Housetraining 101 - Please Read this Thread in its Entirety

[BraveTyphlosion]

You guys are great, it's wonderful to have a bounty of information to pull from. I think I'm going to try and wait for 10 weeks now, I feel like it's okay if I don't start training as soon as I thought I might since I have you guys to help me. It'll give him a little extra time to earn some bowel control, even if only an itty bitty amount and more time with his mom and dad, and maybe litter mates depending on when they'll all be picked up.

Ah, that makes a lot of sense. I never thought about it that way, the cold helping like that. This way I suppose I can teach him about regular grass, frost, and snow at an early age as well. It's a win win situation. Now if only I could find a winter coat for my puppy that grew with him xP

I'm sorry to hear about your misfortune, I can't imagine how stressful that must have been for you and Henry. I think the worst I've ever had to deal with parasites was an unfortunate case of ear mites from a kitten we recieved from Saskachewan. It was easily and quickly taken care of however, our vet is wonderful. The best part was our other cat Oliver(It's a great name what can I say?) never caught them.

Acctually I just recently got myself some Natures Miracle enzyme cleaner. I hope it works as well as everyone says it does. There's soooo much choice it's a bit overwhelming deciding what to get so I went with the simplest.

Might put up an intro post soon with as many details as possible and I have some more questions that aren't house training related. Not sure if you'd like me to post them or just message them to you Deb(Can I call you that?) :]

[Oliver & Henry's Mum]

You may absolutely call me Deb! What shall I call you? I think you might be Canadian as you mentioned Saskatchewan. An Intro thread would be great as we enjoy the countdown to Puppy Eve! It's like Christmas Eve, except you'll be waiting for your puppy instead of Santa to arrive the next day.

Any enzymatic cleaner will be good. I'm sure once your puppy is finally home, and you are able to see after a day or two, exactly how much control, or lack thereof, he has, you'll figure out what YOU need to do to avoid accidents. By 12 weeks, as long as everyone in my house was quick acting and paying attention 100% of the time, Oliver was "virtually" house trained. The fact is that we were house trained and able to put Oliver out quickly enough for him to be successful.

My older son was the first one to manage to have Oliver do "big" business outside, and it was cold! He often didn't want to stay out long enough to complete the mission. That was still easier though than dealing with Henry's Giardia. The poor pup had diarrhea for 3 months and one can't possibly train with that issue. However, as soon as his tummy was better, he was house trained.

As far as waiting until 10 weeks, I'm not sure if that will help with the bowel control as much as the urinary control, or length of time between when the pup has to eliminate. It is less about control in the very early weeks, and more about routine.

I also had an easier time training my Golden Retriever (in 1987), as she was literally under the Christmas tree as a gift from my parents. My Lab, who came 3 years later arrived in June (like Henry) and was much slower to train. The cold is your friend.

As you said, we're here and happy to help. I know you'll have tons of questions in the first few weeks and months as you and Teddy go through your changes. By the end of the first year, your dog will be well house trained and some of your things will likely be chewed, but then you have a "dog's lifetime" of love and happiness to enjoy together. Too many people either expect too much too soon and they give up too easily, or they become plain lazy. It's so worth it in the end as both of my dogs sleep in on the weekends now and I don't have to worry about accidents.

[BraveTyphlosion]

You can call me Brave if you like, I kinda like it makes me feel special xD but if you like something more formal Gabrielle(Gabi) is fine too. I am very excited for puppy eve, it's better than christmas eve!

Well the rule here is to run to the destination in hopes of jiggling the puppy's bladder enough to make him need to do his business, and wait at least 3 minutes(not entirely sure what the magic number would be however). It will be interesting to see what kind of signs he'll eventually start giving out. We're kind of hoping to bell train him so the sign might be more obvious for us silly humans.

Poor poor Henry, puppies get easily dehydrated too. I would have felt so bad and been so worried. How exactly did you deal with it?

Urinating is really something I knew from the get go that I'd see a lot of it.
When I first went to see Teddy he peed infront of me. A few others did too, I was however impressed by how relatively clean they were. The owners had the puppies in a little kennel type dog house with a removeable roof and not one puppy soiled inside of the little house. They all unrinated outside on the dirt like some kind of crazy puppy magic.

As for defecating, I admit I'm not entirely sure what to expect on that end. How many times should I expect it within a day?

Well the rule is to wait at least 3 minutes and run to the destination in hopes of jiggling the puppy's bladder enough to make him need to do his business.

Awwwh, a puppy for christmas. I can imagine how much stuff your golden must have tried to eat. Christmas is going to be very different this year. I'll likely have lots of questions on that xD

It will be wonderful to come to home to someone who is always excited to see me. Dogs are certainly worth the work, and honestly puppies wouldn't be as fun without the whole puppy raising experience. There is nothing cooler than looking at a pet and knowing it became so wonderful because YOU did a great job.

[virgilsmama]

For Brave Gabrielle, I have one house breaking hint that is so very effective in getting the little babes started. When you bring the pup home be prepared to spend a least three days with them, all the time. Try every 30 minutes to take them out to tinkle, every thirty minutes, and after waking, after eating and after playing!! If you devote the time then you will make headway with training. Puppies learn fast especially when you are there to "think" for them. The soild block of time spent with your new babe is a wonderful bonding time as well. We wish you the very best with your new family member and you have a great source of help with these wonderful DP people! They are truly dog loving friends, and that is the best kind of friends to have!!!! Should you encounter someone who is less than dog loving.....put them out of your life! (sounds cruel, just my opinion!)

Liz, Daisy, Buddy and Levon

[virgilsmama]

Gabrielle, one last thing, remember to WATCH your puppy during this time for her signs to you! Puppy body language! She will tell you a lot of information!!

Liz

[BraveTyphlosion]

I will make note of that for sure. First three days will be every 30 minutes instead of every hour. I'll be sure to watch him very closely at first. I know the bell wont be especially useful at first but it would be a nice thing for later. This is all great information, it is certainly stuff they don't tell you in the books or talk about on TV. I'm looking forward to truly being part of the doggy community

Now when they say after eating or drink, is that immediately after they finish or should I wait a minute? I'm sure every puppy is different though and I guess I'm going to have to see how quick he can be. I think last time I saw him it was about 4-5 minutes after eating that he needed to relieve himself.

And for at night, I know I'll have to get up in the middle to let him out at first. Is there an ideal number of hours I should set this up for? Or should I just do it exactly inbetween the time he goes to bed and gets up in the morning?

This will be kind of his basic schedual I've set up, this will most definitely get changed and I will be adding a midnight bathroom outing. Assume that every time put down he is being taken out to go and inbetween all of the times he is begin taken out every hour or so.

8:00 AM Wake up, take the puppy outside to use the bathroom.
8:30 AM Feed the puppy first meal of the day, Take him for his first walk

6:00-6:30 PM Feed puppy second meal of the day
8:00 PM Last walk of the day
10:00 PM Take the puppy outside to use the bathroom before bed

[kian]

Brave I missed you hadn't got the puppy yet when I answered your other thread, forgive me there. If the breeder can keep the puppy for another week, 9-12 weeks is a good time to pick him up.

As for your schedule, throw it away! Feed your puppy three times a day, not two. Take your puppy right out to potty after eating, don't wait. By the time you get out there a few minutes would have passed. Don't overthink this, your puppy, just as Liz says, will tell you a lot.

Puppies are pooping machines and some will poop several times a day, others almost every hour it seems. As for your time frame to potty: My Allie was a every 15 minute puppy, Ice was a 30-40 minute puppy. I'm looking at getting another one this winter and reading this reminds me of all the work and as the saying goes "this isn't my first rodeo!". I've been in puppy and dog world a long time, they are living thinking breathing creatures, so relax until your puppy gets here and enjoy sleeping! I promise you will have lots of questions then that you didn't even imagine.

Your smart to come this site, we are very experienced owners!

[Oliver & Henry's Mum]

Brave Gabi!

Liz gave you the #1 tip that I completely omitted...take that puppy out every 30 minutes, as well as all the other information Liz gave you.

Using the bell can be a double edged sword. If you teach the puppy to ring the bell, you must be prepared to get up and put the puppy out, EACH AND EVERY TIME! After the puppy gets a little older, they find this to be a fun game of going in and out, for no reason, and the one time you don't let them out, they will have an accident. Every accident your puppy has is YOUR fault (but don't worry too much about that at the beginning as you will both be learning).

Another tip that I should mention is to always use the SAME EXIT to indicate you are going outside to do business. You'll find that the puppy will naturally start to head to the "door" when they feel the need. I also always add the word "out" and I still talk to my dogs and ask them "do you want to go out?" If they do, they move towards the door. If they don't, they stand there and stare at me, or back away from the door. I also mention every night when it's "Last Call". You could use any words you like, but if you use the same ones to mean the same thing daily and consistently, they learn the meaning.

Kian answered your questions about frequency with bowel movements. That changes too as they mature, and it depends on what you feed as well. Investigate quality dog food, and plan to feed puppy food until the age of 1 year. Generally anything advertised on the TV or sold in the Grocery Store is garbage. Most reputable Breeders send their pups home with a diet to follow as well as advise you ahead of time of what the pups are being fed. Changing their food too often, especially when they're young, can really upset their wee tummies. Look at our Health Section and you'll see a lot about feeding in there.

You will have lots of questions. Don't sweat the small stuff, and as everyone has said, don't wait to put your puppy out! You won't need to "jiggle" the pup to make him go!!!

[BraveTyphlosion]

In that case maybe I wont bother with a bell, that might complicate things in a way I'm not entirely ready for. I could always train that in later if I REALLY want. The Doberman is smart, it will likely pick up quickly. It's much harder to "untrain" a dog, yes?

Finally decided on a spot that is out of the way but not difficult to get to in the back yard although more likely than not we will first take him to the nearest grassy place. He will always go out the back door. Now for words, I'm complicating things again but, should I just have a word for going outside or should I have one for going outside and one to tell him to relieve himself?

Most of what I know comes from books, and lots of different ones and they all say different things. The only thing they seem to agree on is the crate is a beautiful thing. Other than that there is so many different opinions on house training. I suppose every puppy is different though and I'm starting to see that you can't just pick one way of going about the whole thing. You have to see what your puppy is like and then work with what you have.

The breeder says I should pick a high quality brand that has large breed puppy food and stick with that brand for his life if it works. The Doberman can be quite large and needs specially formulated puppy food in order to grow properly. Regular puppy food will cause him to grow too quickly and could effect Teddy's healthy negatively.
I plan on feeding Teddy special Large Breed Puppy Innova and sticking to that unless it REALLY doesn't agree with him. Originally I had planned on feeding Wellness's version of Large Breed Puppy food, apparently you can only get it in the states....and there was a recall at some point for that specific product :S other wise I think Wellness is a fine product. We give it to our cats and it's one of the only top brands they will actually eat willingly.

I can't belive your puppy had to go every 15 minutes that's just incredible. I'd worry if they went that often. I assume your puppy was perfectly healthy though, probably just a fast metabolism ^_^;

Okay, I'm gonna try not to over think this and just let it happen.

[Oliver & Henry's Mum]

Gabi, you can obtain Wellness here in Canada. It is what I feed my two! Pet Valu carries it as well as Petsmart. Look on the web at the pet food chains in your area, as I'm sure you can find it. I'm not as familiar with Innova. Here's a website that rates dog food on a scale of 1 to 6. http://www.dogfoodanalysis.com Reading that site will keep you busy for a while!

The Breeder gave you excellent advice about picking a food. I would not feed anything lower than a 3 rating. Orijen is considered one of the best foods available, it is made in Alberta!

Yes, it is easier to train a puppy to do something than to untrain a bad habit.

Don't overthink the words! Use whatever comes naturally to you. A lot of people suggest you use a command (word) for the actual business. I use the phrase "Want to go out?" as a general all round phrase. Many people teach their dogs to "pee" (I hate that word) and/or "poo" ( ) on command. This is helpful in the Show Ring as well as when travelling. Oliver never needed to be told to go. In fact, he would tell us and still does. Find what works for you and use the suggestions as simply that, suggestions. You may wish to acknowledge what your dog does outside as he is doing it to "capture" the command "go pee"! I tried that with Oliver and since it wasn't something I had done before, it felt strange and I wasn't comfortable saying that so my neighbours could hear. That's just me though.

The one thing you should always do is each and every SINGLE time your puppy eliminates outside, give huge big praise. Throw a party, every single time, with lots of "Good Boy" "Good Dog" and I would take that time to say "Go Out?" Puppies love praise. Be careful not to startle him mid-stream though as I've done that too by starting the party a bit too early.

I would expect to go out every 15 minutes in the first 48 hours that your puppy is home. Believe me, they literally can't hold ANYTHING. You'll also have to jump up and go out in the middle of the night to reinforce the idea of going outside. It's just like having a human infant at first, only you'll get to sleep again a lot sooner!

[me123]

I ask, "wanna go outside?" as we go out, "go on" means do your business, and "inside" means go inside. I've found that having a word for "go" helps tremendously when we are traveling, otherwise there are so many new smells, it takes her forever before she gets down to business.

[virgilsmama]

Deb, the puppy = an infant always makes me laugh!!!LOL! But it is so true!!!

We have always used the term "Do good boy/girl" then when they do the deed we say "Good boy/girl" even when they are no longer puppies. It works well in situations where you really need them to "go"!

[BraveTyphlosion]

We do have wellness here, just not that specific product. We have all the adult foods and I think the basic puppy but I have been unsuccessful in finding their Large Breed Puppy product. Petsmart only ships it to the states apparently. I'm going to try one more store that carries some more unusual dog food brands.

Orijen is a bit out of my price range. I mean, not to sound like a cheap owner, I think proper food is important and you should certainly feed your pet a high quality food. It is a little more than 80$ a bag however. I don't think I would be able to afford to continue feeding that to my dog their whole life. I'd rather feed Teddy something I can promise to keep feeding him throughout his life.

I've done a bunch of reading, apparently(and sadly) Innova has gone down hill since the ownership change in 2010 it is no longer a suitable dog food brand. I'll just have to look harder for Wellness or possibly request stores to specially order it in for me.

Personally, yes, I do find pee and poo sort of embarassing words to use. I might use "go on" since that just seems like such a natural thing to say. I'm sure I'll just make up whatever as I go along, I do it with our other pets all the time, they know what out, treat, up, and down mean. Thanks for the suggestions guys, you're great :3

Awww hahah, I can just imagine the startled pup, so unbelievably cute. I have plenty of praise for my baby although I am a bit of a quiet partier ^_^;

The most shocking part is...where does it call come from? O_O hahah, well acctually it makes sense. If you're growing at a rate like that you'll be going like crazy. That and a new home is always stressful on tiny bladders. It might acctually be nice to get up in the middle of the night to go outside, I'm very much a night owl.

[Oliver & Henry's Mum]

LOL!!! Gabi, we'll ask you all about that getting up in the night business about 4 weeks into it and see if it is still as much fun.

Actually, I never minded being up in the night with my first child. Because I only had one at that point, I could sleep or nap during the day when he did. Fortunately, he was a good sleeper and was going through the night by 5 weeks. I am talking about a human this time. However, my second child LOVED to be awake in the night in my arms. From the day he was born in April until mid-June, it was ONE LONG DAY!

Puppies are very, very similar as Liz also said. Teen girls who think having a baby will be "fun", should have to care for a puppy first, successfully!!! That will quickly change their minds.

[swanruadha]

Harlkey does a little coyote singing at the back door when he wants out. Tanner has piggybacked on this for a while, but today I realized he's doing a "claws on the glass" effect and actually asking on his own.

When we first brought Tanner home at 8 weeks, I was very well housetrained and we had few accidents--out after eating, after drinking, after playing, after napping. EVERY time. I had a puppy nap box next to the couch until he grew out of it, now puppy naps in the crate (where he can still see me until he sleeps). He never once did anything in the crate or box, which meant from the start he "squeaked" when he woke up and wanted attention. Napping with me was not feasible because when I do sleep I sleep heavily, and a merely awake puppy wouldn't wake me.

Anyway, I've been so focused on his terrorist activities, I hadn't realized he's house-trained!