STYLETHREAD -- LET'S TALK SHOP!

well, it takes as long as it needs to take.  this is what I do when I house train a dog... when it has an accident carry the dog to the mess put his face close enough so it can smell the mess (no need to be violent and rub his face in it) just let them smell it, and when you can see they are smelling it, say "NO! BAD DOG!" and carry the dog outside.

just be patiently consistent with that exercise, and eventually they will catch on.  dogs live for your praise and approval, so they won't like the loud and firm no bad dog.

also be sure to praise the hell out of him when he goes outside "GOOD DOG!!" and lots of loving - every time.

they know the difference of your reaction and will strive to receive the positive reaction once they catch on.

oh - and he's adorable! I so wish I had a puppy!

-- Edited by D at 13:43, 2007-06-29

he is sooooo cute!

crate training is definitely the way to go. you want him to learn to love the crate - so put a t-shirt or something that smells like you in there and make sure there is sheepskin or something that makes it comfy. start by putting him in there for 10 min at a time so he gets used to it. i think this is the most effective way to housetrain a dog for sure.

good luck! what's his name?

We got a Great Dane puppy 2 months ago.  He is 4 months old now and the potty training is going very well.  I have to say, it is A LOT of work though, to make sure he does not have accidents.  Anything under 6 months is VERY young for a puppy to learn he needs to tell you when he needs to go out all the time.  We put him in a crate the first day, and not since then.  I don't really like the crate either.  Here is what we do on a daily basis, I hope it helps you.

Duke (our puppy) sleeps in our bed (I know, I know, but I love it!) If he gets out of our bed at night or even wakes up, one of us needs to take him outside weather he wants to go or not, no matter what time it is.  100% of the time, he goes.  Usually I have to take him out because my husband sleeps so soundly he never hears him get up. We got him a chain collar and when he gets up it makes noise so I wake up as soon as he does) That took some getting used to because he would wake up in the middle of the night, but it's worth it not to have to clean up after a mess.  

Whoever gets up first in the morning, the puppy wakes up too, and again, he needs to go right outside.  Then when we both leave for work, he stays in his own room with just toys, his bed, and a puppy pad.  I suggest you go pick these up ASAP and try to train your puppy with them.  It sounds like he likes going on the carpet because it is the most like soft grass.  Puppy pads are about 12"x12", and they even make some that smell like grass so your puppy associates it with going outside.  We also got a pad holder (plastic on all edges) so he won't chew them up, and it helps it stay in place.  We always keep it in the same place.  After 1 week, if Duke had to go when we were at work, he went on the pad.  

I don't recommend moving it around all the time though, that will be too confusing for your dog.  He needs to learn that potty is only for one place, and that place will eventually be outside.  

Other times he HAS to go outside:

Right after he eats
Right after a nap or car-ride
If he hasn't been outside for a period of time while he's playing (this is when Duke has the most accidents, he is so distracted by playing that all of a sudden he will just squat somewhere and go!  If he has been playing for more then a half hour, stop him and let him out just in case.)

I know it sucks, but puppies have such small bladders and need to go about every 2 hours in my opinion.  

The other thing it sounds like is that your puppy is getting too used to being able to go out by himself that he doesn't know what to do to let you know he has to go if he can't get out there.  
Our friends use the bell method and their dogs are so good about it!  Hang a small metal bell next to your door at paw/nose level.  EVERY time you take him outside, ring the bell with his nose or his paw, and eventually he will associate that with going outside, and he will do it when he wants to go out by himself.

Puppy potty training is A LOT of work!!!!!  I don't think they are fully potty trained until they are 6 months old.

Good luck, I hope this helps.  He is very cute!!!!

My dog is about 15 months old now and she still has the occasional accident in the house.  It's rare but it will still happen if we're not taking her out to use the bathroom at least once every 4 or 5 hours, unless she's in her crate, she can hold it when she's in there.

I'd say she wasn't really 100% potty trained until she was about 9 months old though, it was a very trying time lol.  Having a doggy door would have probably made the process a million times easier, but we rent.  She also would use the bathroom in her crate (I think it was too big) for the longest.  She only stopped doing that when we stopped taking every absorbant material out of there, she had to just lay on hard plastic until she was potty trained.

When she was a baby, we had to take her out every 15 min. it seemed.  She drinks a lot of water so she has to use the bathroom a lot.

If you aren't willing to do the crate, I'd try all positive reinforcement. The putting his face in it and giving him the "bad dog" can backfire in a more sensitive dog. I also agree w/ brazilian that dogs have too short of an attention span to really understand what you are upset about later on.

I'm not sure how old your pup is, but it usually isn't until 8 or 9 months that their bladder is strong enough to hold it all day or night. Of course, for some dogs it can be earlier or later.

Leo is absolutely adorable! Hang in there, it's just gonna take a bit more time.

Most dog trainers agree that 6 months old is really the absolute earliest you can expect a dog to be reliably housetrained.  Many take longer than that, though, and it's perfectly normal.  Rule of thumb is that they should theoretically be able to hold their bladder for however old they are in months plus 1 in hours.  Usually works better if they're in the crate instead of out - walking around stimulates the potty activity.

I'd also warn against rubbing their faces in it and scolding.  Unless you actually catch them in the act (in which case a sharp NO! and a quick escort outside to finish up, followed by lots of praise for going outside is called for) they will have absolutely no idea what it is they are being scolded for.  Of course they'll act appropriately apologetic because they understand you're angry at them for something, they just don't know what!

Potty training (or any dog training, really) is all about teaching them what you want them to do, instead of focusing on what you want them not to do.  If your pup gets lots of positive reinforcement for going outside, they'll start to prefer doing that, too.  Having many accidents in the house is going to slow the progress a bit, because your pup has the association that "Sometimes I potty inside.  Sometimes outside."  If you can distance him from the "Sometimes inside" association by preventing as many accidents as you can, it will eventually become a foreign concept.

Most puppies don't like the crate at first, because it means being away from you!  We put a soft fleece blanket in ours, along with some safe toys.  Everytime they go in the crate, they get a treat and lots of praise.  When they come out, straight out to potty and not alot of fuss - you want to minimize the fact that coming out of the crate is funner than going in .  We had to talk/shush our (whiny, sad) puppy to sleep in the crate for the first couple weeks, and got up to take her out once in the night whether she wanted to or not.  Now, at 5 months old (that's 3 months home with us), all you have to do is ask her to go to her kennel and she hops right in.  There were many nights of sitting right outside the kennel door so she could see us, and then trying to quietttttllllly sneak away once she was asleep ....

She does now sleep through the night.  She does not, however, consistently let us know that she needs to go out.  Sometimes she'll go sit by the door, but sometimes she just wanders around or gets really frantic, which are classic puppy-cues for potty time.  We still have to be on top of it to take her out, and her recent accidents have been my fault.  She will also not go outside and potty by herself, and we still have to walk out with her and stand by the grass.

She did really seem to turn a corner at 20 weeks though, which you're not far off from now!  I can't recommend this book enough - it lays it all out there for you, and it's great to flip back through when you're discouraged about something.

How cute is your doggie???