Trying to potty train a puppy

[4thHorseman]

Alright. In February we got a puppy and started to potty train her. We lived on the third floor so when I knew we were moving out we mainly stayed with potty pads with many failed attempts outside. We moved into our house on Saturday. We take her out regularly, any time she poops inside I toss it outside hoping to give her something to go off of, and she has still yet to make one potty attempt outside. Lots of sniffing, nothing being done.

So I am looking for any tips that others can give me. Are there products I can use to help attract her to go outside (I have heard some pretty negative reviews on the potty posts) or does anyone know how long it may take for a dog to get used to a place before she goes?

[Pro]

Took a year to train my dog to pee outside. He was 11 months when i got him and his previous owners most likely always had him in a dogpen with two dominant dogs twice his size.

The main thing is to always compliment him when he does his thing outside.
Make sure you take him out 4-8 times a day if he's young. Give him a cookie if he pees or poops outside.

Don't get angry if he poops inside and you notice in hindsight. Immediately take him outside when you do notice it while he does it inside.

Socialize him by walking with other dogs and soon his instinct will set in and he'll try to pee over the other dog's spot. If he does cookie and compliment. Eventually he'll associate outside peeing with cookie and you're done.

Dogs don't understand punishment, they don't know they did something bad and they don't know guilt. Many people think dogs can be guilt-tripped but all you do is frighten and confuse him. Positive re-enforcement works best.

My dog realized at some point that if i take him out i put on my shoes so now if i ask him what he wants if he comes sit next to me he scratches my shoes as a sign that he needs to be taken for a walk.

[DonC]

Can you move these potty pads outside?

[jdd1982]

One thing that worked w/our dog was moving the potty pads closer to the door, then removing them altogether. But this required near 24/7 observation when we did. The second she looked like she was about to do the pee-pee squat, we were Flo-Join' to the door to open it.

[vcassel]

There's a bunch of different versions of this on the market right now:

[pariah-1972]

I'm coincidentally looking at the ASPCA website right now and they have some good advice for dog training.

[TinMan]

My wife and I just recently got two puppies: one a couple days after Christmas (only about 4 weeks old at the time) and a second in February (about 5 months old, had a prior owner that never even began to train him).

Potty training can get a bit frustrating, but you have to remember positive reinforcement is key because, as Pro noted, dogs don't actually understand punishment.

Take her out every hour or so to potty, if she doesn't go, keep her on her leash right next to you or on your lap in the house for 10-20 minutes then take her back out. When she goes, praise her, pet her and give her a treat, she will begin to recognize you like that behavior. Keep this practice up for awhile until she starts to get it. Also, young puppies can't control their bladder muscles well, so there may be times when she'll have to go 30 minutes after doing her business outside and she'll let it rip on the floor. In this case, if you catch her, make a loud noise or grab her so she stops and take her outside immediately, rewarding when she finishes.

Don't punish her for her mistakes, particularly if you find it after the fact, because she will start to believe you don't want to see her eliminate and will be more prone to sneaking off somewhere else in the house to potty rather than learning to tell you she has to go out.

Training will take time, but once it's done, you're good to go.

[warspite1805]

Dog creates are really useful, my brother's puppy recently has mastered potty training, we had tried pads earlier with limited success. At first glance dog creates appear somewht cruel, his they do surprising like their creates. Put your dog in the create at night and first thing in the morning take her outside to go to the tolilet and reward her with treats and praise.

[Darrell D.]

My dog has gotten used to the dog crates, he knows exactly what time it is in the morning, and he gets in the crate when he knows I am ready to go to work.
Repetition is the key, until the dog adopts the habit of going outside.

[Paradox]

I never had any trouble with the old "rub their nose in it and pitch them outside" method, but I'm sure everyone will get up in arms over such "cruelty to animals" these days.

[Winslow]

A curious thread to bump.

A crate worked great with our dog. Dogs won't mess in their own crate and when you let them out in the morning, immediately let them outside. Then praise them when they pee. They figure things out really quickly. I don't think we had a single accident.

I never had any trouble with the old "rub their nose in it and pitch them outside" method, but I'm sure everyone will get up in arms over such "cruelty to animals" these days.

That's an old school method we used growing up. The problem is, dogs will associate the punishment with deficating, and then will sneak off and shit somewhere else in the house so they don't get punished. I always wondered why the dog I grew up with would find some corner of the basement to crap in.