# Why can't I potty train this dog????



## DAYNA6379 (Jun 11, 2008)

I've had him since June and he still goes in the house. He's crated all day while I'm at work, I have someone come and walk him every day. I take him out in the morning right when I wake up, then again after he eats. Then, after work, I take him out immediately, then again after he eats...and again and again and again. And he still goes in the house. What am I doing wrong?


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## Lina (Apr 26, 2007)

How much space are you giving him when you are home? Do you give him free roam of the house? I would keep him in an expen when you can't watch him 100% and maybe even tether him to you so you can catch him in the act. If you are giving him too much freedom in the house then he will get a chance to go when you're not watching him.


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## DAYNA6379 (Jun 11, 2008)

What is this "expen" (sorry to be naiive)? Is it a section of the house that you cordon off that is "his space"? Do I need to get a gate and provide him with certain things within this space? Any advice is greatly appreciated. Thanks for the response.


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## Alexa (Jun 17, 2007)

Do you watch him closely when you are in the house together? The key to training Marley was to catch him "in the act" and work with him right then and there, so he could make the connection that going in the house was wrong. Your dog may understand that going outside is a good thing, but he may not get that going in the house (other than the crate) is a bad thing. For some dogs outside and the rarely used formal dining room are about the same until you make it crystal clear which one is what. 

The potty training with Marley took a while and to this day I am watching him closely when we are both at home, so I don't miss him sitting by the door...because if he gets ignored too long he will find another quiet little corner...

Alexa


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## Leslie (Feb 28, 2007)

Dayna~ You didn't say how old your pup is, but here's a pic of the ex-pen (exercise pen) setup I had for Tori when she was young.

Ex-pens are available at most any pet store. Here's one from Petco.


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## Sheri (Oct 11, 2008)

Dayna,
An "expen" in a small, fenced in area, usually with a bed in it, maybe the crate, and toys.

Google it and you'll find examples. I kept my Tucker on leash, attached to me, until I KNEW he was trustworthy. 

Sheri

Good, someone posted a picture. You don't have to have such a big one, though, if cost or size is an issue.


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## Sheri (Oct 11, 2008)

Leslie,
I like your walls! Do you have an older home? Did Tori scooch up the tarp on the carpet? 

Also, how did you put in a hyper link (I think it's called.)

Sheri


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## Lilysplash I (Jul 19, 2007)

I agree to not let him have full run of the house. I used a baby gate so Sadie could only be where I could watch her. When young she needed to be taken out every hour or sometimes less than that. I took her to the same spot outside.

If an accident occurs, make sure you use a stain & odor remover like NATURE'S MIRACLE to permanenly eliminatet the stain & odor so they will not return to that spot.


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## RikiDaisyDixie (Apr 15, 2008)

*what worked for us...and Riki is 99% housetrained*

Gloria Dittman gave me this, we did it and it worked. I wasn't as vigilant with Daisy, and she has accidents...

How To Housebreak
by
Gloria S. Dittmann (c)

This article is meant as a companion piece to my article 
HOW TO CRATE TRAIN. The assumption is that those who
are reading this article are crate training their puppies, 
as the crate is an integral part of proper housetraining.

When housebreaking your puppy, two facts must be kept in 
mind. The first that that although the need to keep the den 
clean is instinctive, the puppy has no idea that your entire
house is now his den. It is your responsibility to show 
puppy that the entire house is now the puppy's den and the 
puppy is expected to keep the den clean.

The next fact is that puppies, when it comes to bladder and 
bowel control, are not much different from human infants. Puppies have 
small bladders and bowels at first and virtually NO muscle 
control. While a puppy may intellectually understand the 
housebreaking philosophy within 2-3 weeks, his body takes a 
lot longer to mature to the point where puppy has the 
physical control needed to be clean in the house under all 
conditions. Do not ask, nor expect, a puppy to 'hold it' 
longer than is physically possible for that puppy.

A 3 month old puppy is virtually incapable of going for 
6-8 hours at a time without eliminating even once. If you 
have a full-time job that will keep you out and the puppy crated for 
prolonged periods of time (longer than 3-4 hours), you 
should make arrangements for someone to come in mid-day to 
let puppy out for some exercise and to be able to eliminate.
If this is not possible, you can use an exercise pen (a 
free-standing playpen for dogs) attached to the crate or you 
may place the crate inside the playpen. This 
way, the puppy can sleep in the crate and then exit into the
exercise pen to get some exercise and to eliminate. Be sure 
to place the pen and crate away from walls or 
draperies...puppies LOVE to chew on moldings, plaster and 
drapery fabric!

Now, when puppy first comes home, remember 
that puppies MUST eliminate within 15 minutes after eating, 
immediately after drinking water, immediately upon waking, 
when excited (when company comes, for example or puppy is 
startled by a sudden, loud noise) and during and after play sessions. 
Be sure to take puppy out at these times until you learn 
your puppy's individual needs and schedule. Also keep in 
mind that it takes approximately 2-3 hours for a puppy to 
digest a meal. If you feed your puppy breakfast at 7am and 
then crate it, it is going to have to eliminate by 11am or 
noon at the latest. Keep this in mind when planning your 
crating sessions.

Now, until puppy begins to understand what
is expected of him in terms of housebreaking, it is up to 
the human family members to keep a very close eye on puppy. 
Be sure puppy is always with you except when puppy is 
crated. Puppies will usually give a signal to indicate they 
have to eliminate. They will walk with their noses to the 
ground while sniffing for a likely spot; walk in a circle; 
get 'that look' in their eyes that tells you what is coming.
Close observation of your puppy will soon let you know what 
your pup's individual signal is. When you see it...get puppy
outside as quickly as possible! Take puppy to the same spot 
in the yard each time you take him out, and use a key word 
command such as "DUTY! Do your DUTY!" or whatever word you 
choose to use each time puppy goes. This way, he will begin 
to associate the word with the action and before long, he 
will eliminate on command.

When puppy eliminates, praise him! LOTS of praise! 
Never let puppy out alone to eliminate!
He needs you there to keep him company and to praise him as 
soon as he performs properly. Sometimes it may take puppy a 
while to sniff around and explore before he goes. BE 
PATIENT! Too often people give up after about 15 minutes, 
come in and whammo! Puppy immediately goes on the floor or 
carpeting! You are just not giving puppy enough time 
outside. Puppies have virtually no attention span at this 
age and their memory spans are non-existent as well. They 
need some gentle encouragement to keep their minds on what 
they should be doing. Try not to make this time playtime as 
this will also distract puppy. If you know puppy has to go but
puppy is fooling around and you run out of patience, come back 
inside and place puppy in the crate for 10-15 minutes. Then carry
puppy back outside to the usual spot and wait again. Chances are,
puppy will do his business this time, however if he fails to eliminate
once again, put him back in the crate for another 10-15 minutes and 
then take him back outside and try again.

If puppy does have an 
accident in the house and you do not catch him in the act, do 
NOT punish him! Even if you come in 30 seconds later, let it go. As previously 
stated, puppies have little or no memory span at this age. A
puppy will not associate a scolding or spanking (and it is 
NEVER necessary to spank a puppy for having an accident or for any other reason!)with what happened 30 seconds or 30 minutes ago. Oh, he will
act guilty and contrite, but that is only because he is 
reacting to your body language. Dogs are masters at reading 
the most subtle body language signals we give off almost 
subconsciously. This is how dogs communicate with each 
other, so it is not surprising that they use this talent to 
'read' us as well!

Rubbing a puppy's nose in his mess is an 
old wives tale which does NOT work. All this does is 
confuse the puppy and possibly cause him to resent you for 
what he thinks of as your unreasonable behavior. If you do 
catch the puppy about to have an accident or having one, 
immediately growl "NO! BAD PUPPY!!", pick him UP and rush 
him outside to a spot he is used to going. Now, he is going 
to be very startled by this unexpected development and will
temporarily stop what he was doing or about to do. Just be 
there with him and quietly, in a friendly tone of voice, 
give the word command you are using. Once he does settle 
down and finish what he started, praise him lavishly! Then 
clean the area he soiled inside with a good enzyme 
deodorizer/cleaner.

These products use enzymes to literally 
eat the odor-causing molecules found in all organic matter. 
Conventional cleaners such as Lysol, etc. use perfumes to 
cover up the old urine scent...but only to human noses! 
Canine schnozzes have no trouble at all detecting old urine 
sites. Use of an enzyme product stops this cyclical behavior
(going back to the old site to eliminate) by completely 
eliminating the old scents.

By closely following this program, your puppy should have 
the basics of housebreaking down within a few weeks, although 
each puppy is an individual and will progress according to his own internal 
body schedule. If your puppy is having trouble with VERY 
frequent urination or frequent, loose stool, check with your
vet. Any time a dog's bladder and/or bowel habits change 
suddenly and radically and stay that way for longer than 
about 24 hours, you should check with your vet as well.

And please remember that your puppy is really not much different
from a human infant. Like a baby, a puppy has to be mature 
enough, mentally and physically, in order to completely 
control itself in the house. Be patient with that new 
pup...he has a lot of learning and growing to do in a very 
short period of time! Love and lots of patience will have 
that pup turning into the best dog you've ever owned in no 
time at all!

(c) Copyright 1995 - 2008 Gloria S. Dittmann. All Rights
Reserved. Any reproduction, in whole or in 
part, in any medium without the express permission of the 
author is strictly prohibited. For reprint information and 
permission, please contact the author via e-mail at [email protected]
__________________


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## Leslie (Feb 28, 2007)

Sheri said:


> Leslie,
> I like your walls! Do you have an older home? Did Tori scooch up the tarp on the carpet?
> 
> Also, how did you put in a hyper link (I think it's called.)
> ...


Sheri~ We live in a 1960's ranch. But, I have a very talented DH who has made it look very "Victorian farmhouse" like at my request 

What I used under the expen is marine grade vinyl. It is cloth-like on one side and doesn't move at all when it's on the carpet.

To add a hyper-link just copy the address you want to insert, highlight the words you want to use as the link then click on the little icon w/the world and a chain link at the top of the area you type in to reply to a post. When the little box comes up, paste the address you copied into it. Hope that makes sense...


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## BeverlyA (Oct 29, 2006)

Linda, 
Thats a great training article, and for how often people need this advice, I wonder if we could somehow make a permanent link to it (or something similar for house-training) on the homepage.

Beverly


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## isshinryu_mom (Mar 23, 2008)

I kept Roxie in her expen when not with her for the first several months and then very gradually introduced her to the other rooms in my house one at a time. By introducing her, I mean I removed the gates and stayed in the room with her while she explored on her own (reading, cleaning, etc.). I did the for a couple of weeks each room and she now has full run of the house except for my son's bedrooms... too many small toys that look like dog toys to trust her in there. I also read somewhere that if your dog picks an area inside and goes several times you could discourage it by cleaning with a product like Nature's Miracle and then feeding them something there. That helped us too, I think. I left treats behind the recliner (where she went a few times one day) and then she quit. 

Good luck!


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## DanielBMe (Nov 25, 2007)

the question "How much time are you spending training him?" comes to mind. When he goes potty outside, do you give him a treat and praise him? When you are at home, do you watch him like a hawk? If you see it looks like he's going to pee, do you grab him and bring him to the pee pad or take him outside right away? 

Also just peeing once outside may not be enough. I noticed that when I take out my guys, Bogart takes a loooong pee. He's then pretty much done. Brando on the other hand takes a short one and likes to walk and mark things. Now when I walk them in the evening before going to bed or in the morning, I make sure Brando pees at least 5 times. only then I know his tank is pretty much empty.


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## gelbergirl (Jun 9, 2007)

It took Henry 1 year.


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## marb42 (Oct 19, 2008)

It took Marble a year before no accidents. It will happen. By the way, he still "leaks" when we come home (gets way too excited), and he's 2 now. Hang in there....
Gina


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## havaluv (Oct 15, 2007)

> Tori scooch up the tarp on the carpet?


Just a note, a piece of vinyl flooring remnant works great too and doesn't move. We got a large one at home depot for about $20. It's easier to clean and you can cut it to size with scissors.

Ollie finally figured it out at about 8 months. All of the sudden, he went from several accidents a day to none. It was like he finally said "AHAAA! That's what they want me to do!"


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## Tom King (Aug 2, 2006)

Pam bought some pieces of "Marine Upholstery Vinyl" from JoAnn Fabric to use under expens. You can toss it in the washer and dryer. 

Leslie, I made some expen side "straighteners" out of ABS (black plastic plumbing drain pipe). I cut out slots on the table saw and it slips over the top edge to keep the pups from pushing the sides out of alignment when you have one side composed of multiple panels of the expen. PVC would work too but I thought the black matches our black expens. Of course the picture below is on an 18" puppy expen which we can only find at shows and is not available in black. The comforter is around the outside because it got really cold here last night and we piled comforters around the pen to cut down on drafts in our living room.


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## Paradise Havs (Sep 25, 2008)

My first dog was absolutely clueless! After six months I lost it. She was peeing on the kitchen floor when I swooped her up yelling like a madwoman and tossed her out the back door. A couple minutes later I let her in. She walked in, squatted next to my foot and made a puddle! She had to have the last word. For the rest of her long life she never messed in the house!

I don't recommend this method!!!! 

Consistency and patience! At this point you might want to go back to square one, crate her every minute you can't see her and have your walker come a couple more times a day.

Nothing is more frustrating!


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## marb42 (Oct 19, 2008)

I wish I had found this forum sooner and all the great ideas about flooring to place under the expen. I have my big wire expen sitting in the foyer for all to see for 2 years because the rest of the house is carpet. Now I can finally move it out of the way. Thanks for all the ideas! 
Gina


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## luv3havs (Jul 27, 2007)

Those pictures and descriptions of the ex-pen set-ups are great.


I never used one, but would do so if I ever got another pup. (not planning to but would love one. How many people in their sixties have 3 dogs?? lol)

We had very little trouble w. housebreaking our Havs. but I was home most of the time and very much "on it" with them and they had great breeder training before we got each of them.

If you follow the advice given, the Gloria article, etc. things should go well for you. It takes time and patience.
Good luck,


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## Leslie (Feb 28, 2007)

Tom~ Those "straighteners" are a great idea. I was often having to readjust the sides when she'd pushed one off of the edge of the vinyl. Cause you know, if she was gonna have an accident, it would be _exactly_ where she could get it on the carpet. LOL!

Shelly~ What I like about the marine upholstery vinyl over using a floor reminant is that it can be easily folded up and put away to wait for the next fur baby :baby: :biggrin1:


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## dan924 (Jul 27, 2008)

I have been having trouble with Xander and it's comforting to know that people have had issues past 6 months... He's 7 months now and knows he's supposed to go outside, but won't hold it unless he's in his crate or the ex-pen. So now I'm trying one hour run around after going out, then one hour in the pen, then go outside for a break. He sleeps through the night fine and goes 4 hours or more no problem while I'm at work (dog walker comes midday). But I've been trying to have him hold it because he "asks" to go out soooo often. At least every hour.


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## Lynn (Jan 2, 2007)

DAYNA6379 said:


> I've had him since June and he still goes in the house. He's crated all day while I'm at work, I have someone come and walk him every day. I take him out in the morning right when I wake up, then again after he eats. Then, after work, I take him out immediately, then again after he eats...and again and again and again. And he still goes in the house. What am I doing wrong?


Is he neutered??? Sounds like he is marking his space. I have male dog, like that....got him neutered, stopped peeing in the house. He totally pees different now, instead of peeing 5 times it is just 1 pee and it is outside and he is done.


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## carohav (Nov 19, 2008)

Have you tried teetering him to you? I put a lead on the dog, the loop it through my belt or put it on my wrist. The dog is never out of my sight and I can catch him in the act (hopefully I never have to) and immediately correct him and take him to his potty area. Then I praise my fool head off


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## louise (Dec 5, 2008)

My 5 month old Hav is trained to use a pad (UGODOG) in the house and to go outside when we're out. She's got the pad but is often too distracted outside. It is the dead of winter now and I hope to encourage her to use the outside more in the spring. But my plan is to always have a UGODOG (pad) available as well.

I found that when she would pee out of excitement or a sudden noise, although I'd essentially "caught her in the act", she had no idea it even happened and things went much better when I started ignoring those kinds of "accidents" completely and just wiping up behind her.

BUT - one thing I've not mastered at all: when she is angry at me - I'm grumpy in the AM and don't play with her enough, I let her out into one or two rooms she's allowed in, give her breakfast and then I go back to bed, she doesn't like it. Although she's had food, she has toys, she has a room to play in etc., she still (and I believe it's deliberate) will poop right in front of the doorway to the bathroom. She never does this when I am more friendly and available to her. She does it when I go back to sleep! This morning I was annoyed and admonished her after the fact (I know one shouldn't). I turned around and she'd done it again!

Louise


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## Lina (Apr 26, 2007)

You are giving her way too much space during those times that you are not watching her because you want to sleep in. She is not pooping as payback... dogs don't do that. They aren't capable of meditated revenge like that - that's a human emotion that you're portraying onto her. Of course she doesn't poop in front of the doorway when you're up and about - you're watching her! You can tell when and if she needs to go, or at least I would think you can.

If you want to go back to bed, then put her back in bed with you. Kubrick gets up only when I do and he has adjusted his schedule to mine, not the other way around. If I get up an hour later than usual, he lets me sleep until I get up. I do make sure to let him potty when he needs to, but if I go back to bed, he comes back in with me. She might try to wake you up, but just ignore her. I'm not sure if Kubrick is just more adaptable than other dogs, but he is great about getting up whenever I do, be that 8am or 10am. Of course, he is much older than 5 months, and at 5 months I was getting up earlier than I do today to wear him out - puppies have a lot more energy! - but even if I slept in an extra 30 minutes, he just waited for me to get up with him. You can always feed her when YOU are ready to get up and not the other way around. She won't starve if you feed her an hour later than usual!


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## louise (Dec 5, 2008)

I don't watch her in the course of a day when we are in the house together. Often, I don't even know which room she is in. And yet, at those times, when we've already played and hung out a bit, she will use the paper (UGODOG) - whether I'm watching or not. I've not "caught" her in a few weeks and there have been almost no accidents. That's what's making me suspicious that this is in some way deliberate. 

I am positive that she waits to urinate until I come into the room where the UGODOG is so that she can show me and therefore, get a treat. If she can do this, why can't she also "say" she doesn't like what's going on and poop where she knows she shouldn't?

She is crated in my bedroom while I sleep. But after about 7 hours, I feel I "should" get up and let her out so she can go to the bathroom - she's only 5 months old and I don't think she can "hold it" for too long and don't want to force her to try.

But sometimes, I want to go back to sleep, like on a weekend, for another 2 hours. Are you suggesting I just crate her again? Sometimes it takes almost 10 minutes after she's awake for her to urinate and even 20 minutes to poop. So I'll be hanging around waiting before crating her again. I also worry she'd be very upset to be crated again after finally gaining "freedom" in the mornings.

Louise


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## Lina (Apr 26, 2007)

Yes, crate her again. We did that with Kubrick. My husband gets up at 7am to go to work. He used to let Kubrick out of the crate to potty and then put him back in the crate (when he was younger, now he puts him on the bed with me) until I got up an hour later. Kubrick was fine with that, as I've mentioned before.

As far as thinking that she's pooping on purpose to punish you, if that's what you want to believe, that's fine. But personally, I doubt it. It could be that she's stressed out and upset and poops. A lot of dogs with separation anxiety do this. I'm not saying that your dog HAS separation anxiety, just that this is something that she might be doing because she's stressed out that you're asleep and she can't get to you. She can tell that you're asleep vs. awake and in the house and feels alone and uncertain, so she poops. I really don't think it's deliberate, more of a reaction to being left alone.


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## louise (Dec 5, 2008)

You have a good point. She is not generally stressed and doesn't seem to suffer from separation anxiety. But I do know when I go to a part of the house for a length of time and she isn't allowed to go with me, she does sometimes get anxious. So maybe it is anxiety that leads her to poop where she shouldn't.

I'll try the crating her again process and see if it works out better.

Louise


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## Lina (Apr 26, 2007)

I hope it works! Don't be surprised if she complains the first few times... she probably won't like it, but she'll get used to it.


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## 3girlsluvHav (Apr 11, 2008)

*What we do*

We got our pup at 10w in June too!! He is still contained- and was in his xpen only after Thanksgivings- that's a long time- but I have a 3,4 and 9 year old daughters and had to be strict about it. I would go back to the xpen for a bit- and maybe use white towels in his crate to see if he is able to hold it during the day. Perhaps a good rug cleaning would help too to get rid of a urine smell you don't know is there. Here's some info about potty training that I followed- sorry if it's long- I just wanted to give you all the info. Also- I dont' trust our dog and will gate him off in the laundry room and still take him out after eating and playing. This is such a tough tough breed to potty train- seems like it will never happen!!

Potty training needs to be done as a progression.

The first step is that the pup is 100% going in the expen in the right place.

When a pup is at first by itself in it's new home we recommend that the expen be folded in so that it's 2x4 with the potty area, whether pad or litter box, is on one end towards where the pup's people will be when it wakes up. Once I have a pup by itself the expen is in the room where my chair is and the litter box is in that end. As soon as the pup wakes up it will automatically come towards me and go into the litter box. I use the desire to come out of the pen as incentive to "go potty" before the pup is allowed to come out and play. I go and stand next to the end where the box is and give the command "go potty"-no eye contact, no smiling, no nothing until the puppy squats to pee. The INSTANT the job is finished I pick the pup up and make much of it and let it run around like a wild thing to play. It usually only takes a couple of days and I will have the pup squatting to pee whether it has to or not on command.

After the pup is 100% going to the box in the 2x4, next another corner is opened up on one end and the box put in the new end so that there is a 2x2 bed area, a 2x2 open area, and the potty area in the other 2x2. If the pup potties on the floor in the pen you need to go back to the 2x4 for a day or so and then try the expansion again.

Once the pup is 100% in the L shaped pen, you can try opening it all the way up, but be prepared to go backwards in size if necessary.

The next stage is to open one side of the pen when you let the pup out to play so that you can play with the pup near the pen and it can go back into the box in the pen to potty. The play area is gradually made larger until the pup has the run of the whole room and will go back to the box. The pup HAS to have CONSTANT supervision. It doesn't count as constant if everything is forgotten and the pup left to run around when the phone rings. If you have to leave the play area while the pup is out he goes back in the pen.

Potty areas staged around the room will not work to start with. The transition can be made to having a potty area but it has to be part of a transition with small steps.

No accidents on the floor is the right number. If the pups have been raised from the start not knowing anything but going in a box or on pads it greatly simplifies things. Yes, no accidents is possible. Our last 5 dogs at least have NEVER pottied on the floor-Roxie, Belle, Posh, Razzle, and Frolic.

The answer to the problem of "accidents" on the floor is that there is too much freedom and/or you are not paying attention. To be able to give complete attention to the pup the first few days is priceless. When the pup is running around playing it will always give some sort of signal that it needs to go potty. Males will have to sniff for a spot and circle, if only for a few seconds, and females will walk a bit differently, if only for a few steps, but they do give a signal.

I call this potty training and say that potty training is separate from house training. Potty training needs to come first, especially for a young puppy.

We only use the crates for the pups to sleep in and then only a day or two before they go home. The expens have a variety of blankets and beds in them for pups to dig in, under, and be able to make a comfortable place for them to sleep. The size is important for potty training purposes. If they pee on the floor or bedding, they have too much room. We suggest that new guardians start with the expen folded in to 2 x 4 but it can quickly be expanded as the pups get used to their new surrounding.

Remember that potty training problems primary causes are too much freedom and not paying attention.

Also you have to be diligent to keep clean bedding in the pen so that they get used to thinking that it's the way it's supposed to be. When our pups have their bedding changed a number of times a day. When they are just a couple of weeks old through the time when they start eating food and are weaning off their mother they will leak some before they can get to the box even though they still go in the box. If they are used to clean bedding they get excited when they see it coming.

We have a system with the litter that ours never think about there being any other way than going in the box. Litter makes it easy to transition to anything else. All you have to do is put a handful of litter where you want them to go. We send new puppies home with a piddle pad folded around a handful of litter. That way the new owner can place that on the car floor or airport or airplane on the way home and fold it back up to put in a ziplock bag. Never heard of it not working.

To me potty training means that they go where you want them to in a very controlled environment and even by command. House training means that you can trust them not to forget with almost unlimited freedom.

They need lots of play time so even from a few weeks old they are taken out of the pen to play right after they potty. Later steps open the side of the expen and play with them close until they will go back to the box on their own. This will work every time with the proper progression. We like litter better than pads or newspaper for several reasons but they seem to go to it better if they are out than they will to piddle pads. We have trained them to newspaper, pads, and litter but like the litter best.

You have to pay attention though. Paying attention doesn't include forgetting that the pup is loose when the telephone rings.

We send pups home potty trained to the litter box but it's easy to mess up. A good start has to help though. I wouldn't want to take a pup who had been raised on a grid floor, like puppy mills do, who have had no incentive to do anything but let it fly anytime and anywhere.

They have the instinct not to soil their bed to start with. Use it to your advantage. We have kept putting a box in with puppies at younger and younger ages and have learned that it's not possible to introduce them to it too early.

I know a number of Havanese who have NEVER had an accident on the floor.

Anyone who says they are hard to housetrain is wrong. You do have to know what you are doing though and have some good advice if you start having problems. I'd say that probably half of our new owners start having problems at some point but Pam or I are able to get them through it quickly if they call.

Assumptions are no replacement for experience.
I missed the question on crate connected to expen. We don't. Nothing wrong with it, we just don't do it. They sleep in the crate at night in our bedroom. A litter box needs to be a few steps away. They will sleep all night long but when a 10 week old pup wakes up they have to go RIGHT NOW. The time will be short until they can hold it longer but at this stage they are still babies and still learning.

At this early stage they are learning mostly by forming habits instead of understanding. As they age their understanding increases to the point that it's really astounding. Set them up to succeed.

Also I've found with new owners who use treats to teach pottying that it's really easy for them to get in trouble. Several people who got our puppies used other advice and started the treat method and started having problems. Pam spent hours on the phone with them, usually the same thing over and over, and went back to the beginning to achieve success. One lady called crying ready for us to take the pup back and Pam finally asked if she wanted to give the pup up or she wanted to fix the problem. The lady said that she loved the pup but her husband was going to make her give it up. Up until then she had been unwilling to accept that the other treat method wouldn't work. The pup was pottying in front of her to get the treat and even waking up in the night pretending to potty to get a treat. She finally agreed to do what Pam said to do. Things were quickly turned back around and this lady now has two Havanese and is a good spokesperson for the breed.

If you start having trouble ask for advice from your breeder right away. We don't use treats, other than incentive to get out of the expen, to potty train.


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