New puppy owners - house training

Ant555

After many, many years of deflecting the requests from the other 3 people in my house for a dog... I relented and we have a fabulous 11 week old Lhasa Apso - got at 9 weeks.

OK, I admit that I am now rather keen and his affection and excitement is so endearing that one cannot fail to fall in love.

We do appreciate that he is a puppy and extremely young but I would welcome any hints or tips on house training.

1st thing in a morning he comes out of the cage, has 5 minutes of fussing then goes outside in the back garden with me and for the last 5 days has done both number 1 and number 2 within a few minutes. This has been rewarded with more fussing and a small treat - despite it being before breakfast!

The same happens in an evening as we are starting to notice the signs - even an outside wee is rewarded with a tiny treat.

My question to the seasoned dog owners out there is, are we making any mistakes in rewarding outdoor toilet with a treat? We don;t shout at any indoor mishaps but if caught in the act we try and distract and immediately move to mat or outside.

If we miss the signs and he goes for an indoor toilet on a puppy mat which is near the door then this gets a good old fussing, outdoor gets a fuss and a treat.

I realise that there is not a hard/fast rule and although I have absolutely no prior experience at all (even as a kid) I think he is doing rather well with the house training for an 11 week old that has only been with us 11 days.

Thanks in advance

GBNI

I verbally praise when mine go outside (even though they're 4 and 2 now! Lol although when I got the 2 year old at 18 months she wasn't house trained) but if you want to feed a little treat as well as that, I don't see the issue.

I've never used puppy mats so can't comment on the praising of using them, regardless of how close they are going to the back door but I'm sure someone else would be more helpful!

izzy65

Hi it sounds like you have got it just right, we house trained ours with the same technique and he would be busy outside and run in to where his treats were for his reward as he got older he grew out of wanting his treat he is now a year and a half and was a very easy boy to house train, good luck .

catkins

I am no expert but I have had quite a few dogs over the years and, yes, lots of praise and treats is the way to go.


My dog was at least a year old before I stopped saying "good boy for pee pee/poo poo"!! I am sure everyone who heard me (I would say it in my garden and on walks) thought I was crazy.

Indie_Kid

We ignored the accidents inside the house. As our youngest got older, she learnt that she could tap on the back door, which she would get praised for.

sheramber

Congratualtions on your new addition.

By praising him for going in the house you are telling him it is okay to go in the house. Better to ignore.

When you catch him you are preventing him going by distaction - which is great.


Do away with the puppy pads as they are encouraging him to go in the house. At later date you have to retrain him to only go outside.

Much better to start from the beginning by training him to go outside.

Lots of praise and treat where he goes, before coming in.

Ignore any accidents inside and mop up with a solution of biological washing powder or a specialist cleaner, not disinfectant. Remove him before you clean up as some dogs react to seeing you clean up by hiding when the go.

A puppy should be in sight always so you can recognise when he wants to go and take him out. If not under supervision then pop in his crate so he cannot wander about.

You will soon learn his routine for going but generally immediately on waking, after eating, after playing are the times. In addition a young puppy should be taken out every half hour, gradually increasing the time as he gets older.

Putting in the work now will pay dividends in the future.

The more he practices going indoors the more difficult it is to stop it.

Carer

My opinion on this, had dogs for many years and now have 8 month old pup. Ignore anything that happens indoors unless you catch him in the act. - don't praise or fuss if he goes on the pad, it will just confuse him. I'd get rid of the pad altogether, you are training him that it's ok to go indoors. IMO they are a stupid invention that prolongs house training.

Teach him a toilet word - mine is "go wee" for one dog and "toilet" for the other - they just evolved
Every time you go out say the word and if he does it say the word again while he does it and as you treat.

Lastly, always go out with him and stay with him - it makes life so much easier when you know they have "performed". Pups gets easily distracted and forget to go. I still do this with my 11yr old dog.

SamBGB

Hello,

I agree ignore any accidents in the house, if you praise or give the dog into trouble after the fact it will not understand the reasoning as it will have forgotten what it had done and it can't associate your action with its actions.

Only distract (a big clap, a nooooo) when caught in the act with a view of stopping the puppy what he/she is doing and immediatly take out to the back garden and when the toilet begins high praise is needed (over the top if you have to).

Also I personally wouldn't treat during toilet training, simple praise should be enought. Treats are used for all other forms of training. A treat is often a real driving factor for a dog and you often find that they will go to the toilet just to get the treat and that can be in the house!

One other thing about treats try and give little and often if you can, don't hold them in your hand while giving the puppy a command or waiting for it to do something. Keep the treats in a wee bag or in your back pocket and treat sparingly. So when teaching command give on every 2nd or 3rd sit command so the dog doesn't become treat dependand.

Last thing and one thing I learned really quick when training puppies and a mistake I made more than once is that when you have the puppy out they may pick things up off the ground, DO NOT TAKE THE ITEM OUT OF THE DOGS MOUTH as it often leads to possessiveness which can be heard to break. Instead trade a treat for the item in the mouth and keep doing that for a while, eventually when the dog goes to take the treat and it opens its mouth to drop the item say DROP IT.

Right now we have an 8 month old Springer Spaniel and he will Sit, Lie Down, go to his crate, bed on command, walk backward with the command back, roll over, give a paw, touch item with nose on command touch. I am currently working to stenghthen his basic commands like Wait and putting him in different sitatuations so that he understands when I give a command it has to be done, and if done he is rewarded.

Thanks
Sam

SamBGB

Hello,

Oh I forgot to add I agree and get rid of the pad.

-Sam

meritaten

I don't get puppy training pads either - why on earth would you train them to 'go' IN the house?
Ive only had two dogs - but followed the 'Praise when going outside' and a 'Bad dog' when they went in the house and taking them outside. waiting til they 'perform', praising, then taking them in. never used 'treats' just 'Good Dog'! while sounding like a slightly demented nursery school teacher!

sheramber

Also, it is common for them to go lore than once so donlt rush him back in after one wee. Hover about, ignoring him to make sure he is not going to do some more.

One of my !!!!!es went three times in different spots before she was finished.

My dogs learn 'Are you finished' and if they are they will come in or back into the car etc. If they are not they will usually have quick pee and then come.