going to the bathroom outside...

[littlemanPaco]

hello there,
paco just recieved all of his shots and I was wondering if anyone had any advice on getting him to go to the bathroom outside. He's been outside more and more lately and just doesn't seem to make any connections. He really hasn't peed or anything outside yet...Has anyone been successful with a specific technique?

[gmacleod]

When housetraining a puppy, there are a couple of things to keep in mind. One of them is that dog don't really ever understand the concept of pottying outdoors without exception until they're at least six months old (often a bit longer). It is quite possible to be accident-free before then, but it relies completely on you - you can't rely on the puppy either holding on or telling you when he needs to be taken out.

Sooo. The best way to housetrain. IMO that is going directly to all potty stops being outdoors. Paper training just slows down the process, since it teaches the dog that pottying indoors is OK. Not surprising then that they would have trouble grasping the concept that pottying should be outdoors only.

Anyway, you need to take your puppy outside on a very regular basis. Depending on his age, that may need to be every hour PLUS as soon as he wakes from a nap, stops playing and a few minutes after eating or drinking. It's a lot of trips ;)

And you need to praise your puppy madly (make a fool of yourself praising him) every single time he potties successfully outdoors. This is the only way you've got to let your puppy know that he just did a good thing.

You need to keep a very close eye on your pup anytime he is not in his crate. It is important to catch him in the act of any accidents - because that is the only way that you can let him know that pottying inside was not a good thing. All that is required there is a loud "Ah ah", some hand clapping to startle (startle, not scare) him into stopping mid-flow, and to race him outdoors to finish. And lavish praise when he does.

If you follow that regime, your puppy will slowly start to make the connections you want. Think from his perspective - he'll know that pottying is a good thing, because you're so pleased with him when he does that. But sometimes you're not very pleased... it can't be because he relieved himself, because normally you're happy... Oh, eureka! It must be the location that counts. LOL - that's not a conclusion he's going to reach in five minutes flat. But that's the connection he's going to need to make in order to understand that pottying should be done outdoors.

It is very important that you provide all the potty opportunities that your puppy needs. He won't hold on until he understands the need to go outdoors. So you have to provide for his needs before he has to go. And you need to keep an eagle eye on him between potty stops. If you don't catch him in the act of pottying indoors, there's nothing you can do about it. He won't understand scolding after the event, so don't bother. As I said at the beginning, successful pottying outdoors is 100% reliant on you, so you need to eliminate the opportunities for him to make mistakes.

In time, you'll come to know your pup's needs and should be able to get him outdoors ahead of when he needs. Keep on praising him madly for going outdoors, and he'll gradually start to understand. Don't get complacent though - he won't understand fully until he's several months old ;)

Incidentally - if you have trouble actually getting him to potty while you're out there, there are a couple of things to try. One is good timing - choose to take him out right after he wakes up, stops playing etc. And the other thing you can do if you think he needs to go but just isn't, is to run him around a little while he's out there. Exercise is a great bowel stimulant for dogs. The concept of an evening walk didn't arise from nowhere ;)

[littlemanPaco]

Thank you so much for the advice. I am certainly going to try out some of the suggestions. In due time, I'm sure he will catch on..even though it may take a while. I think I may try the bringing the wee wee pad outside approach, because he is for the most part wee wee pad trained, not entirely but he's doing really well. I wanted to ask another question regarding the heat. In NYC right now the temp is over 90 degrees I was wondering how everyone handled this type of weather. I know french bulldogs overheat easily...i am wondering if I should keep him in today and the next couple of days until the heat wave passes...

[franp]

I wanted to ask another question regarding the heat. In NYC right now the temp is over 90 degrees I was wondering how everyone handled this type of weather. I know french bulldogs overheat easily...i am wondering if I should keep him in today and the next couple of days until the heat wave passes...

The heat here is BRUTAL evilicon .But your pup must go outside in order to keep consistency in his training.

Dari goes out 4 times a day; very early, lunch, after I get home(at about 5) and around 9..We stay on the shadey side of the street and I am very careful when she has to cross the street. Sometimes I carry her as the pavement can get hot.The 5 PM and 9 PM walks are VERY short, water is always available. She drinks out of a squirt bottle.

The noon walk is with her walker..Arlene walks her with 4 other dogs down to the dogpark (4 blocks.) She wets her down and makes sure she is kept cool. when they get to the park,Dari does not run around.They are out for a little over an hour..
Going out with the dogwalker is part of her routine; I trust the dogwalker implicitly..It is NOT possible to just take her out and bring her back.Arlene has been her dogwalker for 5 years and NEVER has Dari ever suffered from heat related problems.

What I suggest you do is take him out in the hotter parts of the day for a short time. Wet him down and make sure his belly is wet.
Let him play outside in the early morning and late evening.. Even last night was way too hot to play outside..IMO..keep the walks short just to keep housebreaking him..Consistency is key to housebreaking..

[Hudson]

For us, Kong PB is a great/treat reward for outside. After he goes, we squirt some on our finger and he licks it off. If he goes nuts over just seeing the can, we tell him to do his business and walk away. Tank has learned to associate doing his business with getting this treat. After he goes, he looks up to see where we are so he can come get it.

Unfortunately, he doesn't mind going to the bathroom inside and not getting the treat but he is young, 13 1/2 weeks, so we'll just keep hanging in there. If all we cared about was housebreaking we could have gotten another Golden Retriever but there are other trade-offs and, well, most of us are suckers for a cute face, aren't we?

[Carolyn]

Hudson.....YES....we are suckers for not only a cute face but BIG personalities! Ant their enthusiasm for life is beyond compare! I like your attitude! :D

[Hudson]

Twice today Tank has stood by the front door on his own and when we took him outside he did some business. (Then he comes looking for PB Kong so we have a lot of that on hand by the front door). So we praise him and play with him and try to reinforce the upside of going to the bathroom outside. Then we play his favorite game, "Guess what I have in my mouth now!". (I wish we grew truffles around here because this dog finds every mushroom in our yard and my wife and I freak out every time he tries to inhale one.)

I suspect this will still be an occasional good behavior since he is only about 14 weeks old but at least he has some idea. An upside to FBD's is that they don't bark, but when the urge hits them then it would nice if they did. I did a search here on Bell Training, found Borgan's posting on that, so we'll try that now. An Italian Greyhound bulletin board stressed that method a lot since that breed is about as bad as ours for housebreaking.

[EmD, MD]

This is a lot of great advice. My dog was crate trained and she learned fast. I think the big pitfalls of housetraining are:

1) Not keeping a close enough eye on them so you can't catch them in the act of going in the house...we had to watch her constantly. But we only needed to catch her in the act twice ["nononononooooo!"] before she got the message.

2) Just letting the dog out into the yard, not following him out to make sure he actually goes.

[Bubudad]

Yes I have been taking Bubu out for potty and for pee outside everyday but she never made it. We live on the 3rd floor of the building and she has been doing inside on the wee wee pad for 2 months which she is very good.
When I take her out she loves to walk around and greeting people:D but never do her things. As soon as we got inside she will hurry run to do her thing right away. I walk her everytime about 20 minutes.
Again Sorry for my english if anyting mistake I do hope you understand:)

[Bubudad]

Thank you for your advices. I will try to work on that. I think Bubu is very shy dog. She doesn't like anybody see her while she is doing her things.
The street we are living on is very busy street.
I try to take here to a quiet spot and she still don't get it. I will be patient
hope I have a luck soon:)