I'm new to this so forgive me if I waffle abit. I have a fourteen week old staff who just doesnt seem to be getting the hang of going to the toilet outside. She even has a dog flap in the back door but she just doesnt seem to get it. I've done everything people suggest so far, she is constantly praised when she goes outside. But I cant be with her all the time. Shes taken out twice a day aswell. I know your not supposed to be negative with them but I'm seriously getting fed up of it. Any suggestions?

She is still little. Keep her on lead so that u will know when she has to go out, everywhere u go in the house so does she. When u take her out to go pee u must take her urself, of course she is not going to do it on her own. She is a pup and must be shown, so if that means u taking her to the spot u want her to eliminate 50 times then that is what u have to do. A dog is only as smart as their owner. It's pretty much the same as potty training a child, takes around the same amount of time. A 14 week old pup will not get the hang of a dog flap until she has the house training down pack and well to properly house train a dog it can take 6 months to a year. Good luck.
ttfn :)

Thanx for the reply. Only time will tell!

Emma,
Doll is right -- it takes a lot of time 6+ months sometimes. You have to be patient and to continue taking her out. Perhaps you could confine or crate her during your absence until she matures enough for control.

But just a warning here (from experience :) ). Having a doggy door is a wonderful thing. But unless you actively train your dog to somehow make noise or come to you to ask to be let out, you are likely to have difficulty if the door is shut or you're visiting somewhere else that lacks a dd.

I never thought of this at our last house. Chienne had access to a doggy door from puppyhood. I never really had to train her to go outside since she followed my other two out (Yep, the more, the lazier ;) ) I didn't know that at night time, she'd go out around 3 am every single night for a quick break and then return to her bed.

When we moved here, she was 4 years old and we no longer had a doggy door. If we were downstairs, we could see her sit by the door...but if we were upstairs or asleep, she'd just piddle next to the door. FINALLY she learned to come get me if I'm upstairs and stare at me until I ask her "do you need to go outside?" She'll bounce around and run downstairs :) She was so beta, she didn't want to disturb me :P :P :D

But at night, she's shut into the bedroom with us and sleeps all night in her bed. If she's loose, she'll piddle :( It's almost like sleepwalking. But now that we know, we can deal with it by keeping her with us. There have been times she's woke us up whining, but it's rare.

It's something to think about and perhaps train your dog instead of relying completely upon access to a doggy door :) I'm not the only one who's had this difficulty and I just thought I'd share the future possibility for you.
best wishes for your puppy
toodles

Hi Toodles
Wonder if you, or anyone else, could advise me pls? Our Amber (17 week Lab. pup) sleeps downstairs in the kitchen during the night. Lately (and I admit it's our fault), she's been waking up around 5.30ish, one of us would go downstairs clean up the paper/mess, put her outside (she doesn't normally do anything then) and then take her upstairs (so we can get some more sleep) where she automatically lays down in front of the radiator and goes to sleep until we get up. Yesterday we had a lie in (9.30 which is good for us), she'd woken at 4.15 I brought her upstairs and she lay asleep until we woke which mean't she'd been in our room for just over 5 hrs and hadn't done any wee's or poo's. Now, we're wondering, is now the right time to have her in our bedroom all night (which we wouldn't mind doing), or are we risking her doing the mess on our bedroom carpet and not waking us to let us know she needs to go out? Not sure what's best to do. Should we wait until she's dry during the night? and if so, at what age does this normally happen? She loves being with us all the time when we're in, and we wouldn't mind having her sleep in our room.
Many thanks
Lisa

Hi Lisa,
Well, I think you know I'm a complete advocate of crate training, especially since we travel a bit :) :) We can trust the girls to NEVER make a mistake in a strange place.

Personally, I think that if you get her a crate, make a comfy bed out of it using her auld blankies, put it in your room, place her in it right before going to bed, and shut the gate, EVERYONE will be happy :) :) Tell her to "go to bed" when you put her in each time. It will soon be one of her commands. Very handy, imo ;) :D {She'll settle in quickly imo because the room has been used for sleep before + you'd be doing the same ;) :D)

Trust me, she'll moan or whine when she needs to be let out in the early morning since it's "her" bed and you're nearby... so no more cleanups, for sure... Just use "You need to go outside?" when you open the gate and take her outside. You might clip on a leash a couple of times to make sure she doesn't get ahead of you and piddle before she's let out :)

But she'll still be in the "pack" even though it's not your bed...she's WITH you in YOUR room ;) :)
You can always put a towel over the top of the crate and use it as a nightstand or another type of furniture ;) We did that for several years. Eventually, she'll go in there on her own without any urging from you. When she's completely house trained you can leave off the door, just use the half shell, or get her a regular doggy bed.... but mine like the full 'cave' of the crate in the summer AND winter :rolleyes:
Anyway, it's a thought and my best suggestion :) :) :)
regards,
toodles

Hi Sara

We did everything just as you describe regarding having the crate in the bedroom and I can vouch for the fact that this approach does work - well it certainly did for us :)

Joyce

Lisa, when amber is with you up your nice staires, it is highly unlikely she will do any mess as she knows mummy and daddy are there. Let her out for a wee and a poo, the last thing befor you go to bed, and take her up with you, that way hopfully you wont get woke up till the sun is shining,(not at the mo). good luck my dear and i hope you dont get any thing between your toes. lol

Debbie x

Hi Lisa - we have our pup in our room at night otherwise he howls the house down and he's very well behaved - we use those special training pads and leave it by the bedroom door, bless him he uses it every time, he has a pillow by the side of the bed and curls upp contentedly on that!!

Hi Toodles, Jacqui and Debbie
Many many thanks for your advice. I think we'll give it a try tonight, especially when we won't be going to bed until after 12! She seems content to lay there when we bring her up early morning, so hopefully she'll go all through without doing anything. If she does, then we will just have to persevere until she gets through that stage.
Thank again.
Lisa

Well, we had Amber with us all night last night and she didn't do a thing. She was great, even when our youngest woke up at 6.45 I wanted to take her downstairs for a wee but she just looked at me as if to say "I'm lying next to the radiator, don't disturb me", so I eventually took her back down just after 9, but had to carry her downstairs as she still wouldn't move! She did, however, do a wee as soon as I put her in the garden. Hopefully she'll be OK in the bedroom from now on, still expecting the odd accident though, just in case!
Thanks everyone
Lisa

PS: apologies Emma, I realised that I should have actually put this as a separate post instead of adding it to yours. Sorry!

I have a 13 week old Cairn pup. I also have dog flaps. I go with her outside every time she needs to wee or poo. I praise her and give her a piece of her dry dog food every time she eliminates. You need to do this - otherwise your pup has no indication that going outside to eliminate what you want her to do.

Separately, I trained her to use the flaps by leaving some food on the other side! She is just now able to have some control over eliminating and also just about the size where she can use the dog flaps with ease. There are two she needs to go through to get outside and the last has a step down underneath it, which she is not quite sure about still. She is now starting to pop through the first dog flap when she needs to go, but I am always around to help her with the second.

You say you cannot always be with her all the time, does that mean she is unsupervised, not in a crate or puppy pen, and can relieve herself where she likes? I've mentioned in previous posts, but I also find housebreaking a real pain to get through. I am now just beginning to emerge out of exhaustion from continual supervision of my pup's every move and endless trips outside. I am not cut out for supervigilence, but that's what most pups seem to need to housebreak quickly. It is worth it in the end, of course.

Stacey

Stacey

There is also a Thread if you click on page 3 of behaviour that goes into House Training and further down there is one of Mouthing.

HTH

Dessie :D