# House/potty training



## illiyh (Feb 17, 2016)

I'm trying to house train my 9 week old spoo and we seem to be going backwards. He was fantastic his first two days here, only had one accident in the house and he even let me know when he needed to go outside about half the time! He was going out every hour during the day, and only once through the night. I thought he was a puppy genius and he'd be house trained in no time! A week later and he's having 3-6 accidents inside every day. I take him out every 30 minutes when he's awake and he goes 90% of the time, and of course he goes out straight after eating, drinking, naps and play time. He needs to go out every 2-3 hours at night. Is this normal? Some kind of adjustment period, maybe? Or am I doing something wrong?

I am feeding him the same thing the breeder was, giving lots of praise every time he goes outside and not reprimanding him for going inside, using an enzymatic cleaner for accidents, and I'm fairly certain he doesn't have a UTI (lots of pee every time and doesn't seem to be uncomfortable). He does eat and drink more than when he first got here so maybe that's all it is, but he seems to be peeing an awful lot. I've never had a puppy before so no idea what's normal.


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## Coldbrew (Jun 17, 2015)

the number one thing to remember is that 8 weeks old is still very very young!
he's very much comparable in age/bladder control to a newborn human, so don't expect too much of him! 

as a rule of thumb, puppies can hold their bladders for as many hours as they are months old. so your 9 week old is right on track with needing to go 2 hours - totally normal.

It really sounds like you're doing everything perfectly for him, and he's being a perfectly normal puppy. If he's having accidents inside while you're with him, you just need to be keeping a closer eye on him. Almost all puppies will do at least a short "sniff-about" for the best place to go, and that's the moment that you need to swoop in and escort him outside.


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## illiyh (Feb 17, 2016)

Great, thank you! Glad to know I'm not doing anything too terribly wrong.

I have noticed him doing this sniff-and-spin thing sometimes and I can usually get to him in time or at least interrupt and carry him out, but sometimes he just squats down and does it with no warning. Luckily he's stopped doing it on the rug for the most part and usually wanders over to the tiles first. 

I'll just keep doing what we're doing and look forward to the day when he can hold it a little longer so we can both get some more sleep!


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## shantikeyz (Mar 4, 2016)

Schedule everything. Play, eating, naps, etc. That's what I do and in a weeks time then pee and poo on predictable schedules. 
Also, dont let the puppy out of your sight indoors. Keep the pup in the same room as your in. 


Sent from my XT1055 using Tapatalk


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## illiyh (Feb 17, 2016)

Thanks! We do have a rough schedule but he doesn't always stick to it. It's only been a week so hopefully we can get into a more reliable routine soon.

We have baby gates so while he's awake he's never out of my sight, and when I need to shower or something I wait until he's tired and pop him in the crate for 20-30 minutes. He's not a fan of the crate during the day so I don't like leaving him in there too long, but the baby gates have been fantastic.


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## Mfmst (Jun 18, 2014)

It's an exhausting time for the owner, but my Poodle was reliably house trained faster than any puppy I've ever had. Praise, praise, praise when he does anything outside. It's a brutal schedule for a while and a few accidents are inevitable. Begin working on putting it on command. Take him to his spot outside, and say "go potty" or whatever phrase you like. Praise and treat with success. Very useful command especially when the weather is bad. Good luck!


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## Sanic (Oct 22, 2015)

I found that keeping the pup tethered to me or tethered to the couch (while I was sitting on it), helped SO much. That way he was never out of my site and I always knew what he was doing. If he wasn't tethered to me, he was in his crate with a kong or a bully stick.


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## ericwd9 (Jun 13, 2014)

P.S. Never use a phrase for "go potty" or whatever that you might inadvertently use in conversation. It can be a big mistake!
Eric


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## illiyh (Feb 17, 2016)

All great advice, thanks guys! I am using a command so hopefully he picks up on what it means soon. He's already sitting on command without treats unless he's overexcited so shouldn't be too long, I would imagine.

I really wanted to try tethering but he's a really mouthy guy and he will just sit there chewing on the leash, then when I try to move it he tugs, so I'm slowly getting him used to the leash before actually putting it on him again. I just hold it in front of him and treat if he ignores it. It's very slow going as he's so excitable but not sure what else to do about that.


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## N2Mischief (Dec 3, 2012)

You could spray the leash with Bitter Apple


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## illiyh (Feb 17, 2016)

Will do, thanks! I have ordered some to put on the corners of the rug so I'll use it for the leash too.


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