Ok - I have had my 12 week old puppy on a tether and/or in a crate for the past 4 weeks and we have only had one accident in the house because I take him out frequently and pay attention to his signals. My questions is, if he is never allowed any freedom, how do I know that he is actually housebroken and not just going because I am taking him out all the time? He doesn't have any opportunity to go to the door to let me know he has to potty. Leerburg says he has dogs that had to be tethered from 18 mos to 4 years. When do you know that it's time to give them freedom and see if they know how to go outside?

"Leerburg says he has dogs that had to be tethered from 18 mos to 4 years."

You mean Ed Frawley? Can you link me to this so I can get the context?


About the rest of the question, I think you're saying how do you know when you can start to reduce the frequency of trips outside? Is that right?

It's only one question. What I'm asking is that since FRAWLEY recommends keeping puppies tethered and/or crated pretty much for the first 2 years of their life - the dog is not able to go to the door on his own to show you he needs to go out. I don't know what you would like me to link you too - it's his entire concept that is shown on his DVD of how to raise a puppy from 8 weeks to 8 months and some of his eBooks. He indicates that a dog may need to be treated this way for up to 4 years old depending on their behavior.

I refer to him as LEERBURG because everything on this site (including the url for the site is LEERBURG.

IMO, puppies earn freedom and privileges gradually. Perhaps the first step is being allowed off the tether indoors when he is confined in a room with you for an hour, then walked outside and allowed to pee off leash, with you standing there to praise.

Or maybe after you've just come back inside after going (so you know the risk of an inside accident is low) and puppy gets free run of the house for 20 minutes.

The key with this, as in all puppy training, is to set the pup up for success I'm the exercise. Don't push it any farther than you are sure he will succeed. If he fails, (has an accident inside) then you went too far and need to back up to where you were in the last step.

At 12 weeks old, I doubt if any puppy is ready for much earned freedom. I'd get 2-3 months of 100% success with always peeing and pooping outdoors before thinking about starting to give much indoor freedom. Use this time to completely ingrain in the pup how much you LOVE it when he goes outside. Now's the time to add a command word to peeing and pooping too--since he's reliably going when you take him out, add a word to it (I use "hurry up").

Some puppies are ridiculously easy to housetrain. My GSD never once peed or pooped inside. But that didn't mean he had the run of the house for a loooong time. There's still a lot of trouble a pup can get onto without supervision or containment. Like destroying things, or swallowing something dangerous.

Sounds like you and your pup are on the right track. Just keep it up and don't push it until you are sure he's ready, and then go slow.

Great post, Tracy.

 Quote: lynne barrows

Great post, Tracy.

Yup. Ditto!

Also, " He indicates that a dog may need to be treated this way for up to 4 years old depending on their behavior" ..... I see. I read too fast and thought of four years as a norm (which of course it's not) rather than the clear "up to".

But Tracy has explained it all perfectly.