# How do you know they are REALLY potty trained?



## Lizatti (Jan 18, 2009)

Hi,

I have Charlie, an 8 month old Havanese. Charlie is crate trained and can make it through the night without having to potty. (He has done this since we got him at 12 weeks of age.) We have been very consisitent with taking him out often to go to the bathroom. We have been rewarding him with treats and verbally praise him to the hilt. Being that we have both been home with him for the past 4 months, this has been easy to do.We do not let him down without watching him constantly, but soon we will not have the ability to do that and I do not want him to be in his crate too much. 

Charlie has only had a few accidents. He rarely tells us when he has to go. Maybe this is due to the fact that we just take him out so often he does not have to? 

My question is, how do we know when he really is house trained? I am terrified to let him roam the house as I really do not want to have the mess. 

Thank you to all for the great advice on this forum.

Lizzie


----------



## maryam187 (Jul 18, 2007)

Lizzie, welcome to you and your ADORABLE Charlie! Did you know that there are tons of members near you?
:focus: It sounds like you've done a good job potty training him so far. I would start by spreading out the potty breaks. At this age, he should be able to hold it for 4 hours. I would just continue increasing that time. Do you have an exercise pen (ex pen)? You could leave him in there when you leave and wouldn't have to worry about too much roaming area. It is safer for him as well, you can put his crate, water, food, toys, etc. in there. I 'knew' that Pablo was reliable by increasing the time between potty breaks (although he had a pee pad available, he weaned himself off and prefers to hold it) and trusting him with an increasingly bigger area without accidents. You have to try it to know it, but I recommend you don't go 'overboard' e.g. from crating him to roam of the entire house without transition.


----------



## davetgabby (Dec 29, 2007)

Eventually you can give him free roam ,just make sure he has no access to any areas where he could get into trouble . Is he free to roam when you are there? If he is reliable that way ,you could start leaving him crated for longer and longer times . But do so gradually. Leave him crated and go out for a few seconds then a few minutes then a half hour and gradually increase the time. When you get back immediately take him out so he associates this with a proper time to go. If there is an accident when you get back do not say anything just take him out right away anyway. If you have never left him alone at all ,you will have to worry about the separation anxiety at the same time. It is better to start leaving them alone and crated from the day you get them. This helps with SA. Just do it gradually. Once he has learned to handle the separation and holding it for the maximum time that you may be gone you could try leaving him with more freedom. Here is a good article on crate training http://www.dogstardaily.com/training/puppy-playroom-amp-doggy-den


----------



## Scooter's Family (May 23, 2008)

I'm just starting to try leaving Scooter out of his crate while we're gone. He only has the downstairs to roam in and that's where he spends most of the day with me. I had to run to the school in the middle of the day so I let him stay out, I was gone about 20 minutes. He saw me drive away, I could see him in the front window watching. (I almost cried!) When I got back he greeted me at the door and did his usual stretch that he always does when he wakes up. He hadn't even taken any of his toys out of the basket and nothing was messed up! 

Next time I have a quick grocery trip I'm going to try it again. I'm still nervous but have to start somewhere.


----------



## davetgabby (Dec 29, 2007)

right on Anne, you have obviously trained him well .


----------



## Scooter's Family (May 23, 2008)

LOL Dave! I guess I have you fooled, most days I feel like he trained us! He's a good dog so I do want to give him some freedom. He isn't crated much as someone is usually here. If I have to be somewhere for more than a few hours DH will work from home and have Scooter downstairs in his office with him. We're lucky for that option.

I figured the only way to find out was to give it a try...BEFORE we get new carpet!


----------



## Evye's Mom (Dec 16, 2008)

My pups are still very young so not complaining and not expecting miracles. I am finding we take 1 step forward only to take 2 steps back. We have had a rainy dreary day here and this is the worst potty day ever. Last night DH and I were bragging that we thought we had Evye's potty licked.....today has been awful. Feel like we are back to day 1, just squat to pee where ever, when ever....and let's throw a poop behind the chair in the mix. It's me...not her, but how can they do so good only to regress the very next day. GRRRRRRR !!! They are both crated at night, crated/ex-pen weekdays, it just seems weekends when they have more area to roam, which BTW is limited to family room/kitchen which is an open area. I will be reading these posts with eyes wide open.


----------



## davetgabby (Dec 29, 2007)

Evye's Mom said:


> My pups are still very young so not complaining and not expecting miracles. I am finding we take 1 step forward only to take 2 steps back. We have had a rainy dreary day here and this is the worst potty day ever. Last night DH and I were bragging that we thought we had Evye's potty licked.....today has been awful. Feel like we are back to day 1, just squat to pee where ever, when ever....and let's throw a poop behind the chair in the mix. It's me...not her, but how can they do so good only to regress the very next day. GRRRRRRR !!! They are both crated at night, crated/ex-pen weekdays, it just seems weekends when they have more area to roam, which BTW is limited to family room/kitchen which is an open area. I will be reading these posts with eyes wide open.


Sharlene ,yeah it can be a battle, housetraining is basiclly a spatial thing . That's why it is so important to avoid that first accident. Just keep rewarding them big time when they do it right and never punishing for an accident. Even to this day ,and my Molly has been reliable since 9 weeks of age. I still praise and reward her ocassionally at four years old.


----------



## mellowbo (Aug 12, 2007)

Vinny is so reliable and always has been. On the other hand there's LULU. 95% of the time she goes out the doggy door but sometimes she goes straight to the bathroom throw rug. We always praise, etc. I have no idea what gets into her head!
Anne, I can just see little Scooter waiting for you. He must think he's really a big boy now!
Carole


----------



## Scooter's Family (May 23, 2008)

He'll be a year old on the 9th, he's very reliable so we thought it was time. We still praise every time he goes outside but usually just with lots of verbal praise and petting. Occasionally he gets a treat but when he goes he watches us as if he's waiting to hear the praise.


----------



## HavaneseSoon (Nov 4, 2008)

I will soon find out in the coming weeks. Dexter just figured out by ringing the bell at the door means he can go outside and pee. I will still be watching him like a hawk for little squats (pees)...... Sure hope he does not abuse the bell system.


----------

