They almost always have a bunch of different books that will explain the best ways to train any dog the right way.
- Training pads are not effective for a dog you are trying to teach to go outside. If you live in an apartment and have a tiny dog and want to paper train it to go inside, then you use pads. You are basically training your dog to go inside. So you are going about it the wrong way if your goal is for your dog to go outside.
Try crate training and start over from scratch. This is a good site to tell you how.
- Spend as much time with your puppy as possible during the first two to three weeks your puppy is home. Consistent, patient, praise when appropriate, and be willing- for however long it takes- to invest the time and energy necessary to make this important training time a success. The effort you put forth now will be well worth it for the lifetime of your pet.
- Your dog is still young and its the best time to train him. If you reward your dog with treats each time he goes potty he will get the idea that he is pleasing you and he will continue to potty outside. Potty pads never worked for my dogs. Another good idea for potty training is each time your dog goes inside the house whatever you use to clean up his mess ( like a napkin or something ) take the napkin outside and put it in the grass so he smells the napkin and gets the idea that potty is for outside. Praising your dog and saying good boy each time he pottys outside is a good way to train him. Everytime you take him out make sure you tell him Potty Outside and he will recognize the word and the meaning. When you leave a puppy at home they will most likely have an accident because a puppys bladder is very small they need to go out atleast ever 2-4 hours.
Hope this helped
- I would crate train. possible put a crate outside in a puppy play pen, and keep the crate open, so the puppy can sleep in the crate and go potty when it needs to...
