Toilet training a new puppy

[astankovic]

Hi,

My wife and I just got a 3 month old Cocker puppy and he is just the most adorable dog I’ve ever seen.
He adapted very well to the house, he follows us everywhere, likes to play and all that, he is just a great dog. After two days he learned that he is not allowed to go upstairs, and even though he is following us around the house, when we go upstairs he stays on the first floor. He also understands when we say NO.

Anyways, I would like to know how can we teach him to pee and poop outside. We take him outside every morning, night and few times during the day. He does the business outside when taken out, but if we don’t he just does it on the carpet. We always have to watch for him and when we think he is going to do it we take him out.
Now, I saw some dogs that people have trained not to do it inside but to wait until taken out or to ask (by barking, or scratching on the door, or something like that). How do we go about training him to do that?
He is three months old, is he to young to be expected to learn that? We just had him for one week.

Any advice and/or book recommendation would be appreciated.

Thanks,
Alex                    

[Gilly]

Hi Alex,

I would say that 3 months is a bit early to expect too much from a young puppy  
Have a read of the FAQ which you'll find here http://www.cockersonline.co.uk/forum/viewtopic . php?t=2014 hopefully this should point you in the right direction, but remember not all dogs do things at the same speed...some just naturally take longer than others  

Gilly                    

[PennyB]

You should be taking him out very regularly. I would say more than a few times a day so he gets the idea that that is the place to go and then praise him when he does rather than getting him to ask you (too much info for a small pup). In the beginning I'd do it at least once an hour, which is why pups need so much time spending with them. Puppies have small bladders and so can't wait for someone to realise they need to go. Mine used to have the habit of telling you after he'd done it—so in the middle of the night I'd rush downstairs to let him out because he was crying only to step in a pile of poo on the way. Even if he has had an accident its worth putting him outside anyway while you clean up.

Don't despair as it can take up to 6 months for some pups to completely get the hang of it.

Mine at 4 months has got the hang of the catflap courtesy of his big sister, but he still has the odd accident overnight (big sis Ruby took longer to train though).                    

[astankovic]

Thank for your replies. We are taking the puppy out around 4/5 times a day, but I see that that’s not enough. Currently my wife and I work opposite schedules so the he is almost never alone (except for 3 hours). We will try taking him out more frequently.
I have some other questions but I’ll post them as a new post.

Thanks,
Alex                    

[GarryJ]

Hi

I have just picked up this thread, my little one Leo is nine weeks and whenever I take him into the Garden he runs to the Grass and Pee's and then has 2 sniff around before he goes for a Number 2.

The thing is all the books say you should praise but if I go near him he stops and runs around. If I stay still I crouch and say well done and shout him over but he does not seem intrested, he has found a couple of bushes so he tends to run over to them and start to destroy them. I really want to get his tail wagging but it does not seem to work.

I can't complain as I am having very few accidents (I take him out after every meal, when he wakes up, in the middle of playing with me or my other dog, nearly on the hour) in fact today he ran to the back door after waking up and asked to go outside BUT I feel he should know what a good boy he is so it re-enforces the fact that he needs to pee outside.

Does anyone find this with there pups?                    

[astankovic]

That is the exactly how our puppy behaves! We still try to praise him,  run to him and pet him a little bit.

Alex                    

[xander_ho]

Hi,

Puppy will always be puppy, they like to play.When training mine, I was advice to take the puppy to an area that wouldn't interest them i.e. no bushes or anything that might look remotely interesting, so they can concentrate on doing their business.

What you're doing, taking the puppy outside every hour is great!! As the puppy gets older you will find that they can hold longer, this is a very useful exercise especially night time till morning. Just keep up the training and puppy will be housetrained in no time . Mine has already learned to scratch the door when she needs to go , mine you, there are still occasional accidents but we'll get there.

Alexander                    

[Mary]

Garry

Even though Lottie is over a year now, I still find I praise her when she goes to toilet

I always praise her when she is actually going to  the toilet ....I may be stood at the back door and she's right down the garden but with enthusiasm in your voice you will get eye contact and I then give her a big warm smile along with the praise.  Leo will soon link the two together                    

[Anita]

Garry

I'm the same as Mary with Lottie. I still praise Phoebe and use the words so she knows its the right thing to do. Phoebe is 1 now and I still do it as I think you never stop training them.

If you keep at it these things will come with time.

Anita                    

[taliska]

Can only go along with what has been said already, in the first few mins it seemed like we took tali out every five mins, but it was prob about every hour, every time he had a drink or meal partic and after every time he had been on his own.  I would always say go toilet, repeatedly till he went and then ots of praise, adn he has just about got the hang of it - UNLESS of course its raining, we have a cocker that doesn't like to goin the rain. he'll go out (well we shove him out) wander round quickly and at the first chance come straight back in and wee on the Carpet.!!!  :- I now make sure he stays out till hes gone.  Its also harder if there is someting going on outside like the cats.  He forgets he wanted to go, comes back in and then wees, so every time he goes out - keep talking  and wait till they have gone..