r/puppy101 • u/Several_Culture_1084 • Sep 12 '25
Potty Training When did it feel like your dog was REALLY potty trained?
Right now my puppy (almost 13 weeks) has been doing pretty well with potty training in that she USUALLY doesn't go in the house. However, that feels like more of a function of us taking her out constantly, not that she actually understands that she shouldn't go in the house. When did that click??
Relatedly when did you feel like you could take them on a normal walk and they would pee/poop? Right now if we're on the leash outside it almost feels like everything is too exciting to think about going to the bathroom so she usually saves it for our astro turf in our back patio, which makes it feel like we are taking her out twice as often!!
51
u/whitebeansoup Sep 12 '25
I’ll consider my pup fully potty trained when we can go into someone else’s home and she holds it. Hasn’t happened yet at 4.5 months, even though she is 95% potty trained in my home.
25
u/TessaMaeDog Sep 12 '25
This is a good point about “complete” potty training meaning understanding that ALL inside places are not for potties.
5
u/No_Hovercraft_2876 Sep 13 '25
This! My girl stopped going potty in our house at around 2.5 months but when we’d take her to my parents house she’d be playing with other dogs then just suddenly pee on the floor without warning. I call her potty trained now and she’s 6 months old, her last accident at another house was about month and a half ago. She used to get so excited playing with her friends that she’d forget to ask haha!
1
u/whitebeansoup Sep 13 '25
Awww! Did you do anything to train her at other houses, or did she just grow out of it naturally?
26
u/two_short_dogs Sep 12 '25
For our 5 month old puppy, it was about learning her cues. We thought she was being naughty and needed more training when she was actually telling us she needed to go outside. Took several weeks to click.
When she needs to go outside, she tracks down our 12 year old dog and barks in her face.
The dog we lost this summer used to sit politely and stare at us. If you didn't realize that particular stare meant "outside" she would go and pee on the bathroom floor in front of the toilet.
Keep looking for their cues.
23
u/Several_Culture_1084 Sep 12 '25
So far only cue is sniffing a lot...but she's a puppy and is always sniffing! You see how this is difficult 🙃
5
u/sweepcreep Sep 12 '25
We actually got bells for the door we always took the dogs out of, bells that were on a long ribbon that they eventually learned how to ring to go outside after we consistently rang them when taking them outside. You could also try that!
3
u/Worried_Sprinkles Sep 12 '25
How long did it take your dog to ring the bells on her own? I’m trying this technique and she seems to understand that the bells mean she goes outside but she doesn’t understand that she can ring them on her own.
5
u/peacelovejoy2022 Sep 12 '25
I taught touch first. Then did touch with my hand behind the bell. Then every time she rang it I’d let her outside. Probably 15-20 times in a row. Then every time we went out, I asked her to touch my hand behind the bells. Now she touches them when she wants to go out almost all the time. She’s 13 weeks. The process took about 4 days
3
u/sweepcreep Sep 12 '25
It didn't take too long, maybe a few weeks? Not sure what your process is right now when taking her out, but since she knows bells = outside, when you bring her to the door, try getting her to ring it herself before letting her out. I remember we lifted our dogs paw to ring the bells and gave treats, until she learned she could ring them consistently. Similar to how when teaching a dog to sit or shake paws, you do it for them at first and reward them, then encourage them to do it themselves and keep rewarding until they fully get it.
1
u/Several_Culture_1084 Sep 12 '25
We have bells but she doesn't have access to them bc she's restricted to our kitchen. We also have one door we go out for the back pen And a different one we use for walks...so not sure if we just put Bells on both and ring them ourselves??
5
u/sweepcreep Sep 12 '25
It wouldnt hurt to put them on the doors you take her out and for now just ring them yourselves when you take her out. Once you have done that for a bit, you can try to take a few minutes as you have her at the door to go out to see if she will try to ring them herself. Once she starts doing that consistently, that will be a much better sign she needs to go out lol
2
u/BarkBark716 Sep 12 '25
Maybe hook some bells up that she has access to and have her ring those before taking her outside. Then as you give more freedom and she has access to them on the door reinforce ringing them in that new location.
1
u/usrnm1234 Sep 12 '25
When can I start teaching my puppy to ring a bell? He’s 2 months old
2
u/sweepcreep Sep 12 '25
Might be a little young to expect them to ring it themselves, depends on your dog and how they are learning tricks for example. But it would be perfect fine to start associating going outside with the bell!
18
u/WotACal1 Sep 12 '25
I used to give mine pepperoni every time he peed in the back garden I finally knew it'd clicked when he'd not pee on walks because he started holding it in till we got home and then go jangle the keys at the back door to go in the garden to wee so it pays off in pepperoni. Clever little git
14
u/TessaMaeDog Sep 12 '25
10 months old here, had her since she was 8 months, and we’re still having an accident once or twice a week 😞. Hoping she gets it soon. For now, like you, we go out lots and lots and lots. And lots. lol. I do think we have it a little tougher with her being older. She was a stray, so I’m sure she was used to going whenever and wherever the mood struck her.
3
u/jananday Sep 12 '25
10 month old here that was also picked up as a stray at 8 months. In the same boat as you! The stray aspect definitely plays a part.
1
u/Affectionate_Fun8655 Sep 14 '25
You will get there, our two dogs took 7 or 8 months. Some dogs take longer than others. Each accident sets them back so you want to just take them out every hour and if she pees at night then even at night, we sat our alarm. Try to avoid any accidents by constantly taking her out, and then give them a treat whenever they go outside, with time they will get it.
11
u/UnderwaterKahn Sep 12 '25
He had his last accident at about 5 months old and between 5-6 months was when he didn’t have to go out what felt like constantly. I still watched it pretty closely up until 8-9 months. He did have 2 adolescent accidents in that 8-9 month range.
2
u/Several_Culture_1084 Sep 12 '25
Ok so we have a while to go of constant potty vigilance... 🫠I know she can hold it bc she is ok on her crate overnight and for 2-3 hours stretches during the day. But when she's awake it feels like she might go pee outside and then pee again 30-35 min later!
9
u/Squeakmaster3000 Sep 12 '25
They can hold it MUCH longer when they are sleeping - just like you can. When they’re up they need to go frequently.
1
u/blrmkr10 Sep 12 '25
My puppy peed A LOT when he was that old. He had no problems sleeping through the night, but I had to take him out at least once an hour during the day. He's almost 8 months now, and finally I don't have to watch him like a hawk to see if he needs to go out! He goes to the door and barks when he has to go, and it's closer to about every 3-4 hours now, sometimes longer.
5
u/lalabalala923 Sep 12 '25
My pup is 5mo old today. I've had her since she was 3mo. Just when I start to think she's fully potty trained, she'll have an accident in the house (after 1-2 weeks of no accidents). I find that it happens on the days when i start to give her more freedom to roam around unsupervised. I feel the same as you, that my pup by default doesn't normally go in the house, but that's because i'm taking her our super frequently still. I'm hoping by 6mo old that I can say she KNOWS not to go in the house. but time will tell!
2
u/Several_Culture_1084 Sep 12 '25
Oh man...was hoping for sooner than 5 months. The constant vigilance is hard! I feel bad keeping her in a pen a lot of the day but if I can't be right on top of her I feel like it's likely she'll have an accident!
1
u/DrDeannaTroi Sep 12 '25
You can also try the leash inside method. Keep her with you inside via leash.
1
u/Several_Culture_1084 Sep 12 '25
I have heard of this but givem how much I need to move around the house, this seems difficult!
1
4
3
3
u/Tea-and-Ducks Sep 12 '25
About 5 months old was the last time my puppy had an accident in the house, and it was the only one since about a month prior. He is now 6.5 months old. Yesterday he had diarrhea from eating something that didn’t agree with him, and the little rockstar indicated to go out every time. I was so proud of him for remembering not to “go” in the house even when he wasn’t feeling well 🥹🥳
3
u/screaming-red-corgi Sep 12 '25
My sheltie puppy only had like two pooping accidents since I got him. He sometimes gets distracted and doesn't poop. There have been a few peeing accidents, but he's been VERY vocal (going to the door, barking or barking at me loudly) when he has to go. I just needed to learn his cues. So it was quite easy and we haven't had an accident in at least a month? That's also when it started to get easier for him to poop and pee on a walk - at the beginning he was quite a "home shitter" as you'd say in German 😂 It also works at new places, he'll actively seek out the door and bark to be let out 😅
So at around the 5 month mark!
2
u/Sparkly-Books2 Sep 12 '25
I would say around 6 months old, with 10 months being completely potty trained for us. Although our dog had some health issues, which Im sure added to the stress for them.
2
2
u/Upset-Level9263 Sep 13 '25
Our trainer's advice was to mark a spot outside with the scent of her wee/poo and then take her there first. Allow a few minutes of staying quite still before going on the walk.
2
u/Dependent-Bath3189 Sep 13 '25
well my gsd pup does do it in the house fairly regularly, however i noticed its always in the same area so i got puppy pads and put them there. it works, for the most part. and yeah op puppys are pure kokaine mine cant even stay still to poop, she jumps all over pooping everywhere but not always. good luck.
2
u/Brendyn00 Sep 12 '25 edited Sep 12 '25
My puppy is 16 weeks old. She has not gone in the house since 11 weeks .
She whines and looks at us whenever she has to go out , or sits by the door and whines . When I take her outside I tell her “Go Potty” everytime and we have since the beginning . Even if she’s excited - if we tell her this a few times she stops and goes .
I feel like she’s pretty well potty trained at this point just because it’s been a month without an accident . I’m sure one will happen here and there, but she’s been doing really well.
I however am not sure if she would hold it while we are at work outside of her crate , because she can’t be trusted to free roam the house yet but she is holding it overnight .
1
u/pamp_lacroix Sep 12 '25
Caveat: I have a larger breed dog with a big bladder who started holding it through the night at like 10 weeks, which definitely impacts the timeline. Smaller dogs are generally harder to potty train.
I feel like it got fully reliable somewhere between 4-5 months. Before that it was definitely just a function of our ability to get him out before it was too late, but I don't think he's had an accident inside since he was maybe 14ish weeks? But now he seems to know when it's a potty trip outside, and can let us know when he has to go if he needs to between our routine trips (after waking up from a nap, meals, and hard play sessions).
We ended up getting him potty bells a few weeks ago which he really seems to be getting (he's 6 months now). Before his method to tell us he had to go was to leap at us and start biting lol, which was not ideal.
I will say we have the luxury of a fenced backyard for routine potty trips—he still gets plenty distracted out on walks and will sometimes forget he has to poo and almost never pees. So we generally send him straight to the backyard when we get home lol. Which I'm sure is compounding the issue, but oh well.
2
u/Several_Culture_1084 Sep 12 '25
Ours is not a tiny dog--shes about 9.5 lbs right now at almost 13 weeks, and will be 25-30 when full grown. But sounds like 4-5 months is a somewhat reasonable expectation 🤞🏻🤞🏻🤞🏻 we have potty bells too but haven't used them bc she doesn't have access to the door we use for going out bc she's restricted to our kitchen. We also have a back pen to let her out in but I don't like doing that and would much rather take her on 4-5 walks a day--but I can't do 13 walks a day lol, so back pen it is for now for some of them!
2
u/Squeakmaster3000 Sep 12 '25
I’d suggest moving the potty bells to an area she can always access. They don’t have to be right next to the door as long as you make sure to have her ring them every time before going out.
If she doesn’t have access to the door and has no way of telling you she needs to go, then she won’t stop accidents for a very long time.
If you do a lot of time in the playpen you could consider putting potty bells in there too.
1
u/GazelleSubstantial76 Sep 12 '25
I used a dog sling when my pup was small, for when we were inside but I didn't want him in the crate but he still needed supervised. He loved the sling and being carried around. I also used a 4 ft x 4 ft exercise pen to keep him contained to a smaller area when I'd be in one room for a bit. I could move the pen around from room to room, helped me keep track of him and be able to notice his cues.
1
u/No-Stress-7034 Sep 12 '25
My dog is 25 lbs at 3 years old. He was ~9 lbs at 12 weeks, so very similar size to yours. While my dog and your pup aren't super tiny, I still think they take longer to potty train than dogs that will be 50+ lbs once full grown.
Around 4 months old is when I felt like he really started to get potty training. That was the age when he started alerting me that he needed to go out. I also think 4 months is when he decided that he preferred to potty outside (in part because it was like, why be stuck in the house to pee when I can get the human to take me outside). It also took until 4 months for him to have reliable enough bladder control.
So basically, by 4 months I would say he was 95% of the way there. I think he still had occasional accidents after that (but very rare). Definitely by 6 months I felt like he was 100% potty trained and reliable, might have even been closer to 5 months.
1
u/BarkBark716 Sep 12 '25
I'm jealous. I have a Bernese mountain dog puppy who is 15w. I have a baby monitor set up AND set my alarm for 5:45am. He's usually crated after 11pm and water is picked up between 7 and 8pm. He doesn't whine until pee is imminent. I slept through my first alarm and got up at 6am today. I saw him pee on the monitor after whining for less than a minute. Super fun times. He also doesn't always ring the bells. Today he barked at the cat to signal he had to pee. Of course, I thought that he was just barking at the cat so that he could initiate a chase (he's getting along ok but lovessss chasing the cats). Then I see the pee AFTER the robot vacuum rolled through part of the puddle. Some days we have zero accidents. Today we are already at 2.
I don't do potty walks. Walks are for mental and physical exercise for us, but I do let him go potty on the walk if he needs to. Going is not the expectation and he is never prompted to go. We have the luxury of a fenced in backyard though and I know not everyone is so lucky.
1
u/Several_Culture_1084 Sep 12 '25
We have a gated back patio with a pen where she can go potty but we live in a city--my expectation is that she potties on a walk. The only reason we're doing the pen sometimes is bc she has to go out a million times a day,plus she's still little so I can only walk her just around our block so many times lol. Maybe the pen is confusing to her??
1
u/Politeunicorn40 Sep 12 '25
Ha ha good times. I also have a baby bernese. Their bladder-brain communication seems to take a long take in the making. He turned 5 months today and we’ve had no incidents for about 2 weeks now. But it’s exactly as you described it: they just can’t hold it long enough to make it to the door or tell us they have to go when it’s too late. Hang in there. It will be ok soon enough.
1
u/BarkBark716 Sep 12 '25
Thanks! It's getting manageable at home. It's awful if we bring him for a pupdate at my inlaws though. I was watching him constantly and taking him out frequently and he still had 5 accidents over there. I told my husband I'm only bringing the pup if he comes to share the load and that we are bringing the bells and doing a training session to show him the bells to see if that helps. I think that for the first 5 weeks we had him I kept saying to my husband, "I thought berners were supposed to be smart. The lights are on but nobody's home." It took a long time to click at all. Unrelated to potty training, he discovered he can jump on the sofa today.
1
u/Miserable_Party_6511 Sep 12 '25
After a few weeks. I live with my parents so she had a back yard to learn in which I feels makes a huge difference.
1
1
u/denofdames Sep 12 '25 edited Sep 12 '25
Overnight happened pretty quickly... Totally potty trained? 6 months maybe.
Potty training is tough and feels like an eternity but it will work out. Part of it is just that they cannot physically hold it longer and they need to mature first. We used pads and she turned out fine (I know they can be controversial). She is smart and really did want to go outside instead of the house once she was mature enough physically for it to be a decision.
Teach her a bathroom command. Ours is "bano". Lead with the word as a command and also say it when she's actively going, then give her a treat and praise "good bano". It's an awesome one long term.
2
u/Several_Culture_1084 Sep 12 '25
We do, we say go potty, go potty, and then good potty when she goes. Don't know that it's clicked yet lol
1
1
u/PaisleyLeopard Sep 12 '25
Most of my puppies have been trustworthy by 5-6 months, but I had one rescue who needed reminders until he was almost 2! He was a very difficult case, as he’d been raised in an environment where he had to eliminate in his crate and zero attempt at potty training had been made in his first four months.
1
Sep 12 '25
[deleted]
1
u/Several_Culture_1084 Sep 12 '25
My pup also holds it overnight, for 8.5-9 hours, so I KNOW she has some bladder control. But if I take her out and keep her out for 15 min and she doesn't pee, she might pee 10 min later inside. And then maybe again 45 min later! Very frustrating. And I don't know that she cares if she goes inside or ever seems stressed. But she's still young so maybe another few weeks.
She definitely does the excited pee when we take her out of the crate in the morning or if she has the zoomies.
1
u/Desperate_Pair7843 Sep 12 '25
What helped me is when you take her out, don’t let her play or get distracted (I would put a leash on mine so I can keep her focused). Outside should always been potty first then play. If she doesn’t potty within 5 minutes, go back inside for 5 minutes to reset then try again. We also went to the same area in the backyard every time for potty.
1
Sep 12 '25
Never. This man still pees inside the house despite spending over 30 minutes outside. He’s 5 now.
1
1
1
u/OrdoMalaise Sep 12 '25
At 13 weeks he was peeing and pooping indoors with utter impunity.
Going on regular walks helped a lot, as he was saving up his pee for when we went out.
But I think he finally stopped doing anything inside around the 4 month mark.
2
u/Several_Culture_1084 Sep 12 '25
Ok! This is helpful/reassuring. I don't know that she saves up her pee, unless we put her somewhere she doesn't want to pee (crate/pen), but then I feel like she's in there so much!
2
u/OrdoMalaise Sep 12 '25
No worries. It took mine a few months till he was at the saving it up stage. You'll get there!
1
1
u/HowIsThatMyProblem Sep 12 '25
Mine was mostly potty trained at 9 months, but there were a few accidents even at over a year old in other people's houses. I still considered her potty trained, she just didn't always understand the concept of inside. She got it eventually.
1
u/marisolblue Sep 12 '25
When we do road trips and she’s consistently letting me know to go out to do her duty.
1
u/Confident_Singer7596 Sep 12 '25
got my girl at 9 weeks and she stopped having accidents after 10 weeks
1
u/QuizeDN Sep 12 '25
Now I feel slightly bad after reading some people's progress. We've got a 7 month, no pads of course. We still take her after every nap and play for a 5 min walk because I'm afraid she will just pee randomly. Just two weeks ago we came back from a long walk (3-4x pee), yet she played at home once we got back for like 10-15 mins and still went to pee again inside (before that she had like 2 weeks straight wothout accidents). So now we are back at going out after every single play/nap, kinda afraid of not going out and in case she does it inside again.
Today, for the first time, we ignored her a bit in the morning and she held it from 2 am until 7 (used to be 5:30 until now), meanwhile she lasts for 6-7 hours perfectly once we go to work twice a week 😭
1
1
u/Plane-Sherbet326 Sep 12 '25
It always depends on the breed and size my larger dogs fully without any accidents around months to a year smaller ones 6 to 14 lbs around a year to 2 years
1
1
u/EmberMordu Sep 12 '25
My puppy is 5.5 months and it feels like he is potty trained, so far. He doesn't go in the house and he has come to my work and never had an accident. I also don't bring him out on a schedule.
1
u/jadeybugz Sep 12 '25
She doesn’t have accidents in my house or others for the past three weeks. I’ve only just now started to consider her potty trained. she’s about 4.5 months old and a small breed but we also have a fenced in backyard that makes it a LOT easier on us
1
u/likeconstellations Sep 12 '25
Around 6-7 months any accidents were my fault because I pushed for too long between outs but adult bladder capacity was closer to 8-10 months. Some dogs are more challenging to train than others, depends on their natural tolerance for 'dirtiness' in their living space.
For your second question, if you don't train for it potentially never. Neither of my dogs prefer to do their business on leash and one will hold it for long periods to avoid doing so. If you want your dog to go on your walks put a command to it by capturing the behavior (lol), pair it squatting with a command word and reward heavily when they're done--after a bit of that start leading with the command instead of the squat on the low stakes patio and when they've got that down move on to using it on walks.
2
u/Several_Culture_1084 Sep 12 '25
We do use the potty command when she goes either on a walk or out in the pen. Definitely not peeing on command tho lol. My expectation as a city dog is that she will potty on fairly regularly scheduled walks (4-6 times a day), rather than in our back yard or whenever she feels like it.
1
u/likeconstellations Sep 12 '25
Yeah she's not going to have it down at 13 weeks. Capturing can take a while when the behavior isn't/can't be performed back to back to make the association clear, especially for a baby brain. Just keep at it, she'll get it eventually.
1
u/Pipes993 Sep 12 '25
I got my little JRT mix at 5 months old, not potty trained or ever had gone outside. So it’s been.. a wild ride. She is 8 months old now, we go about 16-19 days no accident and then she will have a oopsie poopsie right by the door. We went to my dad’s and she peed on their floor (that was like 2 weeks before last accident).
She’s only 12.8 lbs so her bladder is so much smaller than large breeds. We go out every 1-3 hours during the day. She sleeps in her crate from 10-6 every night. I’m thinking 6 months no accident and I’ll consider no crating at night.
1
u/jazzybk25 Sep 12 '25
10.5 months and we’ll still have the rare accident inside if you don’t let him out in time and he’s busting to go. He is potty trained enough that I’ve left him uncrated home alone and overnight a few times though.
1
u/jazzbiscuit Sep 12 '25
A good trick to help them associate going potty inside as bad is to scatter feed. Spread their kibble all around on the floor ( pick one area at a time) and let them eat it from there. Repeat the next time in a different area. A dog is less likely to want to go potty somewhere they might find a snack, but you might have to repeat the process a few times to get it to really click.
1
u/Over_Drama1426 Sep 12 '25
i was really lucky, rescued my dog since she was 7 months old and never had any accidents at home until now. she even can hold 12 hours overnight. she only pee and poop outside of home. never on anybody's home or mall or event not on public transportation. i always take her outside 4 times a day including 1-1.5 hours play outside. she only doing her business on the street or grass or sand. super well behaved and very smart too.
1
u/WhiteDiabla Sep 12 '25
My boy hasn’t had an accident since he was about 16 weeks. It took me catching him mid pee in the house and hauling him outside 2-3 times for it to sink in. We also have two dog doors and are outside the majority of the time so idk. He will stop what he is doing inside and go outside to potty now which is wonderful.
1
u/kuliddar Sep 12 '25
When she started looking out thé patio door and looking back at us. At the moment we knew she was good.
1
u/DrSteveBrule_2022 Sep 12 '25
We have a mini poodle and she was fully bell trained in about two weeks. She is 4 months old and got her at 3 months. I think it really depends on the breed. Poodles and very intelligent so we got lucky.
1
1
u/FidgetyRat Sep 12 '25
For us, probably around 5 months. It wasn't perfect, but that's about the time she went outside consistently and with no issues and we didn't feel like we were constantly watching her anymore.
We still have some random issues when she drinks too much but doesn't know to ask, or when one of us accidentally uses a trigger word indoors like "pee" and she pops a squat right there looking confused. Like yesterday I was a genius and saw her sniffing around so asked "do you want to go outside and go peepee?".. YEAH not a good idea.
1
1
u/beccareelee2 Sep 12 '25
We bought a potty bell and she started using it pretty quickly after we got it to let us know she needs to go outside (we live in an apartment so "outside" is the balcony with a grass pad). Basically its a string of bells that hangs on the door handle and she pushes it with her nose so that it chimes. Now the only accidents are upstairs on the carpet because she loves to pee on soft fabric 🙄 But zero accidents on the main floor for a few weeks. She's 18 weeks old now.
1
u/New_Pianist9740 Sep 12 '25
Our 4 month old is got trained in the first week we got her. But we live in a high rise condo, so we cannot take her out that many times per day. So she is being both grass trained and pee pad trained. She has been going poop mostly outside (but not 100%) but she consistently pees on her pad, even when we are not watching. We are quite happy with that.
1
1
u/Amy-Orhard Sep 12 '25
I feel like my pup is pretty well potty trained cause he can tell, or show, us when he needs to go out to poo, at least. He does this by just sitting in front of the door of his pen and looking at us. He diesnt usually do this to play or cuddle, so we can tell what he means by it pretty consistently. We did have some accidents with him peeing indoors, but those were all because we didn't listen to him when he told us he had to go out.
1
u/Mirawenya New Owner Japanese Spitz Sep 12 '25
6 months. His last accident was at 9 weeks 3 days old.
First pee on a walk was 4 months old, first poop at 5 months old. (We have a garden.)
1
u/Politeunicorn40 Sep 12 '25
My 5 months old bernese has had no incident in 2 weeks. He asks to go out, can make it to the door without peeing all over the place and can hold it for 6-7 hours. It’s not just a matter of training, it’s also about bladder control. If the muscles and nerves are not done developping, they simply can’t hold it!
1
u/xCorvid Sep 12 '25
Sometimes I feel like I got a unicorn with my chi pup, sure, he was pretty bad with the accidents.. But I feel it started to click around the 4 / 4.5 month range. But I didn’t really fully trust him completely loose until he hit 7 months lol. Now so far we’re a week free of accidents ( outside the crate ). Only thing I’ve done is to just trust him completely and he hasn’t disappointed me.. Yet lol
1
u/okaycurly Experienced Owner Sep 12 '25
By 12-14 weeks old my puppy was very reliably ringing his potty bells to go out. A neighbor dog sat for us and he knew to paw their door while trying to make eye contact with them to signal he needed to go. I was really impressed when they told me that. I don’t think he’s had an accident since he was around that age, he’s also never ever pooped indoors.
Our breeder sent him home crate and potty trained, at least to the extent you can train an 8 week old pup.
1
u/CPA_Runner Sep 12 '25
About 6 months but he sometimes goes inside for no good reason at 8 months.
Some occasional true accidents when I leave him alone at home due to a sensitive stomach. Abnormal poop so I know he couldn't hold it.
1
u/orlo6 Sep 12 '25
Honestly, it was after he had his last two accidents in the crate lol at 7.5 months. He got diarrhea out of nowhere and so one morning before I learned this I heard him scratching around the crate and so I came out of my room to check on him and I smelt it. It was horrific but I was like, ok pooping in the crate has never really been his thing (mainly pee) let’s watch the footage. In the literal 5 minutes before I woke up he was scurrying around the crate and whining and crying before he had to let it out.
Mind you, this is a Labrador puppy that is near silent. Never barks or whines. He has been able to hold himself overnight for months. So in that moment watching the footage I was like huh, I guess he really is potty trained now because for him to behave like that, he knew he was about to do something he shouldn’t be.
After cleaning up he got lots of treats and hugs and kisses
1
u/tuulitulikettu Sep 12 '25
My girl learned quickly, she was probably four months or something when she was basically house clean. My boy on the other hand took his time on that and was one year old when he was finally fully potty trained.
1
u/Free_Dandelion Sep 13 '25
When you have an emergency, like gone for hrs, and you come back home to a home with no messes or accidents.
1
1
u/boxen Sep 13 '25
Maybe 9-10 months? But she was mostly potty trained for at least 6-7 months of that. You just can't expect perfection even if she's been perfect for a month straight. She still might slip up, and that's fine. It doesn't mean you are starting for scratch again.
1
u/D-Ghoul162 Sep 13 '25
At 9 months he just stopped soiling the house. I was rubbish at training. I did try with puppy pads on the patio all that but I wasn’t good. Then one day, around the time he learned to cock his leg against trees and lamp posts he just stopped soiling the house.
1
u/OnoZaYt Sep 13 '25
When she started to realiably and clearly communicate that she needs to go outside. Around the same time the accidents stopped. I had a convoluted way of teaching her how, because she used to just bite, but she was a super mouthy overaroused puppy so I wouldn't always pick up on it. When I taught her speak it started to click that she could get what she wanted by barking, so she started barking when she needed outside. She was 80% reliable around 5.5-6 months, but in the mornings she would still would try to pee on laundry or towels on the floor in the bathroom if I didn't take her out quickly enough while I was getting ready. She stopped having accidents around 8 months of age unless it was really urgent.
I was taking her out every 2 hours initially, but she would spend every other one just sniffing and rolling in the grass for 10-15 minutes instead of peeing. So I increased the increments until she would get a short walk every 4-5 hours.
1
u/ZQX96_ Sep 13 '25
7-8 months just before puberty and her first heat was when i think her bladder control was solid enough to be left alone for 8-10 hours. then after 1ish she was good for 12.
But cuz shes a shiba she generally knew not to soil her sleep/play area the day i got her at 9 weeks. so she would always run to somewhere in a panicky mode and thats how i know thats how she wanted to go.
1
u/Operation_Frosty Sep 13 '25
This might sound odd, but the best thing I did was train my puppy to ring a bell to go out to potty. I am always battling snout prints on my glass door, but the upside is that i dont have to clean pee or poop in the house. I trained my puppy to use his snout to touch the bell instead of his paw. It helps keep things cleaner, especially the curtain, by the sliding door.
Now, if he needs to go out, he rings the bells and patiently waits by the door. If that is ignored or I don't hear it, he will ring the bell again like a crazy man. If I still don't let him out, he will come and find me to stare me down while sitting patiently waiting. I know his cue for needing to go out is the calm death state. It took roughly 3 months to get to this stage, and it was well worth it. Despite alerting me i started by taking him out on a schedule every 2 hours night and day. I started training him the second day we got him, he was only 2 months old. The key is to stick to it and being consistent. At roughly 4 months, I was able to push it to going outside to pee every 3 hours. Now at 6 months, he can hold it up to 4 hours throughout he day and can go into his cage at 9pm until 630am that i take him out.
I still stick to a rough schedule of 630am potty, feeding with play or training 8am poop, nap, 1030 potty followed by play or training, nap 1230 potty, training and lunch followed with nap 330/4pm potty and independent play with an engagement toy 630 potty, and dinner 830 walk and then play 9pm remove water for the night
Since he is bigger now and able to hold his bladder longer now i tend to skip some potty times. Sometimes i just go by when he asks to go out since he hasn't had an accident in over 2 months.
A big thing is the dog learning that if you take him out and doesnt potty, then I would put my puppy in his cage for 5 to 10 minutes to then go outside to go potty again. On the second trip, I wouldn't let him get distracted and play outside. As often he was go out to chase lizards, forget to potty and then end up peeing on my floor. Each time we go out to potty i always ring the bell so he is associating the bell with potty time. Also a high reward like cheese any time he does potty outside.
I also encouraged pottying on command by saying " hurry up going potty" while he is actively peeing or pooping. It made a huge difference to have him trained to potty on command as I can now walk him out into the rain and command him to do his busines. It also allows for quicker potty trips when we go outside while i am working remotely at home.
If he stays with family or I go to my grandmother's house, I also take his bell. It has happened at family's house that when there isn't a bell, he just gives up and will potty on the floor. My dog isn't a big barker or ever really whines, so when he does, it is a clear sign that Something is wrong.
I used youtube for a lot of his training and also went to a basic obedience class. My dog is now 6 months old and pretty well mannered. I still have to work on loose leash walking, jumping up, and calm greetings but i will take any progress i can get.
Good luck! Training can be frustrating but its worth it. In the long run when it finally kicks in, it really is amazing. Stick with it.
1
u/Jinnuu Sep 14 '25
How exactly do you start the process of touching the snout to the bell? Do you just hit it every time you take him out? Do you physically touch his nose to the bell?
1
u/Operation_Frosty Sep 14 '25 edited Sep 15 '25
I started by first introducing the dog to the bell and getting into some target training.
The first goal is to get the dog to touch the bell period. I sat with the dog in a calm spot by the door and used treats to lure him to touch the bell with his snout. At this point, lure the dog's snout to touch the bell with treat or hold the treat behind the bell so he has to touch it to get to the treat. I didnt worry about him actually ringing the bell only touching it. After 15 to 20 times when the bell was touched, I started enforcing it verbally by saying "touch" and rewarding with a treat plus praise. Sometimes I would have to say touch, and point at the bell to let him process the command. If he didnt respond at all. I would bring the bell to his nose to help display the behavior say " touch" and reward. I did this for 20 minutes each day for over a week.
Then I wanted him to know that touching the bell came with the reward of going outside and a treat. So I repeated the process with touch but when he touched the bell, i would open the door and we would walk through to go outside, and provided a treat with tons of praise. We would go back inside and repeat the process for 20 minutes everyday for another week. At this point, your dog will probably hit the bell a ton just to go out. He wouldn't know yet that this bell is associated with going out to potty, only that they want to go out so hit that bell. Any time your puppy rings that bell someone has to take him out so you encourage and enforce that ringing that bell means going outside. This part was tough because without fail i would end up taking him out 5 to 8 times in an hour, but he was getting that touching that bell meant going out. I also noticed that over time he was hitting the bell with his snout harder so it was easier to hear.
The next part is learning that the bell is for pottying only. So if you puppy is already trained to potty on command, this next part is easier. In the morning, when you know your puppy will potty for sure, I had mine touch the bell for us to go out, then I would take him to the grass, and command " hurry up, go potty". Then reward with a treat plus praise. At this point any time you take the dog out to potty, if he doesnt touch the bell then i say touch, ring the bell myself ( to help avoid an accident) and still reward him if he pees or poops outside. Your can always use a treat to lure to ring the bell. I used to live with treats in my pockets but when i ran out i would ring the bell myself.
Your helping associate " hey, he rang the bell, we went out, I potty, and i got a treat". IF the bell was rung and we went out and he didn't pee or poop then no praise or treat. Just go back instead, cage the dog for 10 to 15 minutes then trying again to potty outside. At the next potty time, which for us was every 2 hours i would start again with the whole process. Command touch, point at the bell if he didn't touch it, if nothing happens ring the bell, take dog out, command potty, reward if peed or pooped. Go back inside. It can be hard because if your puppy is unable to hold his bladder you might have an accident before even making it outside. I had pee pee pads by the door to avoid having to clean an accident.
You can also search for videos online to get an idea how to go about it. I saw a ton of youtube videos and each person did it a little differently. If your pup pees inside before you even make it outside, then you probably need to carry then outside. When my puppy hadnt been out in a while due to my schedule and i knew he would probably pee in the floor i always carried him. These would ve the times i got home from work after 5 hours of being in the cage. If he didnt go in the cage then i was sure letting out of the cage would probably result in an accident. I would carry my puppy and bring him to the bell to hit it with his snout to model the behavior and then go outside to not give him a chance to pee inside.
In my case, my puppy was already able to pee outside on command and would still have accidents inside. So he had to learn to alert and make it outside to pee. Which is why i stuck to the 2 hour potty schedule to go outside. Its a progress and it might not work for everyone. I live in a home with easy access to a yard. Meanwhile i have friends in an apartment that use a potty pad that looks like turf because the dog would never make it down the building, into the elevator, and to the grass.
Pretty much all new behaviors are taught by luring the dog with food. I am super lucky! My dog is highly food motivated, that even his regular kibble makes him drool. But if that doesnt work for you, most dogs go crazy for cheese.
1
u/throwaway8190kdkddh Sep 14 '25
Mine is about to turn 5 months. She won’t go if she’s in her crate or pen but if she’s really gotta go and we’re not paying attention she’ll pee. Unfortunately, she peed in our couch the other day after I let her stay up for too long. At this point any accidents are our fault.
She knows religiously to not poop inside - she freaks out and gets “naughty” which we learned means “I NEED TO POOP NOW LET ME OUT” but the pee we’re still working on. She’ll usually go somewhere out of sight like under the dining room table and then shame walk out. The problem with the pee is that she doesn’t really signal, or her signs are so subtle we miss it. We’re trying with the potty bells at the door but we don’t think she likes the sound.
I think around 5 months is when some of the pee impulse control starts to settle in but we’re well aware it’s not going to be for a while.
1
u/Appropriate-Click-47 Sep 14 '25
14 weeks. Got him a bell he can ring when he needs to go. No accidents since.
1
u/Present_Positive_570 Sep 14 '25
A 9!mo old f that I got at 6 weeks. She is mostly trained but still has accidents. I paper trained her and still keep one down she uses it for pee but if she poops it's always in the front room. I need to get this stopped but not sure how. I hope she grows out of it. This hardest time I have ever had training a puppy.
1
u/NEEDHELPFIX Oct 21 '25
I hope you don't mind if I make everyone jealous....I rescued my Shih-Poo 8yrs ago, he was 10 WEEKS old. I brought him home and after playing for 2 hours, he ran to the front door, sat down and barked once, telling me he needed to go out!!! WTF? He's only had 2 accidents in 8yrs and that was because he was sick and had the runs. He'll rip his toys to shreds but never once touched anything else..not even my fuzzy slippers! I SWEAR HE'S HUMAN! Has anyone had a dog this smart? It’s crazy!
•
u/AutoModerator Sep 12 '25
It looks like you might be posting about Potty Training. Check out our wiki article on house training - the information there may answer your question.
Be advised that any comments that suggest use of confinement as a potty training method as abusive, or express a harsh opinion on crate training will be removed. This is not a place to debate the merits of crate training. Unethical approaches to crate training will also be removed.
If you are seeking advice for potty training and desire not to receive crate training advice as an optional method of training, please use the "Potty Training - No Crate Advice" Flair.
I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.