From personal experience, how long did it take you to potty train your puppy?

kapone (bichon x cocker spaniel) took eight months ... i made the mistake of using pee pads and then transitioning him to outside ...

casey (jack russell terrier) took four days ... i took her outside every four hours around the clock for four straight days ... reinforced with four hours a day in a crate four days a week ...

finnigan (chihuahua x japanese chin) took two months ... i took him out every four hours but not around the clock and he was not crate trained ...

i got all dogs at eight weeks old ...

About three days. He had one accident a week later and has been fine for the seven months since.

Schedule-Confine-Supervise

Schedule- the feeding and potty times. An adult is fed twice a day. A puppy is fed four times a day up to 10 or 12 weeks, then three times a day through adolescence. They need to potty first thing in the morning, last thing at night, within a few minutes of every meal, and every few hours in between. The “in between” hours are calculated by their age in months: 1 month = 1 hour, up to 6 months/hours. So, a three month old puppy should be taken to potty every three hours in between the other scheduled times. When the dog/puppy is taken to potty, wait with him as he ‘does his business’ and then praise like crazy. The neighbors should be able to hear you.

Confine- the puppy or dog whenever it is not being watched. Confinement can be in a crate (especially at night), an exercise pen, or behind a baby gate in a very small and puppy-proofed room.

Supervise- the puppy or dog whenever it is loose in the home. This means having eyes on it, not on the TV. Play with the puppy, do a five minute training session, groom it, or just let it lie at your feet with a safe chew, but have it within sight at all times. If it squats then give a loud “NO” or “ACK” as you scoop and run to the appropriate potty spot.

Do not let the dog return to the accident spot until it has been thoroughly cleaned and then wiped with vinegar or a commercial enzyme product to remove all urine odor.

My labs as fully potty trained at about 4 months. Bullmastiff took a big longer, being fully potty trained at about 4 1/2 to 5 months. They were kept confined to a certain room in the house and taken out on a very regular schedule. They were never punished if they had a accident inside, but instead were immediately taken out outside and encouraged to go there instead. If they didn't have a pair of eyes on them they were crated. Just be consistent.

I'd toss out the potty pads- they are going to confuse the dog whilst you attempt to get her to move external exclusively. Plus they make your dwelling odor like a rest room to the dog, which makes potty coaching even harder. These are her formative weeks when habits are forming- the principal time to set up the routines you want her to follow throughout her existence. All dogs are different, despite breed. Some are virtually housetrained at 12-14 weeks, at the same time others take six months. Be sufferer, style and consistent and he or she'll get there! Our lab/collie combine was about sixteen weeks when she was once housetrained (with an accident right here or there).

I found my dog when he was about 7 weeks old, and took him outside every two hours or so, or whenever I noticed him drinking a lot of water. He almost always pooped outside, but he had regular peeing accidents until he was about 4 or 5 months. After that, he was pretty much perfectly housebroken. Only a few minor regressions when I'd take him someplace new, like my parents' house, or when he got stressed while I was on vacation and he stayed with my roommate. Or the time he was 8 months and I ignored his whining, thinking he was looking for attention, and then he wound up pooping on the floor. (I deserved that one.) But he's 10 months now, and hasn't had an accident since then. :)

Crate training was a huge help. Puppies naturally avoid going to the bathroom in their sleeping spot, so they quickly learn to hold it until you let them out and immediately take them outside. I think most dogs understand they're not supposed to go inside, but you've really got to make sure you let them out often enough. The rule of thumb is, they can hold their bladder one hour for every month of age (so at two months, they can hold it for two hours, three months, three hours, etc). It's supposedly really helpful if you stick to a firm schedule, waking up and letting him out at the same times every day, but as a disorganized college student who took in a puppy right before finals week, I'm afraid I couldn't tell you if this is true or not. But stick to it! A housebroken dog is so worth the time it takes to train them. My mom has a friend with two Yorkies, and she lets them go wherever they please. I would never be able to put up with that!

Took me 3 days to train mine. I crate trained her. Put her in the crate, let her out every half hr/ hr the first day. Every hour/ 2 hours the 2nd day. I lifted her from the crate and took her outside to where I wanted her to pee . Stayed with her normally for5 mins and id say over and over ' go pee.. good girl go pee' and praise her a lot when she peed. If she peed I'd let her walk back in the house and we would play for 15/30 mins. If she didnt pee , it would be straight back in to her cage( would still get a good girl because she did try) she had to go to the vets 2 weeks later(parvo). And came home from the vets and lost all house training ability. and week 3 ish , I'm still tryin to re train her.

Not long at all when my dog was a puppy we had to put him in a cage while we went out cos he ate everything and he messed in his cage and had to stay in it until we got back but after that he never messed in the house

I took her out every three hours. It only took a month. She will walk by the door and bark at me when she needs to go. Just be consistent.

Hi there!!

I am a VET and have lots of personal experience to tell you.

Each animal in UNIQUE and their experience can't be 100% say about other animal.

BE PACIENT AND MAYBE THE TIME WILL BE SHORTER THAN YOU EXPECT!!

shih-tzu : 7 months, u just have to say NO when they do it in the wrong place and when you get to the potty say niicely its here, pee !!! hey !!! peee !!! and give her hugs!