Help with potty training

[Sugar Daddy 35]

My wife is about ready to give up. Our puppy is peeing all over the place. I'm thinking we need to control her water intake. How often and how much should we give her a day? Thanks for all helpful solutions!

Edited February 16, 2012 by Sugar Daddy

[Luna 8,676]

It's not a good idea to restrict a puppy's (or adult's) water intake: better to restrict the dog. Until your puppy understands where you want her to "go" and where she shouldn't, she will continue to eliminate wherever she is. The solution to that is to confine her to a limited area, which you then enlarge as she catches on. If she is peeing more than once every couple of hours, you need to consult your vet as there may be a problem.

[storyweaver 7]

Ditto what Pam said. When I first got Theodore (he was 8 weeks), I confined him in the laundry room and let him out every two hours. I was very strict with his potty training since I didn't want to deal with all the cleaning issues, stinky pee and poop, and all the rooms in my house (except for the kitchen, bath, and tv room) have carpet. At night, I kept him in the crate across from my bed. He never peed/pooped in his crate. Gradually, I confined him into the kitchen with scheduled bathroom times, letting him out every 3 and then 4 hours at a time. Eventually, I gave him the free roam of the house, but it took me awhile to let him do that. Now don't get me wrong. When I allowed him full access to the house, there were accidents but it was because I forgot to let him out. If I catch him, I stop him, simply take him out and don't make a big deal out of it. Now that he's nine months, he's fully potty trained, but we have a potty schedule. I let him out about 4 or 5 times. He lets me know if he has to potty by barking and giving me this weird look on his face.

But I digress. It's important to confine her in an area at first and then let her out on scheduled potty times. It also helps to schedule her feeding time. Good luck. :birthday_toast:

[Sugar Daddy 35]

Are you saying I should leave water for her to drink all the time? Or some other schedule. We had left the water out before, and she peed multiple times very frequently.

Also, did y'all ever leave the puppy out to play in your house?

We got Angel when she was 12 weeks old, and either I forgot what we did with her or the size of this dog makes this experience different. It didn't seem so difficult with Angel, but she is a full size Shih-Tzu, whereas Zoey will probably be 1/2 of Angels weight. Angel has had free roam of the house for along time, and is to the point that she never has an accident. We let her out at least once in the morning and once in the evening.

Nothing to add, must have hit the wrong button.

Edited April 17, 2012 by ShihtzuBeauty

[storyweaver 7]

Are you saying I should leave water for her to drink all the time? Or some other schedule. We had left the water out before, and she peed multiple times very frequently.

Also, did y'all ever leave the puppy out to play in your house?

We got Angel when she was 12 weeks old, and either I forgot what we did with her or the size of this dog makes this experience different. It didn't seem so difficult with Angel, but she is a full size Shih-Tzu, whereas Zoey will probably be 1/2 of Angels weight. Angel has had free roam of the house for along time, and is to the point that she never has an accident. We let her out at least once in the morning and once in the evening.

Water is always available to my puppy. I never restrict his wanter intake. In fact, I encourage him to drink because sometimes I don't think he drinks enough. When Theodore was only a few months old, I never left him out to play in the house unless I'm in the same room. To this day, I still confine him to an area when I have to leave the house. He's a bit mischievous, you see. LOL. You can get a playpen for her and put it in the same room as you will be in if you want. Just a suggestion.

How old is your puppy? Puppies may have to be six months or older before they can control their bladder. If Zoey is only going to be half a size of Angel, chances are she has a smaller bladder so she may have to potty more often. I would also suggest to take her out to potty after playing since they tend to get excited when they play. But I wouldn't rule out Pam/Luna's suggestion either about taking her to the vet.

[Luna 8,676]

All dogs should always have free access to fresh water...period. Dehydration (and it is amazing how fast a young puppy can dehydrate) is very dangerous and can lead to severe kidney issues. As I mentioned before, a 12-week old puppy is simply NOT going to be reliable and needs to be restricted in area until she understands what you want of her and is able to hold on for a longer period of time. This is not to say the puppy can't be out and about the house, but unless you are right there with her every minute to snatch her up and take her to "the pee place" the second she indicates she might go, you can be sure she will continue to eliminate where she is. As to how long the process will take, I can only tell you that I have dogs that were reliable in a week at 12 weeks of age and others that are 2 years old and will still pee in the wrong place if they feel the need.

[Beau1124 2]

We took Beau out every couple of hours and still had a few accidents (it happens). If we were home, he was where we had eyes on him at all times. If we had to be gone, he was in his crate. I remember having Beau in the bathroom with me, door closed, while I was in the shower and getting ready for work in the morning. We never restricted his water. My dad had a heck of a time house breaking his female; the woman down the street from me had a fairly easy time with her female........they're all different.

[JasperandAkira'smom 4]

So how is the potty training going Sugar Daddy?

[Sugar Daddy 35]

It's getting better, thanks to all of your helpful experiences. We have had a hectic schedule to boot through all of this, so I understand the confusion for Zoey. Things have settled down, and she is beginning to give us hints when it is time to potty. Do you leave water out overnight? We have her kenneled at night, with no food if water. No accidents last night! I did take her out before work this morning (4am), and she did relieve herself. :monkeydance:

[JasperandAkira'smom 4]

I leave water 24/7. I take mine out right before bedtime and then first thing when I get up. When they were smaller I did take them out during the night if they woke me up but if they did not potty we went right back in (no playing). I am glad to hear she is doing better.

[Beau1124 2]

:monkeydance: Yay! Beau is not crated at night so yes, we do leave water out overnight. Especially in the summer it's important for me to know he can get a drink at night if he gets warm! But Beau is four years old and fully house broken. I don't think he had water when he was crated at night - our vet said this was okay.

[Luna 8,676]

Good news! I'm sure she will have it figured out before long.

We have water bottles on all the crates except for the two oldest who never learned to drink from them: they have stainless steel coop cups with water (you can google it), they are inexpensive and last forever. I know this because both of those cups are over 20 years old, lol.

[storyweaver 7]

That's awesome, Sugar Daddy. I'm so glad that everything is working out for you. Yes, water was always available for Theodore during those potty training months. I can totally understand having a hectic schedule. During his potty training, I was alone and worked fulltime with rotating (day, evening, and night) shifts every three weeks. It was very confusing, I'm sure for him, but my brother helped out by taking him out during the day or evening when I worked. If I'm home at night, I did take him out if he woke me up. If he was asleep, I slept too. LOL. Now that he's potty trained, I take him out upon rising, after meals, noon, after playtime, and before bedtime.

The point is having a schedule and sticking to it. Since she is giving you cues when to let her out, that's great! That helps you out. Potty training does take time, but it will be so worth it in the end.

[Sugar Daddy 35]

She had been taken out several times today, and then all of the sudden pees on the floor (3X)!

[emmasmom 14]

Try taking her out every hour, (set an alarm if you have to), until you feel she's *getting* it. It's a pain, I know, but has worked for us for several dogs over the years. Don't bring her in until she goes & put her on a leash. No play time until she goes. Good luck!

[storyweaver 7]

I'm with Nancy on this one. Please continue to confine her in an area inside the house. Keep us posted.

[emmasmom 14]

and also, what we did when training, I always had them on leash, then as soon as they would do their business, took them inside immediately with lots of praise. That way they got the idea of why we were outside, to potty....not play.

[Beau1124 2]

I second everything that Nancy said. It's frustrating, I know, but don't give up on her yet!

[Sugar Daddy 35]

Thanks! Just told my wife. She is the one who will have to try this at least for the next 2 nights. I am already up all night working "dogs"!LOL

[Sugar Daddy 35]

"I can't stand her. She just peed a wuad on carolines bed and comforter.". That was a text I just received from my wife. Oh boy!

My response was, "What was she doing there?"

Her response was, "We were all on carolines bed. I was playing with her." :high5:

[JasperandAkira'smom 4]

I would just make sure she is not allowed to be out and about until right after she goes and then only free for about 1/2 hour to hour before she goes back outside.

[emmasmom 14]

And, again, it might not hurt to have her checked out by the vet to make sure she doesn't have a uti......

And, you might not earn any brownie points from the wife, but, if you don't want an untrained puppy peeing on the bed...you don't put the untrained puppy ON the bed. Just sayin!

Good luck! And remember....EVERY hour!!!!! :thankyou:

[ParadiseTzu 11,275]

And here is another thing I did - when she got to where she peed every time I took her out, I would trust her for about 15 minutes before I either held her, leashed her or crated her. For that (about) 15 minutes she could run around on the floor or whatever while I watched her. I never relaxed with an untrained puppy. I then would take her out in the daytime about every 30 min - an hour. She has always done well at night.

[Beau1124 2]

Beau wasn't allowed on any furniture until we were reasonably confident he was housebroken. He wasn't out of our sight until then either......and she is going to pick up on your wife's frustration and dislike of her. I'm afraid that won't help matters.

[Sugar Daddy 35]

Still not getting it. I fed her and took her out, nothing. Left for 30 minutes, and poop in the kennel. Took her back out, nothing. Put her back in her kennel, and peed 15 minutes later. It's like she thinks if I'm in my kennel, I must be asked to relieve myself. Very frustrating! My wife and I took her out several times during the night and she squatted to pee and may have relieved a thimble full.