# Wondering....



## Skye (Jan 23, 2010)

Does anyone have a hav that only potties outside, that wasn't hard to housebreak? Just gathering info here....


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## JANEOC (Aug 28, 2009)

I have two female Havanese puppies (1- 8 months and 1 - 11 months) They have only used outside. (Canadian winter and all). The breeder did not use wee pads but she had them on a schedule which I followed religiously. (plus a bell on the door which I rang every time we went out). I was also at home during the day so that was a big help. It was very quick for the first one and of course having a second it is easier as they do what the first does. By four months I can say they both were nearly perfect (there always is a few accidents) but it was very easy. They have always been in crates in their own room at night. They go from 10 p.m until 7:30 which I think is pretty good for puppies.
I did try wee pads the first day and she tore it to shreds - so I really didn't have any choice!


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## The Fussy Puppy Gang (May 21, 2007)

Pepper was quite easy to potty train. He had maybe a handful of accidents indoors during the training process, all of them our fault for not paying attention or not noticing his 'gotta go' signs. Once we learned his cues and he learned our basic schedule, all has been great!

It took maybe a month for us to reach a 99.9% reliability rate with him, and that's only because WE were slow to learn his signals. I won't give ANY of our dogs 100% because everyone has accidents at some point.


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## KSC (Aug 6, 2009)

Kipling also goes only outside - Canadian winters etc. He is now one and was fully reliable by 4 months but easy to train overall. He only had one #2 accident in the house and a handful of pee's - I was also home and watched him very closely, used the crate and went out very regularly using the 'go pee' command.


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## HavaneseSoon (Nov 4, 2008)

Both of mine are outside only. Dexter is training Jack. Jack is almost 5 months and I do not expect fully potty training until 6 months, so I expect to see accidents. I have not seen an accident in a few days, but, I do take both of them out regular. 

Dexter is very reliable with potty. Dexter still gives me the look to use the potty and if he is desperate with my husband when I am not home, Dexter will still ring the bells.

I have found....you really need to look for visual cues from your dog, and be consistent with taking them out....after naps, before and after meals, first thing in the morning, after hard plays, anytime they are smelling too much in their favorite spot, the looks...learn to read your dog.

Do not punish for a potty accidents already done...it will not help. Praise ALL potty behaviors outside.


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## krandall (Jun 11, 2009)

JANEOC said:


> By four months I can say they both were nearly perfect (there always is a few accidents) but it was very easy. They have always been in crates in their own room at night.


How old are they? See, for me, "a few accidents" is unacceptable. I want a dog I can trust in the house, 100%. That's what the litter box has given me.


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## mckennasedona (Feb 20, 2007)

I have two that only potty outside, actually all the dogs here (5) potty outside only. McKenna took about 7 months to be totally reliable, Sedona about 6 months. We have a doggy door but I do know they are housetrained because when we visit family, they always go to the back door to be let out.


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## good buddy (Feb 20, 2007)

I have one that I considered potty trained at abooouuut 10 months? But fully house trained by 15 months as in he can stay home alone without being penned for many hours and absolutely will NOT potty in the house. I think you hear different time frames considering what someone considers potty trained. The other is 99%--some call that potty trained with a few accidents.  He hadn't pottied indoors in several months and then had a whoopsie-poo.


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## Rita Nelson (Jul 13, 2009)

Tucker was 9 weeks old when he came to live with us. The breeder usedpee pads to start training with. We had them inside in one place only, but took Tucker outside to potty every 30 min. when he was awake. He had two accidents inside off of the pee pad. By 3 months he was doing his business outside only (but I still didn't trust him). At 5 months I no longer had the pee pad out. He is now just shy of 14 months and hasn't had an accident inside. Both my DH and myself are retired and had the time to devote to potty training him from the start. I was told that he would regress at 8 to 9 months, but that didn't happen. The longest we have left him along is 6 hours and no accident. He was complete run of the house now and I never give it a second thought that he'll potty inside.


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## ama0722 (Nov 28, 2006)

Dora and Dash have been totally potty trained with the good old outside method and they are reliable. With Isabelle confusing small rugs and pads we never used that way of trianing with the Havs. Dash came potty trained but Dora didn't. It can definitely be done. Just really try and do everything to avoid accidents.


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## Skye (Jan 23, 2010)

Thank you, everyone, this is encouraging! In considering a Havanese, this is the only thing that concerns me. I had a longhaired dachshund that was "supposed" to be hard to housebreak, but she was fine. I'm a stay at home Mom, so I could put plenty of time into housebreaking routines. I appreciate everyone's response.


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## JANEOC (Aug 28, 2009)

krandall said:


> How old are they? See, for me, "a few accidents" is unacceptable. I want a dog I can trust in the house, 100%. That's what the litter box has given me.


The accidents were around the four and five month period - they are 100% now. We spend time with family overnight with no worries.


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## Olliesmom (Sep 29, 2006)

I have 2 - Ollie and Austin...Work full time....and both were 99% reliable at 6 months....they are in their crate during day or if we go out .. had daily dog walker until they became adults...now son is in local college so he comes and goes during most days...and they have been 100% reliable for a couple years...seriously...i do have to say that Austin needs to go our early morn but i live in ca and he has a doggy door...TRUST IN CRATE TRAINING...your training and life will be soooo much easier....good luck!


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## juliav (Nov 21, 2006)

Bugsy is trained to go outside only. I've tried pee pads and dog litter, but he wouldn't consider them as he played the follow the poodles game. Since my poodles were trained outside, so is he. I am also a stay at home mom, so following him around was a way of life (or putting him in his playpen) until he was 6 month. At 6 months he was fully potty trained and house broken. He has not been crated or put in a pen after 6 months of age, no matter how long we are gone.


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## krandall (Jun 11, 2009)

JANEOC said:


> The accidents were around the four and five month period - they are 100% now. We spend time with family overnight with no worries.


Oh, OK.... accidents with a 4-5 month old puppy are not surprising. It just amazes me, though, the number of people who think "occasional accidents" with an adult dog are OK.


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## snfager (Sep 29, 2006)

Miss Daisy was so easy to train. She had a few accidents when we first got her as a pup. Each accident was on a different type of floor as if she was testing where it was acceptable. Her last "accident", I was standing on the great room carpet and she walked up, sat down in front of me, stared intently into my eyes and then piddled .... as if to say "see dummy this is what I want". Well, dummy finally learned to read her clues (she won't bark to go out) and no more accidents. Now when I see her acting as if she wants to go out I just ask her "Daisy do you want to go out and go potty" and she either barks her "yes" or gives me that dummy look again. She has gone as long as 14 hours without going potty rather than have an accident in the house, but that is an other long story and it won't happen again.

Sharon


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## Brady's mom (Dec 1, 2006)

Both my boys were easy to train. Brady was so easy it was scary. He only ever had a few accidents in the house. He was perfect by 12 weeks old. Dugan came to me when he was 16 weeks old and was also pretty easy. I believe in confining space during housetraining. My boys had the kitchen and the den areas blocked off for a long time for their use. THis is where we spend most of our time. Then, they would sleep in the bedroom with us at night. Little by little, I opened more of the house as they got older. I think this is key in housetraining them. Just my opinion though.


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## SMARTY (Apr 19, 2007)

I got Smarty at 9 weeks and she was super easy to train. Her house breaking was my full time job at the time. Galen a rescue at 5 months was another story. I didn’t think she would ever get the concept. Both girls are reliable now, I do keep a pee pad in my bathroom for Galen, she seems to have trouble holding for long periods of time.


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## boo2352 (Dec 18, 2006)

MacGyver only goes outside, and he was very easy to train. I think he'd hold it forever rather than go in the house.


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## jada1938 (Oct 17, 2006)

Skye said:


> Does anyone have a hav that only potties outside, that wasn't hard to housebreak? Just gathering info here....



I have 3 Havs and all were reliable in the house by 4.5 months. Each tells me a different way, but all get frantic if I don't take them out when they tell me. None were difficult to housetrain. The investment of the initial time is worth the rest of their and my lives!!
Ann, Oscar, Twister and Doozie


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## marlowe'sgirl (Jun 17, 2010)

I got my hav at 5.5 months and he was untrained except for wee pads. I did crate training, only let him go outside, and it worked amazingly well. The first two days was rough because I really didn't know what I was doing (never housetrained before) and I kept missing signs. But once I learned and he caught on, during week 2 maybe 3 accidents (again my fault), and I think the last accident was once during week 3. At a month (makes him 6.5 months), he was reliable. At 8 months, I started leaving him out of the crate on short errands (so he could play with the cat) and he never had an accident. Now he's 10 months and he's only crated at night. Haven't had an accident since week 3. My little furkid is super-smart and in experienced hands at his age, he probably would have been trained in like 2 days. Since you've done it before and already have a good example, I wouldn't be worried.


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## Ellie NY (Aug 27, 2010)

We got Eli at 12 weeks. His breeder had a doggy door and Eli would follow his mom and brothers/sisters to a gated grassy area outside to do his business. I tried for over two weeks to get him to use a pee pads but he preferred to go outside. He is now about 18 weeks and, unfortunately, NOT reliable. We were all home yesterday so I decided to give him the run of the house. Needless to say, he went #2 twice in my son's room (he has a special affinity for his rug!) He has good days and bad days. What's important is that we have to keep to a schedule and he must be kept in his exercise pen.


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## hottubecake (Jul 28, 2010)

Hi
Will is now 11 weeks old. So we've had him for 3 weeks . He came to us trained to go on peepee pads, which we didn't want. We immediately started him with the bell on the door. We used his paw to ring the bell every time we took him out. Literally about a week later my husband and I are having dinner, always with half an eye on the dog and we hear the bell ring! There he is sitting by the front door. He's been ringing it ever since with no accidents. When we are not here or he is not with us, he's in his crate. 
Joan


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## morriscsps (Aug 17, 2010)

We aren't quite there yet. Today was a big milestone. Jack ran to the door and rang the bell. Yay!! Then, of course, the next time he went out, our other dog scared him so he didn't signal when he had to go pee. sigh.... 2 steps forward, 1 step back.


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## SnickersDad (Apr 9, 2010)

well, maybe I'm a bad dad.... :brick: We got Snickers when she was right at 16 weeks old. She was pretty much pee pad trained, but the concept of going outside to do her business was foreign. I mean to say here that if I had her outside and she needed to go she would. So, I immediately adopted the concept of "If I can't watch her every second then she's in her crate until I can watch her every second". And, took her out to potty every 45 - 60 minutes. She pretty much got the peeing outside pretty quickly, but the poop thing took "me" a long time to catch on to. I finally got the idea that these youngsters need a schedule that is reliable and when I finally got that idea in my head things went better. By the time she was 6 months old we were best potty buddies. I still can't read her "I need to go outside now" language (Lynda can (darn it!)), but we've not had a number 2 accident is the last couple of months.

That's Snickers.... now, Snoopy is a whole new experience.

He's 16 weeks old now, and will use a pee pad when he's close to one, but will not search one out. We keep two - 1 in the ex-pen and 1 by the gate. This results in frequent (darn it again) accidents, luckily most of them have been in the kitchen on the tile floor. I was pretty frustrated yesterday with him as I was taking him out every hour, but wasn't getting any results - other than 3 accidents in the house. Today we went back to the "In the crate for an hour - take him out - no pee - then back to the crate if he peed then we had a party - otherwise I'd keep him there for another 30 minutes and then tried the potty thing again. We had a tough love day, but we are making progress. I forget the members name(s), but several have said to me that it takes time for the pup's to "Get it". Hope the Snoop dog "Get's it soon! " All this and he had oral surgery on Monday -- Maybe I am being to hard on him?

Cheers!

Jim and Lynda and Snickers and the new P&P machine Snoopy.


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## morriscsps (Aug 17, 2010)

Jack is at the same stage as Snoopy. He is 12 weeks old. If only he would ring the darn bell or scratch or whine or something! His signal is that he starts to pace and sniff around.


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## Kathie (Jul 31, 2008)

Jim, do you take your two out together? A lot of times the second one "learns" from the first one. It has worked that way in our case once. You still have to work at it but they seem to catch on better when they see the other one going to the door and then going potty outside! I just learned about the "bell" method here on the forum and I love it! It's so much easier to hear than a scratch at the door or a stare! Hang a bell on the door and take their paw and "ring" it each time you take them out. It's amazing how fast they learn to ring that bell! Good luck - this learning to potty outside "all" the time takes time!


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## krandall (Jun 11, 2009)

SnickersDad said:


> well, maybe I'm a bad dad.... :brick: We got Snickers when she was right at 16 weeks old. She was pretty much pee pad trained, but the concept of going outside to do her business was foreign. I mean to say here that if I had her outside and she needed to go she would. So, I immediately adopted the concept of "If I can't watch her every second then she's in her crate until I can watch her every second". And, took her out to potty every 45 - 60 minutes. She pretty much got the peeing outside pretty quickly, but the poop thing took "me" a long time to catch on to. I finally got the idea that these youngsters need a schedule that is reliable and when I finally got that idea in my head things went better. By the time she was 6 months old we were best potty buddies. I still can't read her "I need to go outside now" language (Lynda can (darn it!)), but we've not had a number 2 accident is the last couple of months.
> 
> That's Snickers.... now, Snoopy is a whole new experience.
> 
> ...


It sounds like you are being a PERFECT dad! All that supervision now will pay off with a really trustworthy dog later!


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## krandall (Jun 11, 2009)

morriscsps said:


> Jack is at the same stage as Snoopy. He is 12 weeks old. If only he would ring the darn bell or scratch or whine or something! His signal is that he starts to pace and sniff around.


That is EXACTLY what you should expect of a 12 week old puppy. He is still a little baby!!! If he is in a small, confined area, and has been TRAINED to a litter box, he would likely use it at this age. Otherwise, it's COMPLETELY up to us to read those subtle signals.


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## Ellie NY (Aug 27, 2010)

Sometimes Eli lets me know he needs to go potty by sitting near the sliding glass door. This morning, I let Eli out at 6:30 AM to do his business. At 7:15 AM or so he ran into the living room right after breakfast and ran out in a minute or so later. I thought he went to get a toy but found he did both did both #1 and #2 again! I took him for a walk around 8:30 AM and he did #2 again. I'm so frustrated because I don't understand why sometimes he gets that he should signal us by sitting near the door and sometimes he doesn't. Also, why would he need to go #2 so frequently?! He eats 1/4 cup of dry kibble with one teaspoon of wet food 3x a day. Doesn't seem like too much for a 6lb dog. Sometimes I think we'll never get it right.


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## HavaneseSoon (Nov 4, 2008)

I am afraid it is going to take awhile............before the pup gets totally reliable with pottying. I am almost there with Jack and Jack is 10 months old. I haven't had an accident in the house for couple of months and Jack finally made the connection with pottying and needing to go outside. 

With the use of the pee pad and going outside, it is more to learn for your pup. 

Just my two cents worth..... Keep remembering, they are still learning and it takes time and lotssssssssssssssssssssssssss of patience.


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## marlowe'sgirl (Jun 17, 2010)

Well, it's a bit of biology (and depending on the stool consistency he might be a little sick if he's going that often). After he eats breakfast, his stomach is full and the gastric-colic (stomach-colon) reflex kicks in. We've got one too (you'll notice it after a big meal or a lot of caffeine). A full stomach actually stimulates the nerves/muscles in the intestine to contract and push food through. So, after he eats and fills up his stomach, he relatively quickly gets the urge to go #2. 

As a puppy, he's going to go - they get better as they get older. The schedule I used was out 1st in the morning, out right after breakfast, out at noon, out when I got home from work, out after he eats dinner, and out right before bed. Make the walks long enough (esp the 1st AM - like 30-45 mins) that he has the opportunity to go #2 more than once - don't just go back in after the 1st. Oh and he might just be signalling that he wants to go for a walk, not that he needs to go potty.

The other thing to do - is do NOT let him out of your sight until he's reliable. Not letting him make a mistake makes the learning process that much easier (plus he don't have the smell to potentially go back to as 'his spot'). It's hard - I definitely screwed up.


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## snfager (Sep 29, 2006)

Miss Daisy was amazingly easy to house train and she has always gone outside. Since we have starting traveling she has learned that grass isn't a requirement, that almost any outside surface will do.


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## Ellie NY (Aug 27, 2010)

marlowe'sgirl said:


> Well, it's a bit of biology (and depending on the stool consistency he might be a little sick if he's going that often). After he eats breakfast, his stomach is full and the gastric-colic (stomach-colon) reflex kicks in. We've got one too (you'll notice it after a big meal or a lot of caffeine). A full stomach actually stimulates the nerves/muscles in the intestine to contract and push food through. So, after he eats and fills up his stomach, he relatively quickly gets the urge to go #2.
> 
> As a puppy, he's going to go - they get better as they get older. The schedule I used was out 1st in the morning, out right after breakfast, out at noon, out when I got home from work, out after he eats dinner, and out right before bed. Make the walks long enough (esp the 1st AM - like 30-45 mins) that he has the opportunity to go #2 more than once - don't just go back in after the 1st. Oh and he might just be signalling that he wants to go for a walk, not that he needs to go potty.
> 
> The other thing to do - is do NOT let him out of your sight until he's reliable. Not letting him make a mistake makes the learning process that much easier (plus he don't have the smell to potentially go back to as 'his spot'). It's hard - I definitely screwed up.


I have been on a similar schedule, first thing in the morning, after meals, after naps etc... He gets walked or let out quite a bit. I fed him a bit later last night so that may have created a "back up" in the pipes. :biggrin1: Consistency of said "back up" was very normal.

I wasn't as much surprised that he went that often but that he shot off immediately after consuming breakfast and it happened so quickly. Of course, he left his little present near a second sliding glass door so in all fairness he might have tried to signal me but I couldn't see him and it happened super fast.

I've just purchased two bells from Amazon which I hope will help him communicate when he needs to go, thereby increasing reliability. I'll leave one by the back door and, once he gets the hang of it, place the other in his Xpen located in my office. The bells come with an instructional DVD and got great feedback. I chose it over door chimes because we open and close the sliding doors quite a bit to let in air and I didn't want to confuse him and add noise to my already noisy home.


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## morriscsps (Aug 17, 2010)

krandall said:


> That is EXACTLY what you should expect of a 12 week old puppy. He is still a little baby!!! If he is in a small, confined area, and has been TRAINED to a litter box, he would likely use it at this age. Otherwise, it's COMPLETELY up to us to read those subtle signals.


Oh, I know.... It is wishful thinking.  He is doing great. We aren't doing peepads or litterboxes. Outside is the place to go. I feel as if we should have one of those "# of days without an accident" signs. I think we are 02 Days.


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## jcarol (Mar 20, 2010)

Rikky was easy to train. There were some accidents in the early months but by the time he was 5 months, he was going outside all the time. We trained to a "pee pad" by the door when we first got him and then trained to the "tell bell" which sits by the door. He is nine months old now and still uses the bell to let us know when he has to go out. He hates the rain and I sometimes have to put a "pee pad" by the door when it's raining hard outside. The bell has worked well for us. Within 2 days of getting it, he was ringing it to go out.


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## Mojo's Mom (Jun 6, 2009)

Mojo was easy, had it down perfect by 12 weeks. So did his half sister down the road.


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## iluvhavs (Jul 21, 2008)

My two were easy to train, but we still had an occasional accident until they were 9 to 12 months old. Now they are completely reliable!

Lucy learned to ring the bell by the door when she wanted to go out. But over the year that became a signal to go out and play! So after hearing it WAY too often, we took it down. Now they just come to us and "talk" if they need to go out. 

Lucy goes out on her own and does her own thing, but Rico likes company. ;-)


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## jenisny (Aug 26, 2010)

The bell is ingenious! I have never seen that done before. We had a Lhasa growing up who wouldn't bark. We had to train it to bark. With 4 kids in the house, we just would not catch his signals. A bell would have helped a lot.


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## Sissygirl (Aug 8, 2007)

Sissy is totally an outside girl! A bell ringer, too!


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## TilliesMom (Sep 30, 2010)

We have had Tillie since the end of September (she was 14 weeks when we got her) and it took her about 3 weeks to figure out the whole, "go outside" thing and once she was doing pretty good with that, I introduced the bell and it took her just a few times of me ringing it with my foot as we went out to "potty" and she got curious and started sniffing it, well when she sniffs it, it rings, so I said, GOOD girl and opened the door... it took about 2 times before she TOTALLY understood Ring the bell = Door opens!
We are about 2 weeks into the bell ringing and she hasn't had an accident in all that time!! She is doing great! but, YES, sometimes there is extensive ringing of the bell... LOL these dogs are SMART!!!


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## Ellie NY (Aug 27, 2010)

TilliesMom said:


> We have had Tillie since the end of September (she was 14 weeks when we got her) and it took her about 3 weeks to figure out the whole, "go outside" thing and once she was doing pretty good with that, I introduced the bell and it took her just a few times of me ringing it with my foot as we went out to "potty" and she got curious and started sniffing it, well when she sniffs it, it rings, so I said, GOOD girl and opened the door... it took about 2 times before she TOTALLY understood Ring the bell = Door opens!
> We are about 2 weeks into the bell ringing and she hasn't had an accident in all that time!! She is doing great! but, YES, sometimes there is extensive ringing of the bell... LOL these dogs are SMART!!!


Tillie is such a smart girl! Eli won't use the bell, but maybe that's because no one in the house is consistent with it but me! Grrr.:frusty:

It's official, I'm potty-obsessed. I spend so much of my day worrying/thinking/planning his next potty. When I'm not thinking forward, I'm reflecting on his last potty!

Today, he's thrown me for a loop again. He pottied around 7:00 AM before breakfast and wouldn't go again until after lunch, around 1:30 PM, even though I walked him twice in-between! Don't get me wrong, I'm thrilled he's learned to hold it. Is 5 months about when I should scale back and walk him every 3-4 hours?


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## krandall (Jun 11, 2009)

Ellie NY said:


> Tillie is such a smart girl! Eli won't use the bell, but maybe that's because no one in the house is consistent with it but me! Grrr.:frusty:
> 
> It's official, I'm potty-obsessed. I spend so much of my day worrying/thinking/planning his next potty. When I'm not thinking forward, I'm reflecting on his last potty!
> 
> Today, he's thrown me for a loop again. He pottied around 7:00 AM before breakfast and wouldn't go again until after lunch, around 1:30 PM, even though I walked him twice in-between! Don't get me wrong, I'm thrilled he's learned to hold it. Is 5 months about when I should scale back and walk him every 3-4 hours?


Cutting back on trips outside should be based on the lack of accidents, not the age of the dog. If Eli has been consistent about NO accidents for at least a couple of weeks, you might want to increase the time between outings by half an hour at a time. If he's not absolutely reliable with the schedule he has now, I certainly wouldn't try to make him wait longer.


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## Ellie NY (Aug 27, 2010)

krandall said:


> Cutting back on trips outside should be based on the lack of accidents, not the age of the dog. If Eli has been consistent about NO accidents for at least a couple of weeks, you might want to increase the time between outings by half an hour at a time. If he's not absolutely reliable with the schedule he has now, I certainly wouldn't try to make him wait longer.


Thanks Karen. Nope, he's definitely not reliable yet (sigh). I guess I'll keep walking him every 2 hours.

He seems to not want to go for walks. I took him out this morning and as soon as he felt some "give" in the leash the 7lb power house dragged me right home. When I put him outside a couple of hours later he cried and cried and scratched on the screen door until I let him back in. He used to just go quickly and come back in. Maybe he doesn't like the cold? I know I don't! :brick: I'm trying to read the signs and all signals say, "Mommy, please let me pee and poop on the floor. It's so warm and comfy here."


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## lfung5 (Jun 30, 2007)

All my guys are housebroken and potty outside. It took them longer than most, because I did not want to crate train. When I was at work, I kept them in an x pen or room with a dog door. Fred and Bella took about a year. They didn't have accidents daily. They pretty much learned the dog door in 1 day and would have an accident from time to time over the course of a year. Scudder was the easiest. He learned the dog door in about an hour, just by watching my other 2. I think he had a few accidents for about 2 weeks and then a couple after that. he really was a breeze.


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## PuraVida (Aug 18, 2010)

It is very heartening to read this thread. My boy is five months old and doing fairly well. Where I live, Picasso is able to just run outside whenever he needs to since the doors are always open. Up until today, it was about 4 or 5 days that he went without any accidents - until tonight. I tend to keep him in a smaller area in the house so I can keep an eye on him. Tonight I brought him upstairs with me and put him down on the sitting room floor. I have this long flokati rug on the floor. After trying to eat it first, he then proceeded to pee on it. I immediately said a rather stern "no" as he was still peeing and picked him up and downstairs and outside we went. He immediately peed outside.

He is really good about going outside but not yet perfect. He started out being paper trained but from the time he got to my place, he just wanted to go outside. If I don't keep him confined, he will still have an accident. Overall, I think he is doing well. I love watching him go outside with one of his toys when he has to go. He finds his spot, puts down the toy for the moment, does his business, picks up the toy again, and comes running back into the house to get his praise from me.

Just one question - how will I handle being in someone else's house if they don't have a door for him to just go running out of? Will he figure this out? More training? Any ideas! Thanks.


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## krandall (Jun 11, 2009)

Ellie NY said:


> Thanks Karen. Nope, he's definitely not reliable yet (sigh). I guess I'll keep walking him every 2 hours.
> 
> He seems to not want to go for walks. I took him out this morning and as soon as he felt some "give" in the leash the 7lb power house dragged me right home. When I put him outside a couple of hours later he cried and cried and scratched on the screen door until I let him back in. He used to just go quickly and come back in. Maybe he doesn't like the cold? I know I don't! :brick: I'm trying to read the signs and all signals say, "Mommy, please let me pee and poop on the floor. It's so warm and comfy here."


I think we've talked about this before, but the only way to potty train a puppy is either to watch them DILIGENTLY, so that they never have a CHANCE to have an accident, or keep them confined any time you can't watch them that closely.

As far as walking on a leash is concerned, for many dogs, that's not something that comes naturally... it's something they need to learn. Have you started him in puppy classes yet? If not, you should ASAP. He needs them both to help you with these basic obedience issues AND for proper socialization.

Many Havs (particularly those in single dog families) are too attached to their owners not to be able to relax and potty if "put out" on their own. Kodi wouldn't potty that way even now, and he's a year and a half. I take him out on a leash, tell him to "go potty" and he does. Then he gets to come back inside with me.

And there is always the option of giving him an "approved" potty spot in the house. This can be a pee pad, litter box or the fake grass things (can't remember the name). As far as I'm concerned, ANY of these are a WAY better option than the floor.


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## krandall (Jun 11, 2009)

PuraVida said:


> It is very heartening to read this thread. My boy is five months old and doing fairly well. Where I live, Picasso is able to just run outside whenever he needs to since the doors are always open. Up until today, it was about 4 or 5 days that he went without any accidents - until tonight. I tend to keep him in a smaller area in the house so I can keep an eye on him. Tonight I brought him upstairs with me and put him down on the sitting room floor. I have this long flokati rug on the floor. After trying to eat it first, he then proceeded to pee on it. I immediately said a rather stern "no" as he was still peeing and picked him up and downstairs and outside we went. He immediately peed outside.
> 
> He is really good about going outside but not yet perfect. He started out being paper trained but from the time he got to my place, he just wanted to go outside. If I don't keep him confined, he will still have an accident. Overall, I think he is doing well. I love watching him go outside with one of his toys when he has to go. He finds his spot, puts down the toy for the moment, does his business, picks up the toy again, and comes running back into the house to get his praise from me.
> 
> Just one question - how will I handle being in someone else's house if they don't have a door for him to just go running out of? Will he figure this out? More training? Any ideas! Thanks.


Hi Deborah! Glad to see you over here too!

It's important to teach a puppy to potty on command for exactly this reason. They don't know what the rules are in another house, and it takes a LONG time to generalize from "I don't potty in my house" to "I don't potty in ANY building". Poop is usually easier, because before long, you know what their bodily schedule is, and when they are likely to need to go. But, as you saw last night, they can pee at the drop of a hat.

Any place I take Kodi, I make sure he empties his bladder before we go in. It's pretty funny. If he doesn't really have to go, you can almost see him rolling his eyes as he squeezes out a few drops just to molify me. Once he has an empty bladder, I know that if I take him out again in about 3 hours, we're golden. Even now, at a year and a half, I wouldn't trust him for more than 3 hours in a strange place. He'd PROBABLY be fine, but my goal STILL is no accidents ever.

As far as your upstairs rug is concerned, I'm better that he didn't feel comfortable going down stairs and out all by himself, and didn't know how to communicate that to you. It took Kodi a lot longer to be reliable upstairs in our house than down stairs.


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## rfctexas (Sep 2, 2010)

Auggie is just 16 weeks. He is not reliable at all. He is good about ringing his bell .. only to go outside and play. We are doing our business inside (even right after he has been outdoors) a least 2 times a day. I hope it gets better, as Auggie is driving us crazy!

Both my wife and I are at home frequently, if we do leave him alone we confine him to the kitchen where he rarely makes a mistake, His X-pen has pads and he will use them if we are gone for an extended period of time. Auggie gets escorted outside after all his naps, the same time early morning, and when he is awake he never sees more than 40 minutes without a trip to the outdoors.


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## PuraVida (Aug 18, 2010)

krandall said:


> Hi Deborah! Glad to see you over here too!
> 
> It's important to teach a puppy to potty on command for exactly this reason. They don't know what the rules are in another house, and it takes a LONG time to generalize from "I don't potty in my house" to "I don't potty in ANY building". Poop is usually easier, because before long, you know what their bodily schedule is, and when they are likely to need to go. But, as you saw last night, they can pee at the drop of a hat.
> 
> ...


It is amazing to me how one little accident and somehow it is assumed by little doggie minds that it is okay to begin to use the great indoors, even though there were days and days without any issues. Picasso just had another accident, only a few feet behind where I am sitting. I've seen this before - good puppy for days, and one accident which then leads to several others then, good puppy once again. I am frustrated. I will need to take out the carpet cleaning machine to thoroughly clean up. His urine is quite strong which surprises me. So for now, Picasso is back in his crate and I suspect he will be in and out of his crate for the rest of the day with the "outs" on leash. Time to retrain once again. It just occurred to me that we were close to two weeks without any issues. Bummer. Tough day today - we had "poopy pants" this morning and he needed a bath to get rid of the evidence.

Karen, he has learned to potty on command and,yes, you are correct about how funny it is to watch them try to squeeze out the last little drops.

Picasso had a tough day today given his need for the bath first thing. Then he discovered today that he could army crawl beneath the couch to get out of his enclosed area and then RLH upstairs. He was a bit wild puppy when the accident occurred. The photography webinar I was watching is now over so time to finish cleaning up. Ugh!

Thanks for your response.


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