How do you know when a dog is house trained?

[mom2Winston]

I am trying to figure out my puppy! I waited a long time to get a puppy since it was a big responsibility and a lot of training. So after almost 2 years Winston was adopted April 27th 2005! I am working on house training since we got home. We are using a crate to help train him... which I was totally against at first but he loves him crate. He will walk over to it and lay down if the door is closed! I think we have done well... but my neighbor says I don't give him a chance to go in the house. I take him outside as soon as he gets up in the morning, when ever we let him out of the crate, and when he is done eating. I stand with him on the short leash and don't talk to him until he goes then give him tons of loving and praise! The first couple of weeks we had about 6 accidents. However we have only had 2 in the last 3 weeks. I feel that one was my fault since I fed him and was busy changing my 1 year old and he peed on the floor. I don't ever yell at him for peeing on the floor or hit him. I only use positive reinforcement. I have a colar that has a partial choke chain but will not actually choke him, only give off the same noise as a choke chain... I read somewhere that it is the sound that trains them and choke chains can be dangerous. Can anyone tell me how to tell if he is house trained?? Also any tips on training would be appreciated!

[mona_b]

Just a few questions first.

How old is he?
What breed is he?
How much time is he spending in his crate?
How much time is he not spending in his crate?
Any pics of him?......

My dogs where 100% housetrained a little before they were 6 months.And had full run of the house.And I never crate trained them.

You state that he goes out when he gets up in the morning,after he eats,and when you take him out of the crate.Now my question is,do you take him out at any other time in between?Hope that made sense...LOL

[tenderfoot]

As you will learn with your child everyone is different in the time it takes to be potty trained. Some dogs seem to get it right away and others not for a year and others are never fully trustworthy (some dogs are perpetual kids).
It sounds like you are making great improvements over time so be proud of that. Sometimes a dog will be great for months and then make a mistake - don't freak out just think about how you played a role in the mistake and learn from it.
The one thing that caught my eye was that you don't correct him for a mistake. How is he going to understand that he made one? Absolutely you cannot correct anything that he is not actively doing (ie - he must be actually in the position of pottying or attempting to potty in order to respond fairly). So if he is walking away from a piddle pond it is too late, but if he is in the process of peeing then you have every right to say 'stop' and then to redirect him outside and wait for the potty to happen there and then reward it. If your child were drawing on the walls I think you would be hard pressed to wait until they were drawing on paper to reward the better choice. You would stop the wall drawing in it's tracks and then redirect to paper and praise that choice.

[Lucky Rescue]

Your puppy is 14 weeks old. No, he is not housetrained and will not be housetrained for quite some time - possibly 6 months to a year to completely reliable.

Just a comment on this:

The first couple of weeks we had about 6 accidents. However we have only had 2 in the last 3 weeks. I feel that one was my fault since I fed him and was busy changing my 1 year old and he peed on the floor

It is NEVER his fault if he messes in the house. That means that you aren't watching him closely enough and didn't take him out soon enough. He cannot hold it at that age.

And no choke chains, or martingales (partial choke) on little puppies, ever. Buckle collars only.

[Luba]

How do you know....you'll have dry socks

Sorry had to input some humour!!

[wjranch]

ROFLMAO@Luba I thought the very same thing

[Safyre]

on the pet health it is stated that this is a Lab cross and on June 22nd approx 14 wks.

With that info, the dog will not be fully house trained untill around 6 mnoths old, as stated by the other members.

I have the same questions as Mona in regards to how long he is in the crate, how long not in the crate, how many times a day are you taking him to potty? how many times a day is he being fed?

[mom2Winston]

On a 10 hour day.... he is in his crate for about 4 hours off and on all day and out of his crate 6 hours. He also spends time outside in a different part of the yard than his potty spot. He is about 14 to 16 weeks old and a lab mix... mixed with ?? Kinda looks like jack russell terrier in the face and ears. His mom was a full breed AKC Black Lab.

We run him outside as soon as he starts sniffing around like he is looking for a place to squat. I am sorry I was unclear, we do yell stop when we catch him in the act and tell him no. But if it is my fault I still try to tell him to stop and run him to the door.

I would like to someday just be able to have him crate door left open and he come and go as he pleases except for being home alone. Is this unreasonable?? I know it will not be for a few years though!

[LL1]

What a cutie.What would a 24 hour day be?

[Safyre]

They typcailly will saya dog can hold its bladder for its month in age, plus one.
3 months = 4 hours.
If you are home to bring him out more often, then great, otherwise, he needs to go out following the above formula.
NOT ALL DOGS follow this formula, some never lean to hold their bladders for al ong time unless at night. so it really does depend.

[mafiaprincess]

Totally 6 months to a year. My 9 month old I thought had gotten it a few months ago.. and then tried to poop 2x in front of the door today. So we will revert back to basics again. It was a nice like 2 months accident free though.

[Melinda]

all dogs are different and by watching you get to see and know the "signs", we brought Brina home at 6.5 wks on the 12th of June and there hasn't been an accident since the 17th, now I don't consider her "house broken" by a long shot, but the end is in sight, she now wakes me at 3 am to go "pee" and then falls right back to sleep, mind you, at night she only has access to the hallway, kitchen and our bedroom. She sleeps on her "blankie" beside our bed, I started by taking her out after each nap, each meal and after each "play" session, I'd leash her, bring her to the door and say "wanna go pee"? I made it fun, now she goes to the door, sits and quivers and cries to go do her "pee".....

[nymph]

My pup Diego will be 6 month next week. He's still having the occasional accidents. My question is, since we don't actually catch him in the act anymore, what could we do to further house-train him? My take is to be more diligent on our part to take him out and continue to praise him, is there anything else we should be doing to reinforce his house-training?

One night he must have wanted to go so badly (he sleeps in my ensuite blocked by a babygate) he jumped into the bathtub and peed there. LOL

[angie79]

smart guy for using the tub!!!!!

when he does surprize you is it usually always in the same spot? if it is you can play there and give treats there to infoce that you don't play or eat on the same spot you pee. do you keep the gate there all the time or just at night?

[nymph]

He surprises me all over the place, but only a few dribbles. The gate is only used at night. Since the heat wave arrived, I've moved his crate to the main floor which is much cooler than my bedroom, so he stays in his crate during the day and in my ensuite at night.

I was ROFL when I saw the small puddle in my bathtub, what a sweet boy!

[jjgeonerd]

Super cute puppy! Looks almost exactly like mine did when she was a pup.

[Rottielover]

Harley is a rottie, he has been completely housebroken since 5 months ( very lucky) my female was still having accidents up to a year. Chewing on the other hand, he has not grown out of .....In the crate you go buddy. LOL