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  1. #1
    Join Date
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    Default How long did your puppy take to house-train? Any tips or tricks?

    My five month old Boxer is a great dog but still giving us issues with house training. She is outside a good part of the day, and we let her out frequently, too, but this morning, at 5am (!) she proceeded to both poop and pee inside after she went outside. I'm a bit at my wits end and wonder why i am inept at this--perhaps I need to hire someone to come in and train her? Is this job outsourcable?

    Our vet said to confine her to a room. We do this via a baby gate when no one is home and she does NOT go there. But when we are home, we let her mingle with the family because she is so social, and well, this happens.

    We had a crate when we were in the city, but she would have accidents outside, as well. We no longer use a crate because this single room thing sort of worked. Until I am elbow deep in dog poop at 5 am. Please help!

  2. #2
    o_mom is offline Pink Diamond level (15,000+ posts)
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    IMO 5 months is too young to have free reign of the house, even when you are home. I would crate or confine her when you cannot directly supervise (night, when you are gone, etc.). When you are with her but not playing or training, keep her on a leash clipped to your belt. That limits her ability to sneak off. Also, make sure you teach her how to tell you she needs to go out. Some jingle bells on the door are easy. Just jingle them every time you open the door... you can work up to getting her to do it.

    Was the poop this morning in her room or was she roaming free? If it was in her room, then go back to a crate.

    Can you hear her from your bedroom if she needs to go out in the night? If not, consider a monitor so she can alert you.

  3. #3
    oneontheway is offline Platinum level (1000+ posts)
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    A big thing for us was to watch and make sure they go before you let them back in and if they don't they go back to the crate(in your case her room). I was letting her into the fenced yard for a good period of time thinking she had to have gone but I guess they get distracted. Once I started watching we rarely had any accidents. It is a total pain since it can take a while but worth it in the long run. Good luck.
    DS 2005
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    and a Junebug in 2013

  4. #4
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    Most dogs are not capable of being house trained for at least six months. Just like babies, they do not have that kind of control over their bodily functions. The best way to house train a dog is crate training. The dog stays in the crate and comes out a minimum of every 1.5 hours to potty first and then play. When you take the dog outside, use a potty word like "do your business" or something. The dog will associate that word with going, and later will be able to go quickly (which is great in the rain!) Don't expect too much of your youngster, though! Five months is still very young.

    ETA: when you are house training, you should take the dog out on a leash, even if you have a fenced yard. You should be there to say your potty word and gently praise the dog (not too excitedly) for going. Once your dog is a little older, s/he can go out by him or herself.
    Last edited by 123LuckyMom; 07-25-2013 at 08:10 AM.

  5. #5
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    Here's a good article on house training from the humane society.

    http://m.humanesociety.org/animals/d...g_puppies.html

    Don't worry if you haven't followed this method until now. You can start over, and all will be well!

  6. #6
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    Yes that is early to not expect accidents if the puppy has a large area to roam. For the first 6 months or so, whenever we took our puppy out for bathroom breaks it was always done on a leash. Lead them to the area you want them to use and just hang out there until they go. If they don't them, then I would kennel for 30 minutes or so and try again.

    Ann

  7. #7
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    [QUOTE=o_mom;3837232]

    Was the poop this morning in her room or was she roaming free? If it was in her room, then go back to a crate.

    [QUOTE]

    It was while she was roaming free, but after we let her outside. I realise one of our mistakes is giving her free rein of the house--we only confine her to a room when we leave the house. She sleeps in our room at night (not the confinement room) but does not go there. She goes to the kids rooms instead and poops there! Thank goodness for hardwood floors.

  8. #8
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    Yes, too early to expect no accidents and too early for free reign of the house. We got our puppy at 10 weeks old and he was house trained 6 months later so about 7.5-8 months old, but we did all the housetraining tips to a T.

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