Our gorgeous 10 wk old puppy has taken to spending ages happily in the garden - doing the occaisional wee to the cry of 'Be Quick' but then also weeing in the house too..even if the door is still open to the garden! He seems completely unconcerned when he is told off - I don't want to smack him .......I am not sure about how realistic I am being - we have only had him 2 weeks - any advice??

Theres lots of good advice on here regarding house training - if you do a search (button at the top right of the page) and enter house training you will find lots of threads where it has been discussed before.

The basics are take him out after he has eaten, slept and played and about every 1/2hr-1 hr in between. Make sure that you go out with him and take him to the same spot every time and like you are keep using a command such as 'be quick' or 'be clean'. Don't tell him off unless you catch him going in the wrong place and then take him straight outside and give him the command you have chosen. If you find he has made a mistake just ignore it and carry on taking him out as usual. Also when he has been good give lots of praise or a titbit so he knows he been good.

Also 10 weeks is still very young, and doesn't fully realise what you want yet but keep going and he WILL get there in the end.

HTH

Tracy

Hi,
I have also got a ten week old Golden Retriever and thankfully she is very good. Almost completely housetrained already. I have never had a Goldie before, but they are very intelligent and seem to pick things up very quickly. In the beginning I constantly asked her if she wants to go wee wee and take her anyway (probably every 10 mins or when she shows any sign of needing to go) it certainly seems to work, I have had the odd accident, but mostly she trots out on her own now. It seems that patience and a small tit bit after performing works wonders.

Good luck

Debbie

Hello Guest,

Just another tip on this. From your Post it would appear that because your puppy is in the garden quite a bit or has easy access, you imagine he realises toileting is for outside, and therefore when he has an 'accident' indoors he is being naughty! This is not the case. Your puppy needs to learn, by being constantly shown and guided by you with praise, that going outside is the correct thing to do. He cannot self teach himself simply by being outside!

What may not be helping, is if he is spending a long time in the garden, then at some point he does his toilet but still remains in the garden. What he is not learning is the act of going outside in order to toilet. He just needs to go so he does, whether it is indoors or outdoors.

Obviously give him play time in the garden, but then bring him indoors.

After meals, and definitely after a nap, every half hour or so, take him outside with you, if he toilets, praise him well with your "Be Quick" as he 'performs', then BRING HIM BACK INDOORS! Thus he will be learning that when he needs to go toilet - he goes outside! If you remain outside after toileting, how does he know why you actually went outside for? (Hope I am explaining this properly).

Even if you want him to have a play outside, bring him in initially after toileting, and then a short while later let him out for playtime, so you help him to associate toileting is for outdoors.

Apart from after meals, naps, and regular intervals, watch for those little signs like sniffing the floor, walking in a little circle, 'crouching', do not tell him off in any big way and certainly never smack him if you catch him in the act, simply say "No" firmly, pick him up and head for the garden and wait hopefully, if nothing happens in say 10 minutes, bring him back in and watch like a hawk - just in case!

Do remember that during 'housetraining' your puppy is not being naughty deliberately, he has simply not learned yet what is required regularly. You are the one who must make that effort to help him understand. If you tell him off big time or smack him, he will not relate to your logic of not going where you want him to, he will think it is the very act of toileting that he is being reprimanded for. Imagine if you or I were told off every time we toileted! It would be very concerning.

So persevere, watch him, take him outside, praise and bring him back afterwards. Just say "No" and quickly outside. (If you find a puddle or poo after the event - say nothing - too late, just clear it up).

Anything you are not clear about, please ask. Do not worry either, we all go through it with our pups and survive, and they all become house-trained - so will yours. (Some quicker than others - but you will both get there)!

Kind regards,
Denise.

The method we have used before is to quickly put an old newspaper at the place the dog is weeing if they start weeing in the house. The dog seems to realise that he should wee on the newspaper. Then we move the newspaper to the door and then outside. Hopefully the dog realises he should go outside.

Personally I think it is a dog's natural instinct to go outside, but when they are puppies the urge to go comes very quickly and often the door is shut anyway!

Michael
15 June 2002

When I first got my puppy (she's 12 wk old on Mon) all her 'business' was in the house, then when I began to recognise the signs or 'rain dance' as I call it (sniffing round for a place to go) I'd scoop her up and take her outside- then she'd perform and get loads of praise. During her second week here she's pee outside sometimes and inside a lot! The third week she'd pee outside more and less in the house and this is how it's gone since getting more outside every week. Now we only have a few accidents really if you're not watching her properly. I think that before I got her I prepared myself for the worst and expected her going all over the house so I've never really made a big deal out of it when she does- what I do, do though is make sure she gets loads of praise for going outside. She's kept in the utility room which leads off my kitchen and the bathroom leads off that, I have a childs safety gate on the kitchen door so the utility room has been utilised especially for her use, what I did find though is that she wouldn't 'go' in her sleeping quarters and took herself off into the bathroom, I've now put a lock on the outside of the bathroom door and when I get up I let her out first thing as I'm on my way into the bathroom. She's even dry at night now:)

Good Luck and don't worry too much- it'll happen:)

Stacey x x x