Ways to house train a dog

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utahraptor

Golden Member
Apr 26, 2004
1,053
199
106
I hate to have to be the one person to tell you the truth. There is no such thing as a potty trained dog. If you want an animal that won't urinate or defecate on your carpet you need to get a cat. I just don't understand why anyone would get an animal that they intend to store in a crate like a toy you get out to play with when you get bored. I sure would not want to be that toy.
 
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Born2bwire

Diamond Member
Oct 28, 2005
9,840
6
71
So much this, except don't expect perfection for 2-3 years.

Yeah. My folks always crated the puppies. Being consistent is a big key. When you wake up, take the dog out. Before you leave for the day, take the dog out. When you get back, take the dog out. Before you go to bed, take the dog out. We generally always crated the dog for the first year and then only crated the second year when we were out of the house for long periods of time.

Most guides I've read online say not to leave them in for more than a few hours (basically until their bladder's get bigger?). I'm gone from 630am to about 5pm and I'm the 1st one home usually. Should I just expect that for the 1st few wks the puppy has crapped the crate?

I think this is going to be too long to crate the dog. You should see if you could come home at lunch to let the dog out or get a dog walker. If you are going to be gone for 8-10 hours every weekday, it may be better to look into adopting an adult dog.

Another option would be setting up a kennel and dog run. My uncle does that for his dogs since the family is out the whole day.
 
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thestrangebrew1

Diamond Member
Dec 7, 2011
3,495
416
126
my house is mostly tile downstairs so I was thinking of setting up a little area for him to run around in. I don't expect him to be completely trained, accidents happen & on tile its especially not a big deal. & I think a doggy door is def in the future.
 

brandonb

Diamond Member
Oct 17, 2006
3,731
2
0
Here is what we did:

1) Crate training. No less than 1 hour in it at first. Everytime the dog goes in for any reason, it sits there for an hour, even if its barking/crying. It will do it alot but they will get the hang of it in a few days. Don't let it bother you. It builds up their bladder control. Dogs don't pee in confined spaces they are in unless they have no choice.

2) Train the dog to verbalize or to get your attention when it needs to go outside. Alot of dogs will go to the door (out of habit) but they dont send you any messages. Then pee in the house because you ignored it sitting by the door (because you didn't notice it). Do not train it to jump at the door, as it will scratch doors and if you visit friends/family, its a bad habit. Teach the dog to "speak." (This is pretty easy if you do do it yourself, train it with treats and the sit command so it knows its training time, then say speak and howl at the mooon until it mimics you, then give it a treat, or bark if you prefer that method.) Then you can train it to "speak" at the door when it has to go potty. One of my dogs actually comes over to where I am and rest their head on my knee with puppy dog eyes "will you please let me out?" and their tail wagging (they came up with this technique on their own, I did not train them to do it)

3) When you bring the dog outside, teach it to "go potty". Just keep saying "Go potty" every 5-15-30 seconds until it does. Then praise it when it does, do not let it in or off on it's own until it goes potty (call it back if it tries to wander off.) My dogs when they go outside, if I say "go potty" they will go squat/pee instantly even if nothing comes out but they go through the act of trying. This is handy at night or when you know you won't be home for awhile. It's nice to know they emptied their bladder completely.

4) One thing I noticed with my female dogs is that if they have to go potty at night, and they are in my room on the floor next to my bed, they have a tendency to start licking themselves alot in that area rather than going to the door and/or whining. Maybe they are too tired to get up, not sure. This is a good sign they probably have to go pee. Try to notice it and let them out if its waking you up or happening constantly. If you have a puppy you will want to put them in a box otherwise they won't stay in the area. They probably do this even during the day so if you start noticing it lick itself down there alot, it's probably time to go out in general.

5) With a puppy I always make it go ut every hour at first (and see the go potty point above) so they get used to the routine. I don't wait for them to tell me, I make them go.

I've only had my dogs pee in my house maybe 3-5 times total (between the two of them) just doing the above.
 
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blackdogdeek

Lifer
Mar 14, 2003
14,454
10
81
in addition to the advice provided so far, i will add:

1. we hung a little bell from a string right next to the door and every time we would go out for a walk we would ring the bell and say "out". now when the dog wants to go out he tries to jump up and ring the bell so we know he wants to go out. he will also give other cues like sitting at the door and looking up at the bell (we had to put the bell just out of reach for him because he would sometimes just try to jump up and play with or eat the bell).

EDIT:

2. when the puppy pees or poos outside we praise him and give him a treat (or a piece of a treat since our puppy is small and treats can be huge).
 

Azraele

Elite Member
Nov 5, 2000
16,524
29
91
Plus in many areas of the country leaving a dog outside anywhere all day is illegal.


Wish they'd enforce that where I am. There is a lab on a 2 foot lead across the street on their front porch that barks 24/7. it's driving me nuts. :/
 

alkemyst

No Lifer
Feb 13, 2001
83,967
19
81
Wish they'd enforce that where I am. There is a lab on a 2 foot lead across the street on their front porch that barks 24/7. it's driving me nuts. :/

More than likely there is an ordinance for that. A front porch may not qualify for adequate shelter for a dog either. Hopefully they keep water out for him.
 

momeNt

Diamond Member
Jan 26, 2011
9,297
352
126
Back when parents beat their children, they also rubbed the dogs face into any mess they made in the house. It worked for our parents, and it still works for dogs. Don't take part of the pussification of America and treat your animal like royalty, smack it when it does wrong.

edit: j/k just poking fun at pussification truthers
 
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alkemyst

No Lifer
Feb 13, 2001
83,967
19
81
Back when parents beat their children, they also rubbed the dogs face into any mess they made in the house. It worked for our parents, and it still works for dogs. Don't take part of the pussification of America and treat your animal like royalty, smack it when it does wrong.

pussification <> being a sociopath.

There is no need to rub a dog's face into a mess. They aren't that stupid.
 

momeNt

Diamond Member
Jan 26, 2011
9,297
352
126
pussification <> being a sociopath.

There is no need to rub a dog's face into a mess. They aren't that stupid.

Hitler and Ghandi were both leaders. Who would you want to follow. Like Cesar and the Israeli dog lady. Cesar takes a very dominant approach and makes his dogs submit, the Israeli dog lady focuses on positive reinforcement by playing. She learned this from watching wolves train their pups.

Edit: Tamar Geller, that's her name.
 

alkemyst

No Lifer
Feb 13, 2001
83,967
19
81
Hitler and Ghandi were both leaders. Who would you want to follow. Like Cesar and the Israeli dog lady. Cesar takes a very dominant approach and makes his dogs submit, the Israeli dog lady focuses on positive reinforcement by playing. She learned this from watching wolves train their pups.

Edit: Tamar Geller, that's her name.

wow bro, you just went full-on nutter.
 

momeNt

Diamond Member
Jan 26, 2011
9,297
352
126
wow bro, you just went full-on nutter.

Do you force your dogs to submit and force them into your pack a la Cesar, or do you train your dogs through positive reinforcement like Tamar. I have a feeling it's the former bro, I feel sorry for your animals. It doesn't help that you think you are doing right by them either.

Bros calling other bros a nutter, not cool broseph.
 

alkemyst

No Lifer
Feb 13, 2001
83,967
19
81
Do you force your dogs to submit and force them into your pack a la Cesar, or do you train your dogs through positive reinforcement like Tamar. I have a feeling it's the former bro, I feel sorry for your animals. It doesn't help that you think you are doing right by them either.

Bros calling other bros a nutter, not cool broseph.

Lol, my pets are some of the best behaved any will meet. Most have said my dog is the nicest acting at the dog park I frequent.

I don't think you understand dog training at all.

You are indeed nuts with some of the crap you recommend though. fucking nuts.
 

momeNt

Diamond Member
Jan 26, 2011
9,297
352
126
Lol, my pets are some of the best behaved any will meet. Most have said my dog is the nicest acting at the dog park I frequent.

I don't think you understand dog training at all.

You are indeed nuts with some of the crap you recommend though. fucking nuts.

Calling Tamar fucking nuts? Bro a dog can be well behaved through submission training techniques. Doesn't mean it is right or good for the dog.
 

Gunslinger08

Lifer
Nov 18, 2001
13,234
2
81
So much this, except don't expect perfection for 2-3 years.

I've only raised one dog from a puppy (our current one). She hasn't had any problems since probably 6 months old. She only peed inside maybe 5 times total (twice on our bed) and never pooped inside. We crated her whenever we were not at home and awake. She's about a year and a half old now and we've let her stay out at night time for the past several months, with no issues. She still gets crated if we're leaving the house for more than a few minutes. Typical routine is like this:
- Wife wakes up and takes her out for a walk.
- Dog eats.
- Wife takes her out right before leaving for work.
- I take her out a few hours later before leaving for work.
- Dog crated.
- Wife takes her out after work.
- Dog eats around dinner time.
- One of us takes her out sometime after eating.
- I take her out before I go to sleep.
- She roams around the house and sleeps on dog bed/guest bed/stair landing.

As a puppy, it's a pain. You basically have to take the dog outside every 20 minutes when they aren't crated. They eventually learn that outside = go, inside = hold it. We got our dog from a rescue in a lady's home, so she may have already been on her way to understanding this concept. Just be patient.
 
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Ns1

No Lifer
Jun 17, 2001
55,414
1,574
126
I've only raised one dog from a puppy (our current one).

wow, a sample size of one =P

Hitler and Ghandi were both leaders. Who would you want to follow. Like Cesar and the Israeli dog lady. Cesar takes a very dominant approach and makes his dogs submit, the Israeli dog lady focuses on positive reinforcement by playing. She learned this from watching wolves train their pups.

Edit: Tamar Geller, that's her name.

I use a blend of both methods. We were hardcore into Cesar and then gradually moved away to positive reinforcement training. Lots of progress made in this area, so there's lots to read.
 

Gunslinger08

Lifer
Nov 18, 2001
13,234
2
81
wow, a sample size of one =P

Yeah, my dad wasn't hip on dogs as a kid and my wife and I just got our first last year.

I use a blend of both methods. We were hardcore into Cesar and then gradually moved away to positive reinforcement training. Lots of progress made in this area, so there's lots to read.

My wife loves Cesar. I'm definitely the more laid back owner, but I try to incorporate some of the stuff. Dog gets corrected for doing bad stuff and we make her sit and stay when being fed or getting the collar/leash on to go for a walk. We do positive reinforcement with treats for training. The only issues we really have now are jumping on people for about a minute after they come in the door and pulling on a leash. Jumping has gotten better, but she's just so excited to see people. Still a work in progress of correcting her on that. Leash is a daily battle that is solved by using a gentle leader, but we're working on getting rid of it. People always think the gentle leader is a muzzle for an aggressive dog.
 

Ns1

No Lifer
Jun 17, 2001
55,414
1,574
126
pulling on a leash

simple training:

We have correction collars on our dogs, so if they pull it's a correction. As soon as they heel next to us, it's a treat.

Repeat en masse.
 

thestrangebrew1

Diamond Member
Dec 7, 2011
3,495
416
126
Well just an update. We havent started the crate training yet but we've been pretty consistent about taking him our to eliminate. I think he's actually learned or has an idea because he's gone everutine we've taken him out and only 1 accident so far.

I've setup a little area in our bathroom that he can run around & play in. its actually quite large, about 50 sq ft and he seems to like it.

he was whining the first 2 night we've had him but last night hardly a whimper. ignoring him when he whines & rewarding for not whining has helped for sure.

1 question tho. do u guys just set out a bowl of food for your dogs or feed them on a schedule? still trying to decide what's best. I'm leaning towards a schedule or at least cutoff time at night so he won't have to take a dump middle of the night.
 
Nov 29, 2006
15,677
4,150
136
Depends on the breed, small breeds are notoriously more difficult than larger breeds. My ridgeback was having about 2 accidents per month in the house after 2 weeks being home. I called that housebroken. Now he's down to pretty much never, last time I remember was when my wife busted out the steam iron which freaked him out. In retaliation, he went and pissed straight on our bed.

yeah what is up with that. Our dog randomly pisses on our bed as well. 98% of the time she is fine. ...or could be the cat..and we blame the dog...sneaky bastards lol
 
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