Training

[96trigger]

I've been in disagreement with my wife who is reading one training book while I am reading another. Her book says that if a puppy (Golden, 10 weeks) goes to the bathroom on the floor to just ignore it and take her outside. My book pretty much tells me to swat the dog (not abusively) and make sure she knows that peeing in the house is wrong, basically punish her for the immediate act. We have been using my wifes method for the past two weeks and it has worked somewhat but she still has accidents once in awhile. What bothers me is that when she has to go, she just goes and doesn't give us a whole lot of warning. Is this just the puppy in her or should we try some negative reinforcement? How much reinforcement can a guy give without risking the dog becoming afraid of them? I guess I'm a little worried that if I swat her she'll be scared of me and then I've ruined a good dog, but I'm starting to think that I need to be more firm with her and let the cards fall? In general when should she start telling us when she has to go? She lets us know when she has to deficate, but not urinate. Anyway, we are new dog owners, we are reading the books, we love the puppy but it can get a little frustrating. I love reading how these pup's grow up to truley be man's best friend. I am looking forward to that.

[LABS4ME]

96... Pups will start showing signs on catching on around the 10-12 week old stage. It takes them to 16 weeks to have complete control of their bladder. You can use a firm "NO" when you catch them in the act (and a lot of praise when they go outside). When you catch them in the act, immediatley move them outside to finish their duty, then praise them. Make sure you get them out after eating and drinking. I don't free feed or water my pups as it's easier to potty train them with a schedule. Get them used to going in a particular spot outside everytime, give them a command when they are going (ie: "go potty", "empty", "do your business" are ones I've heard). You literally can get to a point where you can get them to relieve themselves on command. We used to do this when airing your dog before a trial... they are pumped up when you get them out of the truck and like kids don't think about going before you start something exciting. We'd just command them to go and they knew what to do. I still tell my dogs everytime I let them out of their kennels to "go potty". They know where to go and they get there business done. Hope this helps...

Good Luck!

Ken

[Slowfinger]

My pup is almost 10 months now and I can't remember the last accident. Maybe we got lucky, but I thinks it's all how we worked it. Ever since we got her, the moment we got home, out she went. 45 minutes later, out she went. Every 1 hour or so, she goes out if she needs to or not. She gets verbal praise (same word each time) for when she does her business outside. I can even talk her into going now... For back when she had accidents, I'd grab her nap (sp?) and give it a shake. But only if it was immediately after the accident. I read that this is what her mom would do...she hated it. Now, she'll give a slight whimper to go out and she gets praise for that. The more work you spend now will pay dividends later. Good luck.

[kentuck_ike]

At ten weeks the bladder probably isn't developed to the point she has full control yet. Keep her in a regular routine. After she eats or drinks she'll need to relief herself, time her, then after she eats, drinks, or chews a lot let her out at about that length of time. If she acts really thristy try ice cubes she can wet her whistle without taking in a large volume of water. The other thing to consider is the outside temp. I wouldn't want to go outside either. Be patient before you know it she'll be there. Keep us informed on her progress.

Ike

[duckbuster]

I use the having a child way of thinking. Get them on a schedule. Take them out 1st thing when you wake up, again before you leave for work, as soon as you get home then again right before you turn out the lights.

I have always slept with our puppy down stairs on the floor or on the pull out couch. As soon as I heard her little claws on the carpet or floor out she went.

I never hit her but would give her a firm NO, BAD DOG if she went in the house. Like LABS said, if she was caught in the act I would swoop her outside and let her finish, making sure that there was a basket full of praise when she completed the deed.

GOOD LUCK!!

[96trigger]

Thanks for the info, we are doing everything that you guys have said. She just hit ten weeks so maybe I am expecting too much. I did read about grabbing her around the nape of her neck. I'll do that instead of the swat on the but. We are taking her out everytime she goes inside the house. I am trying to get her on a schedule as much as possible, her morning routine is pretty good. 5:30 she wakes me up like an alarm clock. I take her out first thing in the morning to do her duties, go on a brisk walk, (not until it warms up, feed her, play until 6:30. I do my business and then take her back out at 7:00ish for her to do her duty. At night it's been much harder to get her on a schedule. I will just stay at it. I really appreciate the wealth of knowledge on this forum. I've had farm dogs and grown up with cattle but this house pet hunting buddy is very new to me.

I sectioned off a portion of her kennel to try and prevent her from peeing in it at night. She has quit waking us up at night and now just goes in the kennel. Will she eventually grow out of this with age? I don't want her to form a habit of going in her kennel. She usually goes to bed at 10:00, I take her out again at 2:30, and then again her routine at 5:30. We also started limiting her water before bed. She dosn't do it all the time either, but more often then not she will go once in her crate per night. Should I start taking her at midnight too? Or will she grow out it?

[Hossienda]

96,

I had the same problem as you did with the dog doing its business in the kennel. What I finally figured out was that the original crate that I kept her in was too large. She had enough room that she felt she could lay in one end and do the business in the other. I got a crate that was more her size and from that point on we did not have a mess in the crate. As she grew, I bought new crates for her. Good Luck.

-Hossienda