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Originally Posted by luvmyYorkieJack  Hey everyone. We live in an apartment but we are having the hardest time potty training our little Jack (he is almost 6 months old and we brought him home three weeks ago). We bought him from a breeder but I don't think she was much of a breeder at all. If I recall correctly she might have said she doesn't let the puppies outside. It should have set off a redflag for me but he was just too darn cute. I have a feeling he was use to going potty inside but I bet it wasn't on potty pads because he never uses them! He went about 4 or 5 days without having an accident with me but when my husband or brother is here and Jack is out of his kennel he consistantly has accidents. He just had two accidents today with me and he was out not even two hours before it occured. Is there anything I can do to get him to always go outside? I really want to eliminate the idea of him going potty under the roof.
Just to give you an idea how many times a day he goes out are..... 8:30-9 (whenever I get up but usually 8:30), then again at like 1, and again at 6 and finally for the night at like 11. He sleeps in the bed with us and has never had an accident at night so we are allowing him to continue sleeping on the bed. |
First off, you might want to try posting this in a new thread so that people will see it more easily.
Second, it's great that the breeder did not let her puppies outside. I'm sure there were other signs but that alone is not a bad thing. It's important for puppies to be protected by staying indoors until they have finished all of their shots. When we got Franklin, he stayed inside for 2 whole months before we let him outside. Part of that was due to him getting sick and delaying his vaccinations.
Third - as far as training goes, something that has REALLY helped me was to find a treat that REALLY motivates them. Franklin and Maggie go absolutely nuts over cheese so I always take a piece of cheese with me. When the potty, I tear off little pieces and treat them with it. That is the ONLY time they get cheese. Now when they potty (even if it's inside
), they look up to us for the cheese. You also really need to be taking him out more often to prevent accidents. We take Franklin (who is 10 months) and Maggie who is (3 1/2 years) out every two hours when we're home. When we're not, they go out first thing in the morning, first thing when we get home (they are crated), and then before we put them up in their crate and before bedtime. I'm sure they could hold it longer but I prefer to be safe... they go every time so it's not a problem for us.
Another thing I REALLY advocate is clean clean clean! If you can completely rid the smell of urine, there will be less motivation for him to pee. Get a blacklight, a good enzyme cleaner, and a steam cleaner. The blacklight will be able to tell you every spot that you've missed cleaning. Once you find those spots, saturate them with an enzyme cleaner such as Nature's Miracle, Simple Solution, or PetZyme. The enzymes will actually eat away at the particles that get stuck in the fibers of your carpet. Let it dry overnight and then clean the stain with a steam cleaner.
Confinement is my last suggestion. If you are not in a position where you cannot keep an eye on him EVERY SINGLE SECOND to stop him in case he starts to pee, then he needs to be in an ex-pen. Buy baby gates and gate him into the room where you are so that you can see him at all times. The minute you see a potty sniff, take him outside.
Good luck!
It takes patience and time. You've only had him for 3 weeks. It's taken us almost 7 months to potty train Franklin. Your dog is still a puppy, he will have accidents.. it's a fact.