Puppy Training Q&As

Ed, I have a GSD puppy just short of 5 months old and have watched your 8 weeks to 8 months video and looked at your website and Q&A, but I can't seem to find an answer to my question. It seems that everyone has an opinion on how long my GSD should be able to hold her pee or poop. A friend told me puppies can hold it for 1.5 hours for each month of age. Is this true? My wife and I continue to take her out almost every 4 hours and she performs satisfactory each time (strange conside...

Hi Ed, I've been following your advice for some time now; I have a 7 year old mini dachshund and a 2 year old smooth collie. The collie has been a no brainer to train - she could be your textbook dog. the dachshund is also very well behaved, non aggressive, obedient but it took a lot more effort except for one thing: My specific question is on housebreaking. The collie was housebroken in 2 weeks 100% using a crate. The dachshund is not, but just in my home. I take her to my ...

Hello Cindy, I tried to find this on your site before I asked but I couldn't. When I take my dog out to go potty, I don't have trouble with him peeing, but when it's time to poop, he has to find the right spot. He with sniff around, and get ready to poop and stop and move around and sniff some more. This drives me nuts. It's like he has to find the perfect spot. Why does he do this? I didn't have a problem with this when he was a puppy. I would bring him to the spot I wanted him to...

Hi Cindy, I made a mistake with the potty training with my new pup. I had 3 ex pens for her, one outside for a potty area, one in the garage for middle of the night trips (necessary because I don't go out in the middle of the night due to wildlife and bear that visit our deck) and one in the kitchen area for containment. I either have my 9 week old tethered to me, in her crate or in the pen. I follow all the housebreaking rules as best I can. Here is the problem. Due to wetness...

Hi, My puppy is six months old, we got him over the summer and did not get a crate since I am off at that time. We used puppy pads and now I have a monster, he will go outside but not to potty. It don't matter how long I stay out, nothing happens, but as soon as we come in, on the pad he goes. Those pads cost a lot after a while, especially when the puppy already weighs 50#. Any ideas on where to start undoing this mess I made? Other than this bad habit, he is well behaved, just tr...

I have two pomeranians female & male around 5 months old. The male uses pee pads most of time-he's more calm & listens better than female. She uses pee pads sometimes but loves to chew them up. I went & bought natures miracle brand which did help her to pee on pad more but still they want to chew them up. I'm very tired of this. I've told them 'no' firmly & corrected them over & over & over! What can I do? I have used the treat method also. I'm exhausted. I've never had this type of pro...

Good morning, Ed. I read your site, and especially your article on crate training. I bought a dog 3 weeks ago - she was a rescue. Overall, I think her training has gone pretty well. She doesn't go to the bathroom in the home, but I believe that's mostly because I've been watching her constantly when she's not in her crate. I put bells beside the door, and have been training her to tap them with her nose when she needs to go to the bathroom. She's doing that MOST of the time ...

Hello Ed, I have a 3 year old Pitt/Shar Pei that I rescued about 8 months ago. About 4 days ago I was taking him out of his crate and before I could put the leash on him he urinated. He did that through out the whole day no matter how many times I took him out. After doing that for two days he did not go in the crate but went as soon as he got out of the it. Then the day after he goes when we are at the front door. I don't know why he just started it or how to retrain the habit any help wi...

Hello Ed, I had a few questions about e-collar training. Do you think it is a good idea to use an e-collar to house train a dog? Would you simply correct the dog with the collar when they are actually in the act of using the house to potty with a stern NO! command and then place them outside in the area they need to go potty (then reward when they do go in the right place)? I am figuring that this would teach the dog, if you go potty in the house, you will get a shock.

Dear Cindy, Warm Greetings from Maryland! I have a very specific question about Housetraining that only has to do with the time period in a puppy's life when it is very young from 8-12 weeks of age where it has very little bladder control. (I believe you said about 2hrs. or so is max. time between potty-breaks). I know your #1 rule is to teach the puppy to stay clean IN his crate and Rule #2 is for the puppy to learn to go to the bathroom OUTSIDE ONLY. Here is where I'm un...

Our 10 month old Cavalier is mostly housebroken. The problem we have is at other people's homes and when we take him to work. Even if he has just gone out, he will come back in and relieve himself within a few minutes. Michele

Dear Ed, I have a Pit, Shar Pei mix that I rescued who is about three years old who is still intact. My wife wants me to get him neutered because she is afraid that he will urinate (mark) in the house and on the furniture. Would getting him neutered prevent him from marking in the house since he is already in the habit of marking? Kind regards, Frank

Ed, Great website. I have a question that I did not see covered in the Q&A section. My fiance and I have a 10 month old King Charles Spaniel. Before recently moving in with me she lived on the 3rd floor of an apartment complex and worked long hours. Therefore she trained our dog to pee on the pads. Now they have moved in with me and while my backyard is somewhat small it does have grass and I would prefer the dog use the backyard rather than the pads. Also, the dog poops on my rug ...

Dear Cindy, My Dogo (born May 2009) has a poop problem. I've tried many things but nothing seems to work. 1. After eating between 6-7 in the afternoon, I take her to walk for about half a mile and after that I let her play in the backyard for about 1.5 hours. At that time, her crate is quite big, 1.2m x 1.2 m. In the morning, about 5:45, she pooped in her crate. 2. After that I tried to put her in crate with the door opened. For a few days she didn't poop in the crate...

I have spent a very large amount of time searching for answers to this particular issue, and so far I have not found the answers I have needed. I am hoping you can help me. I have 2 dogs that are approximately 3 years old. We adopted them about 6 months ago, and as far as we know, they have always been together, and it seems like they have very similar issues. They are fearful dogs, but once we started crating them and keeping them on a leash otherwise, they have started to become a littl...

I have a 3 yr old staffordshire terrier. He's housebroken but pees on beds and couches. What can I do? David

Hello, I have a 1 year old toy poodle and a 2 year old yorkie. They successfully use puppy pads during the day and they are gated in a sizable tiled area. When I am home, they have full run of the house and they always go downstairs to use the pad. However, if I leave them in the house for even 15 minutes alone or I am in the shower, I find poop and urine in my carpeted dining room upstairs. It seems as if they make an effort to go to the bathroom. I am also not able to figure out which on...

Hi Cindy, Thanks for all the great DVDs and advice. I wrote to you not too long ago praising how our dog had no problems or accidents in the house because we have been following your training DVDs religiously. We have a 5 month old Boxer that has been PERFECT (and I mean PERFECT). He is trained to go to the bathroom (on leash) on command in a specific area in the yard and has done so for the last 3 months without a hitch and will sometimes goes potty on walks, but not often. Yester...

Hello, I'm a first time dog owner, and have just recently purchased a Morkie (Maltese/Yorkie cross). As to date, he is 14 weeks old. A week after I brought him home (6 weeks ago), he was diagnosed with Giardia. Unfortunately, the vet I brought him to was incompetent, and gave me the wrong meds. After finishing those meds and not seeing any improvement in his diarrhea, I brought him to another vet, and that's when they told me he not only had Giardia but also Coccidia. He has 2 more...

Hi Cindy, My puppy, born Feb 3rd is a Rat Terrier. She can't seem to get through a meal with out having to go outside to do her business. I take her out before she eats. She starts eating and then has to go poop again in the middle. It's very frustrating as I have to stand in the area waiting or she'll go in the crate. She is on a raw food diet with Kibble on the side. She'll eat her meat, go the the bathroom and then want to finish her meal. I realize that she is s...