We've had our 13 week old golden retriever puppy for a month and she's been crate trained for about 3 weeks now...she won't go to the bathroom in there at all, so as soon as she comes out of the cage I take her directly outside to the same potty spot we go to all the time. I praise her like mad with the "good girl"...however, once she comes back inside, she'll pee again within a half hour, without having had any water! I always watch her when she's out of her cage, but she has NO problem going right when I'm watching. I use a very firm "NO" when I catch her and I definitely think shes knows the difference between NO and good girl...but she doesn't seem to be learning. She still pees everywhere. I just don't understand how crate training was so simple and now I'm starting to think it's impossible to house train her, since we don't want to keep her in the crate all the time (if we're at home).

Maybe I'm just overestimating her learning ability...how long does it take to housetrain puppies?

A pup not being fully house trained at 13 weeks is nothing to worry about.

Tethering the dog to me was like magic. Even a puppy won't normally pee right at your feet, they want to move away. So the pup will probably start acting anxious and then you can take her out right away.

Good luck.

It takes about 2 years

I have a pup that is 7 mo old and still having occasional problems. It's a pup that's slow to mature in pretty much every area. She was physically unable to hold it for crate training until she was 5 mo old. (She was an outdoor dog for a few months there.)

If she needs to go outside every 1/2 hour then do it. (At least the weather is getting better now!)

Hang in there. It won't last forever (unless you try diapers, litterboxes and puppy pads!)

Totally agree with the tethering comment.
If i were you, I would take her out again after 20 minutes.
Sometimes activity will stimulate a pup to have to relieve themselves again. So even though she has already gone once after you let her out of the crate, being active might be prompting her to go again.

Horray! It's not just me or my pup! :-) Sorry Victoria, but our pup would pee in his crate even.

Sadly it was a bout of diahreah in his 12th week that did the trick. We were outside every 30 minutes! As he wouldn't poop in his crate, or even in my house. But up until that time he would pee anywhere, even if he had to lay in it.

Now at (18) weeks, he will do a very light, very quick whine ... and if I do not put him right out, he will pee where he stands. And if he has the need to go and I'm not listening, the crate, too. But at least now he tries to tell me.

For us, afternoons are when he seems to have to go most frequently. So he might go outside even every hour now. He can hold it at night in his crate for 6 to 8 hours, so that hourly urge thing seems as much to do with wanting to go outdoors, IMO.

So, knowing what we've been through and what you stated, I'd bring the pup outside every 30 minutes if you can. And then lengthen it to 45 mins or an hour after some success. My vet told me the same thing and I didn't do it. I was afraid that I would create a need to go out that often. But after doing it by necessity, it really seems to have done the trick.

Good Luck

My pup peed every 10 minutes. Literally. Peed in the crate n all if I didn't get to it in time. The key is to just be consistent n it'll work itself out. If your pup pees within 30 minutes of coming back in, then take the pup out AGAIN after 20 minutes! Make all the pups playtime outside, n the only time spent inside is in the crate. At 13 weeks old the pup should be sleeping most of the day anyway. Crate -> Outside -> Crate -> Outside -> Crate.... constantly. Playtime is Outside. Sleep is inside.

Sometimes it's not obvious, but remember to not give her free choice water. Pups overdrink and can just pee all day if you let them drink all day.
Remember urine should be as close to light yellow or clear to know if they are hydrated enough, so take away the free water access as long as her urine remains the correct color and she gets short frequrnt water access instead.
If you are already doing this then.. well, your pup just likes to pee. lol

 Quote: Mike J Schoonbrood

My pup peed every 10 minutes. Literally. Peed in the crate n all if I didn't get to it in time. The key is to just be consistent n it'll work itself out. If your pup pees within 30 minutes of coming back in, then take the pup out AGAIN after 20 minutes! Make all the pups playtime outside, n the only time spent inside is in the crate. At 13 weeks old the pup should be sleeping most of the day anyway. Crate -> Outside -> Crate -> Outside -> Crate.... constantly. Playtime is Outside. Sleep is inside.

Does this apply to apartments as well?

 Quote: Victoria Jones

 Quote: Mike J Schoonbrood

My pup peed every 10 minutes. Literally. Peed in the crate n all if I didn't get to it in time. The key is to just be consistent n it'll work itself out. If your pup pees within 30 minutes of coming back in, then take the pup out AGAIN after 20 minutes! Make all the pups playtime outside, n the only time spent inside is in the crate. At 13 weeks old the pup should be sleeping most of the day anyway. Crate -> Outside -> Crate -> Outside -> Crate.... constantly. Playtime is Outside. Sleep is inside.

Does this apply to apartments as well?

Still pretty much Crate > Outside > Crate > Outside. If playtime is sometimes inside, you are still right there with the dog.... accidents are not happening w/o you. And I agree with the people who say that tethering is like magic. When you are able to catch any possible error before it even happens, swoop the dog outside and praise at the outside job, training moves along very fast.