We have just bought a 8 week old golden retriever boy pup and its our first baby , we are unsure of some things like toilet training and where we should let him in the house!

We have put his bed in the kitchen and put a baby gate on the door and some paper down. We let him look round downstairs and gave him lots of cuddles, then feed him and put him to bed. In the morning we took him out for a wee and later a poo which he did and let him go out lots with us in the garden but when he came in he did a poo, we cleaned it up and he stayed in the front room with us, he went for a sleep when he got up he did a wee just inside the front room door before we could take him out, then later he came in from out side and did a poo in the same place and later another wee and again he had been outside!

I read some of the messages on the board and they say about keeping them in one place only but isn't that lonely or can i let him come in with us?

I leave his water for him out all the time but should I not do this?

Any good tips on how to get him to go in the right place?

Hi js, welcome to the Forum! :)
Your pup sounds lovely, and it's clear you want to do the best with him. An excellent book to buy is "The Perfect Puppy" by Gwen Bailey, which shows the easiest and kindest way to train a puppy, and is a book I recommend to all my puppy buyers.

The quickest way I've found to housetrain a pup is to literally watch him all the time he is awake. Take him outside as soon as he wakes up in the morning, shortly after each feed, after playing, after a nap, and last thing at night (plus at least once an hour as well). Decide what 'instruction' you are going to use for a wee and a poo (I use "busy" for a wee, and "hurry up" for a poo), and when you see him do it (outside) say this word, then give him lots of praise when he's finished. He'll soon learn what you mean.

If he messes indoors, say nothing, just clear it up, and wipe the area down with either a solution of biological washing powder or one of the proprietary puppy-mess cleaners to remove the smell (which you may not notice, but he certainly will).

Of course you can let him come in with you - only keep him in one area of the house if you are going to be there too, or else you won't be able to watch him properly! And definitely leave water available for him all the time - it's vital for his health. He may not want to drink it, but it must be his choice.

Good luck. Puppies are hard work, but they are very rewarding.
:)

Thanks for the tips we'll give them a try.

He is a wonderful boy!

hi
i've been using puppy pads to toilet train our pup and they've been a godsend! they have a water proof backing and a deoderiser,and something on them to attract the puppy.i started off by covering the whole of the floor, by 12 weeks i was down to just having to put 2 down on the floor. wash the spot he's already been with some white vinegar its quite good at getting rid of the odour which the puppy can still smell even after washing.

The problem with this method is it teaches the puppy it's OK to go inside and does nothing about encouraging them to go outside :(

do you wanna bet if theres no puppy pad down she does'nt go ,and will ask to go out ,yesterday she was even pawing at the door to go out,i've used this method with every pup i've had and they have all got clean and would'nt dream of going inside!

personally, I've always used JG's method, and my Basset boy is 9 1/2 weeks and rarely has any accidents in house. He mostly sits at the door, or I recognise the signs.....
Good luck

Hi there, I am very confused youre all talking about taking your pup outside to go toilet but i have been told pups cannot go in the garden until all his vacinations are complete, and even then to leave it a week after his 12 week injection.

Pups should be fine to go in your garden, as long as no other dogs get in.
I've always put my pups straight into the garden, and never had any problems.

Lisa its quite ok for the puppy to use your own garden.Its the outside world where the danger is when vaccinations arent complete.

Cheryl

I have a 9 week old Cavalier King Charles bitch - i know its early days, but we're using the pup pads to help housebreak and i think they're a good idea. (For one thing, Ruby goes on a pad 99% if she has to go inside & it means there's no mess on carpet to attract her back to that spot later.) We've got her in an exercaise pen/indoor kennel overnight and when we have to do other stuff and have one pad (but folded down to about half size) in a corner, which she ALWAYS goes on if she has to go in her cage. Then we have a pad by the back door when she's not in cage, ie most of the time. we nearly always recognise the signs that she wants to go - circling & intent sniffing, plus general agitation (esp if she wants a poo) in vincinity of pad.

She sniffs around & is a bit agitated for AGES before doing a poo (whether inside, before i take her out or actually outside) - will this get better as she gets older? Also I am only using one command ("Ruby, toilet!") for both wees and poos - would it be better to use different commands? Also she sniffs over a v large area - much wider than a pavement say - before she goes. Will this get better as she gets older?

Also - at the mo, she hates soiling in her cage. If she's in there then she whines a tiny bit before she has to go, but if it does wake me up, I can't start going to let her out - I'm tired enough from minding her in hte day never mind breaking my night sleep too! In the day, we occasionally miss a sign that she wants to go while in cage so she ends up going on the pad in there - do you think this is a recipe for training her that its ok to go inside and ok to soil her cage? She generally seems pretty good adn i think she's holding herself from bedtime until @ 6am, so hopefully with a few more weeks she'll be able to wait until we get up.

SOrry - know there are loads of Qs, but this is our first ever dog and i don't want to mess up (ha ha - sorry, bad joke) in training her now, its not fair on her or me. But she's ADORABLE, the cutest thing ever. Well worth all the work :)!

When I tried puppy pads, little devil just picked it up and ran around shaking it! Thought it was a brilliant toy!

lmao Filis :D :D

Well Sooty has a habit of making the effort of going onto the mat but not in the centre and when she wees...it's half on the mat and half on the carpet!!! She has also wee'd on the chair and it has gone through the foam, does anyone know how i can clean this? I have washed the cover but the foam is still in the cupboard and the strange thing is i can't smell any wee of it! Can i clean it or do i have to search for another piece of foam? HELP!

hi

you could try washing it in a biologicol washing powder then while its still wet spray with odour eliminator which you can get from your vet,smells really nice and gets rid of the odour . puppys are hard work to begin with don't you think???

lol...they are hard work aren't they?!!! Gotta love them though!!

I agree (again) with JG.

I learned a trick from my breeder...and that was, to start off with the newspaper in the kitchen, and after the pup has eaten, woken up, and every hour, put pup on the paper, and (I personally) say 'Empty'
Over a few days, I gradually move the paper closer to the back door....saying 'Empty' all the time..(it's not easy, and you have to watch them all the time) eventually the paper is moved outside and pup will cry to go out.
It's worked for mine....and I've recommended it to my new owners....they've all had good results.

Take care

Lisa