My brother and I were having a debate about housebreaking. I had Enoch tethered to me and he urinated in the house. I clapped my hands, said no and picked him up and took him outside. My brother's argument was that he needed to make a mistake and be corrected so he could understand that it is not okay to urinate in the house. Do you guys agree with this? Is it going to take us longer to housebreak him because of this mistake? He turned 11 weeks old yesterday. He uses the bathroom when we say go potty and he goes to the same spot outside but I'm not sure he understands that it is not okay to use the bathroom inside the house. He is crate trained and will bark and jump up when he needs to go outside.

Maisha - I personally do not feel it is beneficial for the puppy to go in the house to be corrected. I don't correct puppies. It is not the puppy's fault if I am not paying attention and it pees in the house, the puppy does not know yet that it is not supposed to do that and so I don't correct for it.

One time should not affect the house training much but be extra vigilant. When I have a puppy tethered to me I am constantly looking back to the puppy every second or two if not just fixated on them 100%. If I cannot focus on the puppy, they are in the crate so as not to allow for accidents in the house.

P.S. - what schedule is he on for potty breaks? Is he on a schedule? I noticed you say he jumps and barks to go outside - is that just at night or all the time? I would have him on a set schedule so that he does not need to tell you and risk having an accident I take puppies that young out to potty every hour or hour and a half, and every 2 hours at night until 12 weeks which then switches to every 2 hours during the day and every 3 hours at night. But this depends on the pup, too!!

In Ed's video he says if you see the puppy pee yell No and pick the puppy up and take him outside. If you miss him doing it then it's too late to correct and move on. So I actually saw him peeing and yelled no and took him outside and praised him outside.

I think you're right about the schedule. We need to take him out more frequently. We take him out after play, eating and sleeping. Do you wake him up if he is sleeping to take him out? I think we don't do it as frequently because he sleeps so much! He plays hard and then boom he is asleep for a long time. Also we just verbally praise him. Do you think we should start treating him when we take him outside?

By the way Happy Birthday!!!

Maisha,

I think you are doing just fine. Just make sure to watch him closer while tethered.

I house train all my dogs per Ed's advice and they do put two and two together in a fairly short amount of time.
I do not wake my puppies up to take them out. As soon as they wake up, I give them a few minutes to just lay there and then go over and take them out.

At night, I do get up and usually find a puppy quietly staring at me as I walk towards the crate....sometimes they are sleeping so I will sit and surf or read a book until they wake up, then take them out.

Just my preference to not wake them up.

Wanted to add, that at middle of the night potties, I stay pretty quiet and non-playful. I do praise and give a food reward, but I want the puppy to know that I do not rough house at 3am....it is more of a "do your business and back to bed" break.

 Quote: maisha butler

We need to take him out more frequently. We take him out after play, eating and sleeping. Do you wake him up if he is sleeping to take him out? I think we don't do it as frequently because he sleeps so much! He plays hard and then boom he is asleep for a long time. Also we just verbally praise him. Do you think we should start treating him when we take him outside?

You want the outdoor potty to become ingrained ... a strong habit that is well rewarded until it's second nature.

He doesn't pee in his sleep, right? I'd take him out when he wakes up (a.m. and naps), after eating or drinking, and after play sessions.

Tethering is perfect because there is no way for him to go inside unobserved.

When I train an adoptee who starts to squat or lift a leg inside, I simply pick him up and hustle him out to finish outside, and then throw a party for good potty.

Having trained a lot of "untrainable" dogs, such as dogs who have spent a lifetime in an outdoor kennel and never been inside the house and dogs who were trained to go indoors on piddle pads, I can state with confidence that rewarding for good potty and getting him outside often rather than setting him up for a bad habit (or for corrections) indoors will absolutely work, and work fast, and that the tether (to you, of course; not to an object) is a great aid. Consistency, marking and rewarding wanted behavior -- these work.

Carol,
When I come to take him out in the middle of the night he is awake waiting for me take him out. I don't know if it is because he has to pee or he hears me coming down the stairs and that wakes him up. So who is right, me or my brother? I believe he doesn't have to make a mistake in the house and be corrected to get it. I guess we're just worried because this is our first time house training and we're just worried we're not doing it right.

Do you always stick to a schedule or does a time come when the dog "tells" you when he needs to go to the bathroom?

Carol was posting as I was typing.

 Quote: Maisha Butler

So who is right, me or my brother? I believe he doesn't have to make a mistake in the house and be corrected to get it.

You are. JMO, but long experience backs it up.

 Quote: maisha butler

Do you always stick to a schedule or does a time come when the dog "tells" you when he needs to go to the bathroom?

For now, schedule, and watch the dog closely when potty time gets closer. You will start to pick up on his cues.

I have one who comes and stands in front of me and stares at me, one who trots over to the door and waits, and so on.

My daughter has two Border Terriers (brother and sister), and the female comes and tells her when the male has to go. I'm pretty sure that this is not the norm, but it's pretty funny.

Thank you Maisha!

For me, I may clap only to get the puppy's attention, but at that age my pups don't know the word "No" so it would be pointless for me to say it. If I have a pup out and it pees in the house it's my fault. I think Ed's main point (I don't have that DVD so grain of salt here) could well be that if you don't catch them in the act then corrections are of no use, so if you correct you do when they are in the act.

Praising when outside is great! I mark the behavior and actually teach a potty command ('Go outside' is what I use) for later use. For some reason people find this more amazing than a dog balancing a ball on its nose. "Your dog pees on command?" ... Yeap, and he goes on what I point at.... "Wow. [pause] I don't want to make YOU mad!"

Anyhow, great advice from Carol and Connie of course. I stick to a schedule and I watch the pup's signs and signals. I take a pup out after waking up, every time they come out of their crate from being in there for more than an hour, and after every meal, and if they just drank more than a few laps of water they go out then as well. This becomes a pattern of itself as I have specific feeding times, and a schedule of when the pup is out and when crate time is.

I also prefer not to wake pups up, but I've almost always had a pup that was awake when I sat up. Often my alarm that wakes me up to take the pup out also wakes up the puppy.