We brought home our 9 week old GSD puppy last Friday. She definitely gets the idea of "go potty" - will almost squat on cue, but what I learned yesterday is that she doesn't finish the "job" in one sitting.

I took her out yesterday afternoon. After she went, I brought her in and tethered her to me. Within 5 minutes she peed in the house. I caught her, took her outside, praised like crazy when she finished. We went inside and tethered again. It happened again. This time I stayed outside for another 20 minutes as she peed all over the yard in tiny squats - running/walking/playing around between them.

What I have done today is spend plenty of time outside playing (and peeing) praising like an idiot (hopefully none of my neighbors are watching), maybe 30-45 minutes at a time. Once we come in, I only let her spend maybe 5 minutes with me and then she goes in the crate for about an hour. She's never messed up in her crate.

My question is am I encouraging a bad habit of taking a long time - confusing play time with potty time? Or should I let her go just once and then immediately crate her? And then repeat that every 15 minutes or so?

Kiera is getting there and I realize it's only been a few days. Just don't want to fail her so quickly and looking for advice!

i think thats up to you. i have had adults that would pee 2-3 separate times in the am, and if i didn't give that to them, they would go in the house(unless i crated them as soon as coming inside). if you don't mind/care, then i wouldn't worry, as the pup may grow out of it.

I am tethering's biggest fan.

I can't remember ever having a puppy that young.

I am sure the puppy people will chime in here with lots of advice.

However, I don't think tethering is the problem. (Actually, I am certain that the tethering is not the problem.)

I think the general consensus is that potty-ing is considered to be business. When having LOTS of trouble potty training a six month old, I made the potty all business.

It takes a schedule, is my humble opinion, although I am not an expert.

What also helped me (and, to re-iterate, I had LOTS of problems with a very difficult breed) was to keep a diary/log of when she went, if she went, what she ate, when she ate it, etc.

Then I could look back on it to get a better feel of when she should go, etc.

9 weeks is very young, but I know some of the puppy peeps will give you good advice.

Hi Lisa welcome to the board!

I would keep the potty sessions all business - and yes - they tend to go more than once so take your time and smell the roses along the way!

If you do not keep them all business then the day will come where it's pouring rain and you want the dog to do their business so you can get back in the house. If you train them that potty time is play time then you'll end up getting soaked. I think you'll get the picture.

If you haven't already - get your hands on a copy of the Establishing Pack Structure with the Family Pet and the DVD Your Puppy 8 weeks to 8 Months.

These are wonderful references for you and cover quite a bit of information that you will certainly find of value during the puppy stages.

The first video I mentioned covers crating, play time, potty time, etc very well and puts it in a perspective that would take many pages to reproduce.

Bottom line is, tethering is great and necessary but if you just received the dog then crating more than tethering would help establish you as the pack leader. This is ONLY for the beginning stages of pack structure training. After that tethering comes into play.

A pooch that young needs to go out and relieve himself fairly often - I would take him out once every hour or hour and a half for the next week or so.

JM2C - others I'm sure will chime in as well.

Edited by Peter Marek (07/06/2009 03:35 PM)
Edit reason: added more information

Hi Peter,

That made so much sense! Crating is more of a priority right now in these first weeks, then tethering will have its place later, right?

So if I take her out every hour and then back into the crate keeping it more serious, how do I work in play time with her?

I actually have these videos, but focused on other things like vaccines, food, introducing her to our other dog. I don't know what I was thinking by not concentrating on house training before now - my other dog was amazing. One of the few who nearly trained herself. Oh well, doing it now. Thanks for you suggestions!!

Lisa,

Right now I would watch the videos. Concentrate on establishing pack structure. There will be PLENTY of time for play in a couple weeks once the doggie begins to "get it".

Take him to a designated spot for potty. Then take him back in - put him in his crate for a short while - then take him out again but this time to a different spot and play a little. after play - take him to the potty spot to "go" and then back in the crate for some down time.

And most of all - HAVE FUN !

Edited by Peter Marek (07/07/2009 12:33 PM)
Edit reason: Added info

I watched the Pack Structure and parts of the Puppy videos today and it reaffirmed what you are saying. Right now it's most important to establish pack structure and that has a lot to do with crate training. I was trying to get ahead of myself. The culprit was puppy cuteness.

I took her for two walks today (up to the corner and back - all of two houses). I felt like I was pulling her along and then she wanted to sprint all the way back. Plus, she was very timid when cars went by. Too early for this?

Thanks to all of you for your advice and supportive words! It's nice not to feel so alone in this!

Edited by Lisa Harvey (07/07/2009 08:22 PM)
Edit reason: added lines

 Quote: Lisa Harvey

I took her for two walks today (up to the corner and back - all of two houses). I felt like I was pulling her along and then she wanted to sprint all the way back. Plus, she was very timid when cars went by. Too early for this?

Mine did EXACTLY the same thing - was very cautious when moving away from the house and when going back it was like he couldn't wait to get back and had to run to get there.

It's just a temporary thing. Puppy being unsure of new territory and when it sees (or smells) home it wants to get back quickly.

You can and should take your pup to new places all the time. I wouldn't pull her though. Coax her along or apply a small presseure to her back side to get her moving forward again if she seems stuck. If it seems like the pup is staring into space gie her a little time - she's probably working through her issues with moving forward. Patience!

Also try to keep in mind that you are new to her too. Does she trust you enough yet to be comfortable in going new places with you - probably not - she's got a lot to work through in her little head. But it will all come with time and consistency on your part.

 Quote: Lisa Harvey

Plus, she was very timid when cars went by.

I have an adult dog who passionately hates cars. This will take months if not years of working on to solve this problem, if it can even be solved for him.

My advice is DO NOT let a 9 week old baby be frightened of cars, you will be setting yourself up for a problem later.

My dog thinks cars are out to get him, so he has to get them first. Fear based aggression is not pretty and not easy to fix.

Take the puppy to a parking lot where cars will be driving slowly and you can stand a distance away. Carry your puppy in your arms, bring a fun toy and some treats. Place the puppy down a safe distance from the cars (on leash, of course) and play a game and do fun marker training and give him lots of treats. You can do this in your front yard, too, if you can stand a distance from the road where he is not scared.

Your goal is to teach the puppy that cars are a neutral part of his world, not scary at all; but playing with YOU is fun!

I did that a few times with my youngest dog when he was a puppy and he is completely neutral with cars. (He is now 22 months).

Peter, nice to know it's just a puppy thing.

Angela, I did pick her up while on the walk, when it happened the first time. Just wasn't sure if I was encouraging her to be more afraid, like telling her - yes, they are to be feared.

Later we were in the front yard and a garbage truck came by moving slowly and making stops - but much bigger than those scary cars and making much louder noises. She seemed intrigued. So we camped in my front yard. She sat in my lap and watched the whole thing as I held her close. Once they turned the corner, we went back to playing. She was better with that experience.

Next time I'll try to play with her/do something more fun while the whole thing is going on. Like you said, I want her neutral to them!