Am I really potty training him this way? HELP

[JaXon]

I thought Jaxon was making huge improvements because he was not having as many accidents in the house. Then i realized that I was actually doing better because the times he is not in his crate, i take him outside. Is that really potty training him though? I feel like I am just crating him until its time to go outside... then a little play time and back in the crate. How will he ever learn to HOLD IT outside of the crate? Am I really potty training this way?

[Karrie]

It seems the books tell us to do it that way....

Our approach was to let Bailey have the run of a room (blocked off) where she couldn't get behind something - and then watch her. The idea was to catch her in the act and correct her mistake. We wanted her to tell us that she needs to go outside and potty. If we couldnt give her our undivided attention, then she was in the crate.

So, when she started to potty in the house - we'd scoop her up, tap the bell and say "outside". Praised her when she'd potty. We kept this up and after about two months - she was ringing the bell on her own.

You said something earlier about being in an apartment 4 floors up? Have you considered litter box training (maybe with pee pads in the box?)

Good luck!

[yoyo27]

Your doing right. It just takes awhile and they will learn. You can put them in an xpen if you would like to give them more freedom. U just need to watch and catch them if they go to pee and get them outside.

[JaXon]

Karrie- WONDERFUL memory! I am on the 4th floor which makes it hard to run down 56 steps... When i do take him out he goes immediately andi give him a treat and i praise him like he just jumped through a flaming hoop...but sometimes in those 30 minutes that i let him play after he has peed and pooped, he will go in a random spot in the house and pee. I have started keeping him in the same room as me with the door closed but when I open the door to grab something in another room, or to use the b-room, thats when he jets out and goes in the house.

I definitely do not expect perfection out of him yet but you did your lil girl in two months... I am trying to do it that fast too ( I know it depends on the dog)

[Karrie]

Yep - they sure are fast!!!! So fast, that we put Bailey in a crate if we turned away - even if just for a sec. An accident is a missed training opportunity and can really set ya back.

I'm sure the crate training works - and we did use a hybrid of that method - but I didn't want to miss all her her puppyhood in a crate. Another thing I did was lay down blankets in the family room and washed them after every accident to 1) save the carpet and 2) remove the odor to prevent repeat accidents.

I was "obsessed" with potty training - fortunatley, we have a wonderful lil girl and was pleased with the results.

[missdesis]

Originally Posted by Karrie

It seems the books tell us to do it that way....

Our approach was to let Bailey have the run of a room (blocked off) where she couldn't get behind something - and then watch her. The idea was to catch her in the act and correct her mistake. We wanted her to tell us that she needs to go outside and potty. If we couldnt give her our undivided attention, then she was in the crate.

So, when she started to potty in the house - we'd scoop her up, tap the bell and say "outside". Praised her when she'd potty. We kept this up and after about two months - she was ringing the bell on her own.

You said something earlier about being in an apartment 4 floors up? Have you considered litter box training (maybe with pee pads in the box?)

Good luck!

I forgot about the bell idea until I read your post. I head that from somewhere else before. I think I am going to try that one out with the new guy. My JW used to just lick you in the face, persistently, when he wanted something. You knew it was either a treat or to go outside. But I dont know how we got him to do that... I think he trained us