hi amanda...

just wanted to share my experience with my puppy... i have a (now) 6 month old GSD and finally i think he has caught on and understands the concept that "outside" is beyond the front door and not beyond his crate... he never soiled his crate but the minute he felt the good old call of nature anywhere inside my house was outside enough for him... so i did the tying of him to me and we just enjoyed walking everywhere indoors together and that works really great!! the problem was the minute i would untie us he wanted to pee so off he went squatting and i went clapping and startling him picked him up and put him outside and he would finish... then i would put him back in his crate and cover it bird style while i cleaned his mess... (he can think about his actions for 2 seconds while he is crated and then go back to chewing on toys... but i think that i have finally mastered the art of "going outside" now if i can find the secret to making him poop without having to walk across the world that would be great specially when its raining... he doesnt care one bit about thunder and lightning or fire works or gun shots around him... he just takes his sweet time to poop...

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.....now if i can find the secret to making him poop without having to walk across the world that would be great specially when its raining... he doesnt care one bit about thunder and lightning or fire works or gun shots around him... he just takes his sweet time to poop...

The exercise is important on many levels, including the fact that it gets the old peristaltic action going. But naturally you'd like less marching through the downpour.

So one client of mine does a bunch of indoor playing when it's really pouring out, around his normal elimination time, *then* takes him out.

I don't want to boast but.... :-P

I had my puppy house broken in about 3 days :-)

Truth be told it was more by accident than anything else. We had brought him in the house and first place we put him on the floor was the kitchen, which has tiles and a door straight to the outside, not like the rest of the house, and he didn't want to leave that part of the house.

I think it's best if the dogs crate is as close to the outside door as possible when house breaking. Also VERY important for me was treating EVERY TIME he went outside with something real tasty like those pet store soft bars or really soft/meaty biscuits.

Every time he went when we started this he looked for his treat, and it didn't take him long to figure out he got it when he was "outside", my keyword which I still use today almost a year later, and didn't get it when he went inside.

By the end of the third day he would sit at the door and paw/cry to get out! SO Cute!

Don't be scared to keep your pup in his crate until house broken provided you take him "outside" often, and try NOT to get frustrated, this will only stress out your pup!

Good outside! Goood outside!!!

John

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I had my puppy house broken in about 3 days :-)

that seems a bit long! <img src="http://www.leerburg.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/laugh.gif" alt="" />

seriously, if you housebreak by the principle that the dog will not, in future, do a behavior he has never experienced, and you make certain he has never experienced it, housebreaking is very quick.

but that means you have to be home with the puppy for the first week you own it.

i don't even use a crate. just a tall cardboard box, open only on top, that is only big enough for the puppy to stand and lie down in. i make a nice bed in there for him. and then i take him outside constantly, always to the same spot.

i do not let him run around outside the box without me watching him like a hawk, and the second i even suspect he needs to go, i whisk him up and take him outside to his spot. i take him out even if he doesn't seem to need it.

three days is plenty of time to get a puppy reliably housebroken with this method. but, you have to stay home and do just about nothing else.

imo, the reason it takes so long to housebreak most dogs is because of paper training. skip the paper training, go directly outside, and it goes much faster.

Hi everyone,

I do have a weird question about house training. Currently my pup is 7 months (as of tomorrow) and she goes to the bathroom outside in my yard. She does have little accidents like when she first comes out of her crate she might get a bit excited if others are around and tinkle about the size of a quarter, I guess this is just her bladder not being strong enough yet.

But the weird thing is when I take her for walks she refuses to go to the bathroom. She will hold it till we get back to my yard. She knows the word "bathroom" as her command to go, but won't do her business when we go for walks. How can I get her to relieve herself beyond my yard?

Kim

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....She will hold it till we get back to my yard. She knows the word "bathroom" as her command to go, but won't do her business when we go for walks. How can I get her to relieve herself beyond my yard?...

You could walk her for long enough so she has to, then praise.

Kimberly, I don't like my dogs to relieve themselves on walks -- I have them take care of their business B-4 we leave my yard & then go again in my yard when we get back from our walk, if they need to (this way there's nothing to clean up out in public & no neighbors getting mad that their bushes or lawns were "baptised")...

I Have to agree about having the pup do his business before leaving the yard for a walk. I really don't like cleaning up after other people's puppies, I would only presume my neightbors feel the same. =0) I'm still pushing forward with this - he doesn't seem to mind being on a tether at all ... although we're still working on it. =0)

I just wish she felt it was ok to urinate outside, defecating can still be in the yard. Sometimes on walks she'll start to whine a bit because I might be talking to someone for a long period of time and I know this is because she has to pee <img src="http://www.leerburg.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/frown.gif" alt="" />

I don't see anything "wrong" with a dog doing it's business on a walk... I always carry bags with me just in case. My neighbor accross the road has a terriable habit of allowing his poodle to do his business in MY driveway none the less. I clean up after it all the time, I find it very annoyning. But I know not all fur-parents are like this. Just the few that are... well.. should be ashamed of themselves.