Puppy Training Q&As

Hi Cindy, We are house training our G.S. pup (13 weeks old) and he is doing quite well. Now, while in the house, he is either on a leash with me or in his crate. He has not had an accident since we began this practice but I'm not sure how to correct him if/when he does. In the past when I have caught him in the act, I would sternly say 'No - Outside' and take him out to his potty spot. Should my correction be more firm than this or this appropriate? Thank you, Adam

Hi, I so hope you can help me. I am at my wits end and I have not been able to find any similar questions about this problem. We have a three year old golden retriever. She is housebroken and goes during walks and in the fenced in area of our yard. About a year ago, we got rid of the grass and replaced it with gravel. At first our dog was a little hesitant to urinate on the gravel but then she got the hang of it and did it all the time. We recently covered most of the gravel with p...

Hello, Your website is fantastic and full of so much information. I have many of your DVDs and have looked through many articles. You must be very busy but I was hoping you could help me with what seems like a very simple problem. I have a 6 month old mix and have had him since 12 weeks. He has been crate trained and has no problem going to the bathroom outside on command. In the past 3 weeks he has suddenly been going (once or twice a week) to the bathroom by the back door which h...

Cindy, We have a 10 week old Labradoodle puppy that is just about housebroken due to constant watching him. He seems very intelligent (he actual like?s watching your training DVDs) but trying to watch him for signs of wanting to go outside does not promote a relaxed atmosphere. Is it possible to train him to come to us and let us know he needs to go outside? Thanks. John

Hi Cindy, I have a 7 year old dachshund (Maddie) who refuses to "poop" in our backyard. Maddie has always lived in an apartment until we recently purchased our first house. She has always been walked and rarely has accidents in the house. She doesn't seem to have a problem urinating in the yard, but refuses to poop. At first I thought she was just trying to force me to still take her for her walks, which I have no problem doing. However, I have gotten some really nasty looks from neighbors...

Hi, I have a 9 month 3 1/2 pound yorkie poodle mix who goes in her kennel and anywhere else she can. I can't seem to find a kennel small enough where she can't find a corner to pee in. I have tried the small cat kennels as well as a nylabone kennel all are too big for her.

Hi! I want to thank you, your "8 weeks to 8 months" video has worked great for my newly adopted 6 month german shephed pup. I saw changes in days with the in-home leash training! I am the first to admit it is me who needs more training then the dog, and that is why I'm coming to you. My dog I working on potty training. I say "working" because she will not poop in front of anyone. I was having problems with her going in the house right when I got her in sneaky places where I couldn'...

Hi, We have purchased training items from you in the past for our german shephard. Well we have a new situation. We have a 10 week old Boston Terrier that is doing great he pees and poops on command outside, but inside his crate he gives no warning that he needs a potty break. During the day I take him out every couple hours and have stuck to the crate training. But at night, he pees in his crate without letting us know he needs to go, even though I wake up acouple of times to take...

My boyfriend and I have 2 dogs, both small ~20 lbs. We acquired both as adults, Robot from a pound and Diesel from an elderly couple that couldn't care for him anymore. The problem we are having is with house training. We have a doggie door, and tried crate-training them. Robot transitioned very well, and we never have any problems with him. Diesel still has accidents in the house, although lately they seem less like accidents. In the mornings, it's almost as if he forgets he can go ...

Hi, My wife and I got your puppy DVDs and religiously followed what have been suggested in your DVDs, eBook, and articles. We understand by now a puppy choosing to pee in the crate is a hard problem to solve. We have a situation where our puppy would not pee outside after good 15-20 min waiting. Then, when she gets in the house, she rushes to her crate "TO PEE." Just today alone, she peed in her crate 2 times and in the kitchen one time. When she did that in the kitchen, we stopped...

Dear Cindy, I have a house training problem with our Bichon Frise who is 2 years old. Since she had her first litter this past July, there are times she will not potty outside. We have a huge backyard, so we let her out when we see her signs of needing to potty. We leave her outside plenty long enough and wait for her to paw at the door before letting her back in. But since the litter, she will come in after being outside, sometimes even an hour or more, depending on the weather a...

Hi Cindy, I really enjoy the newsletters, but have a question I have not seen addressed before. I currently have a Great Dane, my 5th of the breed and the 4th that I got as an adult from rescue. Now that I am working a business from my home, I am thinking that when my dog passes (he is very sweet, but 6-1/2 with very poor conformation, a crooked back, and cardiomyopathy, and they generally average only 7 to 9 years) I may see about getting a puppy. I have not used crates for my big...

Hi! I have a male Black Lab (3 years old). I'm trying to train him to go poop in a certain area of the yard so my kids (ages 4 and 1) don't step in his messes when they are playing. I've tried a lot of positive reenforcement when he goes where I want him to. I've even tried putting a temporary fence around our yard so he only has access to the areas I want him to go. The positive reenforcement worked when I could take him to the spot, but the first chance he got to go in the yard, ...

We have a 16 week old puppy, who has just become house broke; however, she will only "do her business" outside if we are standing out there with her. We also have two small children who can't be left alone while we are outside with our puppy & it's too cold to take them out with us. If we put our puppy outside by her self she just stays on the steps & whines. She will not step foot onto the yard unless we're with her. We've even thrown toys & treats out for her, but nothing seems to work. ...

Hi! I have been to your site and really enjoy reading your advice. I have two questions that I am hoping you might be able to answer: With regards to potty training- I live on a three floor walkup and whenever I am about to take the dog outside for a potty break, he never makes to the door without peeing in the lobby first. He is able to hold his bladder for 7-8 hours so I know it is not a matter of control. I just don't think he understands the difference between peeing ins...

Hi, I am writing because I need some input about a potty training problem. I have 2 of your videos and I have a 7 month old chi/pom. He has been doing good potty training in his crate. I started that when I got him at 9 weeks. He just recently started to cock his leg up to pee and now for some reason when he is in the house he will some times just stop and do that on the couch or on any of the legs of the furniture and pee. We don't always catch him but we have a few times and ...

Hi Cindy, can you tell me a time frame on how long it takes a puppy to be house trained? I have followed the recommendations of crate training. Our GSD puppy is 19 weeks old. He is not free fed. He is crate trained and is not allowed out of the crate without our watchful eye. I take him, via leash, to a designated area to potty and use the word 'go potty.' He will potty and then we are done. He is not allowed in the house until he has 'emptied' himself. Unfortunately, while he is in the h...

Mr. Frawley, I looked through all your topics and didn't see this one. P.B. is my 7 month old Chihuahua, a Father's Day gift. I am at home 24/7 recovering from brain surgery, but this is not about me. P.B. sleeps by himself in the laundry room with full access to the backyard which he uses faithfully. He always goes outside and never on the floor between the hours of 11:00 p.m. and 5:00 a.m. While in the office/spare bedroom, P.B. was advising me when he needed...

I am not sure how to proceed with Bailey and her potty training. I got Bailey at 7 weeks. She is an 11 week old female Doberman. She came from a good breeder and a clean environment. She has a great personality, learns quickly and is an all around happy, playful puppy. She is crate trained. She is exercised, walked, trained and I play with her every day. At first I thought the constant peeing was her age. After about a week and a half of the relentless peeing I began to real...

Hello. I have read many of the articles you have here and I understand you are a strong believer in crate training. I am a strong believer in whatever will work to solve my problem. I have a St. Bernard that is about 11 months old. No matter what I do he pees where he should not. I began by crate training as you recommended but this soon failed as everytime I would go to the crate he would be laying in a puddle of his urine. I would have to bath him everyday and it wouldn't stop. I moved to l...