My male pup is now 17 weeks old, but we are still having problems with his toilet training. Sometimes he can go for a few days without any accidents, but then at other times, even though we make sure he is out every half to one hour apart, he will wee inside.  He is cage trained and even wees in there, although he likes the cage.  He also has a big bed for when we are in, and twice this week I have washed the cushion in it and as soon as it is replaced, he goes to the bed and wees on it.  Our bitch was trained by 12 weeks and we were warned that males do take longer, but does anyone know what age a puppy should be trained at.  We are still supplying treats and praise when he does the toilet outside, but sometimes after he does it outside, he will come inside and wee straight away.  He has proved he can hold it in at times, so I'm not sure what the problem is.  Any suggestions except for remain patient and persevere?

The only thing you can do is keep praising him when he does his business outside and really tell him off if he does it inside. I know this sounds harsh but when he goes to the toilet inside say no being really firm and put him outside - no contact with anyone (but do keep an eye on him) then clean it up. Wait a few minutes and then let him inside but do not go to him to give praise just a little tickle behind the ear will do once hes been inside a few minutes and not repeated the mess. He will soon learn he will be banished to the garden and no one will play with him if he keeps it up and it will click that if he goes outside he will be praised for good behaviour. But be patient

The problem with "really telling him off if he does it inside" is that he may not want to do it outside when you are watching as he will perceive that he was reprimanded for WHAT he was doing, not WHERE he was doing it.  Putting a dog outside AFTER he has peed in the house could teach him to do it to get you to let him out if he wants to go chase birds or bark at the neighbour.

Briela.  If you take him out regularly make sure that he actually goes before coming back in.  If he is going outside and then coming straight in and doing it it could be that he was interupted before he was finished.  Maybe the anticipation of the treat makes him just do a little bit and you think he's finished and he hasn't. ;) 

HTH

Sally

Sonny

Telling a puppy or any dog off for doing something will not stop the behaviour

The way to correct unwanted behaviour of this type is to clean up & ignore the puppy, when he goes outside lots of praise even a titbit.

How ever smart a dog it they do NOT understand the oral words, they pick up on body language & if you tell them off they pick up a threatening sign & will have the opposite effect to the one you want

This baby is only 17 weeks old which is about 3 1/2 years old in human years, you would not exepect perect behaviour from a child or a puppy at this stage in development.

Patience is the only thing that will help.

& when I say ignore I mean ignore no eye or body contact or acknowledgement from human to dog

The problem with telling hte dog off for doing it inside is often he has already done the deed (if you have not caught him in the act) and so will have forgotten he's done it and even if you s how him his poo and tell him off, it wont make sense to him so you are telling him off for something he's not aware of doing.  I second the ignoring completely and lots of praise when he goes outside. also you could just get into the habit of taking him outside every two hours or so to catch the times he does go and praise him for it.  You should never need to raise your voice to a dog.

when you take your pup out for a wee  tell him each time the same thing  e.g want to go for wee . then walk out side with him . its cold out there  but it  has worked for my greatdanes they dont like winter

Hi,

I think that he is a dominant dog. Dogs in particular, are renowned for marking. Especially when they are moving up the ranks, ie, growing up. You say you have a bitch, well he is marking his territory. Especially since you say that you have washed things, what does he do? mark it up again. I disagree with the advice of not telling him off, if you dont and just ignore it, how will he ever learn? The fact that he goes out and relieves himself and then comes in and does it again reinforces the fact that he is marking. Unfortunately some dogs are like this, bitches can be the same, i have had the misfortune to experience both! It is highly unusual to pee inside his cage, most will not soil their small space but it is not unheard of. Have you tried washing and cleaning up the area with soda crystals? If you use a bleach based substance it has ammonia in it that is present in dogs urine so they will continue to try and mark over it. It is worth a try and keep putting him out at every opportunity, dogs generally wish to please and dont like to be in the "dog house" ,with maturity he should get the message, hope this helps :-)

i have the same problem with ella and she's like 6 months old...im a bit of a novice at the whole dog thing (i keep tarantulas..which are a bit easyer to house train lol) but i have learned this...i told ella off when she peed  in the house when she was small and now she seems to think that its bad to wee...at all, she does go outside when we walk her and she gets the hugest praise for it but she still goes in the house...how do i get her to understand that i dont want her to stop weeing at all...just to do it outside??

Our pup took a while!  I used to sit outside in the cold for nearly an hour, when she wouldn't go I would take her inside and she would wee...As I mopped that up she would poo!  I nearly cried at times!!  BUT, one day she just got it at about 16 weeks...What we did was take her out every 10 minutes (literally) when she woke up, after a play, after a drink.  We also used a clicker and clicked for a wee followed by a treat - of course if she did this in the house she got nothing...I rarely told her off as I didn't want her to become shy about going in front of me.  Also as a pup she found the garden soooo interesting that she did everything but go to the toilet in it :rolleyes: - We always went with her and when she did eventually go we didn't come straight back in either in case she associated her business with the end of her play time outside.  She is six months now and had an accident in the house the other night and I admit I told her off.  She made no attempt to ask to go out and wee'd in the living room, because I caught her in the act I told her NO and turned her away from us for about half a minute (this is effective for my dog) - She is still a baby was no excuse on this occasion and I wanted her to know she had done wrong!
Sarah
PS I keep tarantula's too!

cool which type..i have Brachypelma boehmei...(unsexed but i think shes a female by the way that shes maturing...she just had a molt on friday!, she looking lovely and orange)
                                Chromatopelma cyaneopubescens f
                                
                               Cyclosternum fasciatum f
                                Haplopelma lividum    m
                                Hysterocrates gigas  m
                                Acanthoscurria geniculata unsexed

im hoping that my bf will be able to get his hands on a Avicularia versicolor for my next b-day in may

Check you out with your scientific names :D - Avicularia are quality little spiders, very very agile would recommend a female if you get the choice as they are less jumpy!  I have a Grammastola and a Brachypelma used to have a pink toe though (which was probably my favourite) - One of the scariest spiders I have ever met was the king baboon
Dont have to worry about toilet training those!! :D
Sarah

lol my mate has a baboon and shes pretty scary!...thats my friend craig rubbing off on me heh heh my bohemei has just shed shes like ...5 maybe 6 cm now and is really coming along nicely.craig has a white knee like me only mine is a sling and his is a monster! lmao.i hope that si(my other half) will be able to get his hands on one...but my greenbottle  is my fav at the mo