We got a puppy a week ago and I'm miserable

[dyelawn91]

I don't know what to do, y'all. We rescued a puppy last week, an absolutely precious little 9 week old pup that we named Scully, but I'm at my wits end and it's only been seven days. A puppy seemed to make the most sense because we have two cats and we were having trouble finding a rescue dog that was good with cats. Raise a puppy with cats, and it'll be fine with cats. We knew it was going to be hard, but like...fuck me this is so exhausting and I have no idea if we're doing anything right and I feel like I haven't had a real moment to myself since we brought her home. Even something simple like giving her water to drink is fucking stressful because I have no idea how long to wait to take her out, sometimes she gives me signs that she has to go, sometimes she doesn't, and is any of the housebreaking shit we're trying actually working? I don't know and I feel like garbage because of how pissed I'm getting at this two month old puppy.

I guess I just needed to vent. We have her signed up for some puppy socialization courses, so hopefully that will help. Does anyone here have any experience housebreaking and training puppies? Any resources or advice you could share would be a godsend right now.

 

[PlanetSmasher]

The first few weeks are always the hardest. You haven't learned her language yet, and she hasn't learned yours. Signing her up for puppy classes is a great start, and as she gets more comfortable with you you'll be better and better at picking up her cues.

Just try to be patient.

 

[TarpitCarnivore]

Dogs learn through consistent behavior. Pick words and stick with them. Don't interchange out, walk, bathroom to be the same thing.

Don't wait for the dog to tell you, take them out and reward for going to the bathroom. If they go in the house just take them right out. Don't acknowledge that moment.

Start with every hour and slowly build up

 

[Minthara]

I don't know what to do, y'all. We rescued a puppy last week, an absolutely precious little 9 week old pup that we named Scully, but I'm at my wits end and it's only been seven days. A puppy seemed to make the most sense because we have two cats and we were having trouble finding a rescue dog that was good with cats. Raise a puppy with cats, and it'll be fine with cats. We knew it was going to be hard, but like...fuck me this is so exhausting and I have no idea if we're doing anything right and I feel like I haven't had a real moment to myself since we brought her home. Even something simple like giving her water to drink is fucking stressful because I have no idea how long to wait to take her out, sometimes she gives me signs that she has to go, sometimes she doesn't, and is any of the housebreaking shit we're trying actually working? I don't know and I feel like garbage because of how passed I'm getting at this two month old puppy.

I guess I just needed to vent, I don't know. We have her signed up for some puppy socialization courses, so hopefully that will help. Does anyone here have any experience housebreaking and training puppies? Any resources or advice you could share would be a godsend right now.

Click to shrink...

A couple of Pro-tips:
- While it sucks, keep the puppy leashed in the house and supervised at all times. Do not let her eat the leash or eat anything valuable, buy plenty of toys and redirect the puppy towards them and tell her shes good when she chews on them and not you. Also, puppies get bored really easy, so rotate through the toys and buy things like dog safe peanut butter to keep her interested.
- Crate train that dog ASAP. Make sure the crate is only big enough for her to lie down in, if you make it too big she'll just go to the bathroom in the crate.
- Puppies bladders generally last as long as the amount of months they are old, so since your pup is about 2 months, assume she needs to go out every 2 hours, doubly so if she just ate. Because of this, restrict her water a few hours before bed time.
- In the next few months shes going to start teething, buy a couple of cloths that aren't toxic, wet them, drain the water and freeze them. They'll be your best friends when she teeths because something cold will make her less bitey.
- Do NOT get mad at the puppy or enforce any kind of negative reinforcement, stick solely to positive. Reward her greatly when she does behaviour you want and be careful not to reward her when she does behaviour you don't want.

Source of knowledge: Raised two dogs from 8 weeks to 5+ years and currently dealing with a 9 month old rescue pup!

 

[mernst23]

Crate training, always crate training. And rewards when they go to the bathroom outside.

 

[RoninChaos]

Dogs learn through consistent behavior.

Don't wait for the dog to tell you, take them out and reward for going to the bathroom. If they go in the house just take them right out. Don't acknowledge that moment.

Start with every hour and slowly build up

Click to shrink...

Yup.

When potty training our first dog, we would let her eat and 30 minutes later she was outside. For some reason taking her out and putting her on the grass seemed to give her reinforcement that the grass was where we wanted her to go.

She was the easiest. The others have been hard and I don't know why.

It'll get easier. Just set a schedule and keep it.

 

[dyelawn91]

Dogs learn through consistent behavior. Pick words and stick with them. Don't interchange out, walk, bathroom to be the same thing.

Don't wait for the dog to tell you, take them out and reward for going to the bathroom. If they go in the house just take them right out. Don't acknowledge that moment.

Start with every hour and slowly build up

Click to shrink...

We've been trying every half hour but she will still seemingly randomly have an accident inside. Are we taking her so often that it has no meaning to her, do you think?

 

[PeakPointMatrix]

Sounds like a puppy!

Be patient and stick to training with treats, especially with crate training. It will all start gelling soon. The puppy class should help, and don't hesitate to do the sessions at petco. I haven't tried them personally, but any time I'm there, they're good at covering the basics.

 

[Br3wnor]

Beginning is rough and 2 months old is REALLY young to have a puppy, ours was 3 months and the first few weeks were rough. The easiest way we housetrained was when we felt like he could go to the bathroom we had a bell on a string at the back door and we started with dinging the bell with him, taking him outside and once he went to the bathroom give him a treat. Did it over and over and eventually he would hit the bell when he had to go to the bathroom, to the point where we didn't need the treat anymore. Then after a while we took the bell away and he would just go to the back door and wait and we knew to let him out.

Hang in there (our second dog was a 6 month old rescue who was homeless so you can only imagine what house training him was like) but it will get better and you'll fall more in love with her and it will be best thing you ever did

 

[JackSwift]

Gonna need to see some puppy and cat pics, buddy

 

[Buckle]

About when to let them out, every dog is different.

I have a lazy shorgi I basically have to pick up and put outside because she'll just stay planted for six hours or more and hold it.

She was a rescue and seemed to already be housebroken though.

Don't envy you having to train em. Every puppy I ever met just loves to shit like crazy.

 

[Biske]

Just embrace her peeing and pooping things. She's a puppy what are you gonna do. Relax have fun and realize things can be cleaned. Enjoy the little bundle you have.

 

[DirtyLarry]

Yeah, get a crate. Research said crate training.
Also yes, shit is not easy. It is work no doubt.

Also being dead honest, if you have the financial means to do so, look into a wet / dry vacuum. Was perhaps the single most useful investment when we got our new rescue dog since he liked to pee everywhere to mark his territory.

 

[RiOrius]

She's going to pee in the house. A lot. But she'll learn. She'll get better. At some point everything will be clicking, she'll go days without an accident. And then she'll pee in the house again. That's the point where I had my biggest breakdown, personally.

But she'll learn. You'll learn. Take her out frequently. Maybe pick up the water dish a couple hours before bedtime if you want to save yourself the trouble of cleaning up first thing in the morning. But ultimately just realize: she's going to pee in the house. You'll get used to cleaning up after her. It's fine. She'll learn. Way faster than human babies, that's for fucking sure.

 

[deftones r cool]

You created a thread to whinge about a puppy, and you didn't even post cute puppy pics.

You're a monster, sir.

 

[Minthara]

We've been trying every half hour but she will still seemingly randomly have an accident inside. Are we taking her so often that it has no meaning to her, do you think?

Click to shrink...

Partly because you are taking her out a little too much and partly because you likely aren't waiting for her to do her business. Puppies take oodles of patience, if she doesn't want to go to the bathroom wait until she does then reward her.

 

[TarpitCarnivore]

We've been trying every half hour but she will still seemingly randomly have an accident inside. Are we taking her so often that it has no meaning to her, do you think?

Click to shrink...

She's a puppy, this doesn't happen over night. Just be consistent

Take her out and make it a clear thing
When she goes actually reward with a treat and not just words; just a small kibble is fine
You can also associate a word with her going: good potty or good bathroom. Pick something easy and distinctive but ONLY use it when it's the correct action

 

[Nigel Tufnel]

A couple of Pro-tips:
- While it sucks, keep the puppy leashed in the house and supervised at all times. Do not let her eat the leash or eat anything valuable, buy plenty of toys and redirect the puppy towards them and tell her shes good when she chews on them and not you. Also, puppies get bored really easy, so rotate through the toys and buy things like dog safe peanut butter to keep her interested.
- Crate train that dog ASAP. Make sure the crate is only big enough for her to lie down in, if you make it too big she'll just go to the bathroom in the crate.
- Puppies bladders generally last as long as the amount of months they are old, so since your pup is about 2 months, assume she needs to go out every 2 hours, doubly so if she just ate. Because of this, restrict her water a few hours before bed time.
- In the next few months shes going to start teething, buy a couple of cloths that aren't toxic, wet them, drain the water and freeze them. They'll be your best friends when she teeths because something cold will make her less bitey.
- Do NOT get mad at the puppy or enforce any kind of negative reinforcement, stick solely to positive. Reward her greatly when she does behaviour you want and be careful not to reward her when she does behaviour you don't want.

Source of knowledge: Raised two dogs from 8 weeks to 5+ years and currently dealing with a 9 month old rescue pup!

Click to shrink...

I resisted crate training really hard because I felt like a monster putting our boy in the thing, and I cannot stress enough how wrong I was and how quickly it became so much easier to help him become the good boy I knew he was versus continuing to be the monster he was for the first few weeks.

 

[TarpitCarnivore]

Beginning is rough and 2 months old is REALLY young to have a puppy, ours was 3 months and the first few weeks were rough. The easiest way we housetrained was when we felt like he could go to the bathroom we had a bell on a string at the back door and we started with dinging the bell with him, taking him outside and once he went to the bathroom give him a treat. Did it over and over and eventually he would hit the bell when he had to go to the bathroom, to the point where we didn't need the treat anymore. Then after a while we took the bell away and he would just go to the back door and wait and we knew to let him out.

Hang in there (our second dog was a 6 month old rescue who was homeless so you can only imagine what house training him was like) but it will get better and you'll fall more in love with her and it will be best thing you ever did

Click to shrink...

This is a great example of consistent behavior with training.

 

[davepoobond]

You created a thread to whinge about a puppy, and you didn't even post cute puppy pics.

You're a monster, sir.

Click to shrink...

where
are
the
fuckin
PICSSSSSS

 

[TarpitCarnivore]

A couple of Pro-tips:
- While it sucks, keep the puppy leashed in the house and supervised at all times. Do not let her eat the leash or eat anything valuable, buy plenty of toys and redirect the puppy towards them and tell her shes good when she chews on them and not you. Also, puppies get bored really easy, so rotate through the toys and buy things like dog safe peanut butter to keep her interested.
- Crate train that dog ASAP. Make sure the crate is only big enough for her to lie down in, if you make it too big she'll just go to the bathroom in the crate.
- Puppies bladders generally last as long as the amount of months they are old, so since your pup is about 2 months, assume she needs to go out every 2 hours, doubly so if she just ate. Because of this, restrict her water a few hours before bed time.
- In the next few months shes going to start teething, buy a couple of cloths that aren't toxic, wet them, drain the water and freeze them. They'll be your best friends when she teeths because something cold will make her less bitey.
- Do NOT get mad at the puppy or enforce any kind of negative reinforcement, stick solely to positive. Reward her greatly when she does behaviour you want and be careful not to reward her when she does behaviour you don't want.

Source of knowledge: Raised two dogs from 8 weeks to 5+ years and currently dealing with a 9 month old rescue pup!

Click to shrink...

Only caveat is not every dog reacts well to crates. We had two dogs with bad neurotic behavior and crates made them worse when we were out the house.

 

[Amiablepercy]

Crate training imo is the only way.

Dont think of it as a cagr. It becomes their den and they really love it.

 

[Minthara]

I resisted crate training really hard because I felt like a monster putting our boy in the thing, and I cannot stress enough how wrong I was and how quickly it became so much easier to help him become the good boy I knew he was versus continuing to be the monster he was for the first few weeks.

Click to shrink...

Yep, when we got our rescue we didn't know where she was potty training wise so we started crate training her right away. Its been about a month and now she sleeps freely outside of her crate every night because she's had no accidents in the house and she sleeps through the night for the most part too.

But that crate training is still invaluable because when the wife and I need to go out, she's okay in the crate while we are gone.

OP: If you want crate training to go really smoothly, start feeding your dog and giving her any special non-behavioural related treats to her only in her cage. Also get her one or two sturdy toys that she can only play with in her cage.

As long as you get the sizing right and don't make it too big, crate training usually goes great.

 

[Threadkular]

I went through the exact same feelings when we got our previous dog. Super overwhelmed... felt like we made a huge mistake. First rescue dog I had gotten too. This was in 2009. I'm pretty sure I made a similar vent thread at the old forum, so I know where you've been.

You're venting is heard and understood but if it makes you feel better I predict you're going to love that dog more than your partner in 6 months. The one we got in 2009 has since passed and she was the best.

 

[Ryuelli]

Signing her up for puppy classes is a great start,

Click to shrink...

This, and look into socializing her early. I don't know how it looks with COVID, but my local Petco had socialization hours every Wednesday and Saturday (you had to show proof of vaccinations), which I think helped a ton. She's excellent around any size dog. She'd also come home completely pooped afterwards.

I resisted crate training really hard because I felt like a monster putting our boy in the thing, and I cannot stress enough how wrong I was and how quickly it became so much easier to help him become the good boy I knew he was versus continuing to be the monster he was for the first few weeks.

Click to shrink...

I keep my dog out of her kennel now, but still have it around. You'd be surprised at how many times I've come home to find that she put herself to sleep in it. I think crate training feels wrong because obviously humans wouldn't want to be locked up, but do it right and a dog isn't seeing it as being "locked up" but instead a place where it can feel self, like it's a cave or a nest.

- In the next few months shes going to start teething, buy a couple of cloths that aren't toxic, wet them, drain the water and freeze them. They'll be your best friends when she teeths because something cold will make her less bitey.

Click to shrink...

My vet recommended carrots for this too.

 

[Antrax]

A couple of Pro-tips:
- While it sucks, keep the puppy leashed in the house and supervised at all times. Do not let her eat the leash or eat anything valuable, buy plenty of toys and redirect the puppy towards them and tell her shes good when she chews on them and not you. Also, puppies get bored really easy, so rotate through the toys and buy things like dog safe peanut butter to keep her interested.
- Crate train that dog ASAP. Make sure the crate is only big enough for her to lie down in, if you make it too big she'll just go to the bathroom in the crate.
- Puppies bladders generally last as long as the amount of months they are old, so since your pup is about 2 months, assume she needs to go out every 2 hours, doubly so if she just ate. Because of this, restrict her water a few hours before bed time.
- In the next few months shes going to start teething, buy a couple of cloths that aren't toxic, wet them, drain the water and freeze them. They'll be your best friends when she teeths because something cold will make her less bitey.
- Do NOT get mad at the puppy or enforce any kind of negative reinforcement, stick solely to positive. Reward her greatly when she does behaviour you want and be careful not to reward her when she does behaviour you don't want.

Source of knowledge: Raised two dogs from 8 weeks to 5+ years and currently dealing with a 9 month old rescue pup!

Click to shrink...

I've also raised plenty of dogs and this is a solid post.

OP, your pup is like an infant. There will be accidents, and that's okay. I recommend a small treat (don't want to overfeed) when she goes to the bathroom outside, but not for an accident. She'll figure it out.

 

[Kraid]

My dad said after the last two dogs he had needed to be put to sleep that there would be no more dogs. About six months later, he relented. He was literally in tears the first week they got her (West Highland White Terrier) because she took a ton of work. He's raised four dogs from puppies in my lifetime, and he was still super frustrated.

He set up pee pads in the house, just in case. He kept her in his room with him all the time. He heard that when they have an accident, scold the pee, not the dog. He almost gave her to my brother, but we figured out some stuff for her, and he loves that god damn dog so much. Keep at it. You'll find a rhythm.

 

[Weiss]

Yeah the first month was super stressful for me and my folks, but my puppy Abby grew so fast. She doesn't even have accidents anymore and she waits by the door to go outside when she wants to.

Keep at it OP. It's okay to be stressed out.

 

[Minthara]

Only caveat is not every dog reacts well to crates. We had two dogs with bad neurotic behavior and crates made them worse when we were out the house.

Click to shrink...

While this can be true, especially for rescues, most of the time that neurotic behavior can be trained out of them with careful training and/or expert advice. But yea, there are some special cases where crate training isn't the way to go, but its fine in most cases.

Another point for crate training OP: Do NOT put anything you value or the dog can destroy on top, in or around the cage. Also, take off any collars or harnesses before crating them.

What I've done with the past 3 dogs is keep the collar and harness bedside and when the dog needs to go out in the middle of the night they stay in the cage while I put the collar and leash on then either I carry them outside if they are very young or we walk outside before they get to do anything else. This should be the same routine you do first thing in the morning too and first thing you do when you come home to her after she's been crated.

Open door > Collar > leash > outside > inside for hello and whatever else.

 

[Fiction]

My advice: take her out constantly right now. Like every 30 minutes - hour and a half at most when you are awake. When she goes potty outside, praise the crap out of her like she won the dog show when she's done (might scare her if she's in the act) and give her a small treat.

Always worked for me.

 

[Relix]

Oh god. I am getting a puppy in two weeks and I am afraid of messing up. I've seen training videos, I have toys, crate , leashes etc but I am still worried I'll mess up

 

[Nigel Tufnel]

I keep my dog out of her kennel now, but still have it around. You'd be surprised at how many times I've come home to find that she put herself to sleep in it. I think crate training feels wrong because obviously humans wouldn't want to be locked up, but do it right and a dog isn't seeing it as being "locked up" but instead a place where it can feel self, like it's a cave or a nest.

Click to shrink...

Within a few weeks he was actively seeking the kennel out if he thought we were leaving. After a few months, we began leaving the kennel open to see how it would go, and as far as I can tell he usually hung out mostly in there while we were gone. He's a lot older now and has decided he prefers sleeping on the couch- a thing I did not think I would ever trust him with after he ate second one, lol.

 

[Ryuelli]

Oh god. I am getting a puppy in two weeks and I am afraid of messing up. I've seen training videos, I have toys, crate , leashes etc but I am still worried I'll mess up

Click to shrink...

If you've been watching videos you've probably already seen him, but I like this guy:

Zak George’s Dog Training Revolution

This is the official YouTube channel of me, dog trainer Zak George! :) In order to get the most out of my videos, I recommend that your order my book here: h...

www.youtube.com

 

[Brass Body Dave]

Dogs learn through consistent behavior. Pick words and stick with them. Don't interchange out, walk, bathroom to be the same thing.

Don't wait for the dog to tell you, take them out and reward for going to the bathroom. If they go in the house just take them right out. Don't acknowledge that moment.

Start with every hour and slowly build up

Click to shrink...

Yep, this and keep your patience, you're literally in the toughest part! I'll never rescue a puppy again, only old dogs. It's rewarding with a puppy but my god the amount of energy...

 

[Relix]

If you've been watching videos you've probably already seen him, but I like this guy:

Zak George’s Dog Training Revolution

This is the official YouTube channel of me, dog trainer Zak George! :) In order to get the most out of my videos, I recommend that your order my book here: h...

www.youtube.com

Click to shrink...

Yes. I saw his whole series on Inertia. I swear I have half the products he recommends haha

 

[Antrax]

I keep my dog out of her kennel now, but still have it around. You'd be surprised at how many times I've come home to find that she put herself to sleep in it. I think crate training feels wrong because obviously humans wouldn't want to be locked up, but do it right and a dog isn't seeing it as being "locked up" but instead a place where it can feel self, like it's a cave or a nest

Click to shrink...

Yeah my guy only ever napped in his crate (the one time we had him sleep in there, he was so pouty the next day, we relented and he sleeps at my feet lol), but he loved it as a nap den:

 

[dyelawn91]

A couple of Pro-tips:
- While it sucks, keep the puppy leashed in the house and supervised at all times. Do not let her eat the leash or eat anything valuable, buy plenty of toys and redirect the puppy towards them and tell her shes good when she chews on them and not you. Also, puppies get bored really easy, so rotate through the toys and buy things like dog safe peanut butter to keep her interested.
- Crate train that dog ASAP. Make sure the crate is only big enough for her to lie down in, if you make it too big she'll just go to the bathroom in the crate.
- Puppies bladders generally last as long as the amount of months they are old, so since your pup is about 2 months, assume she needs to go out every 2 hours, doubly so if she just ate. Because of this, restrict her water a few hours before bed time.
- In the next few months shes going to start teething, buy a couple of cloths that aren't toxic, wet them, drain the water and freeze them. They'll be your best friends when she teeths because something cold will make her less bitey.
- Do NOT get mad at the puppy or enforce any kind of negative reinforcement, stick solely to positive. Reward her greatly when she does behaviour you want and be careful not to reward her when she does behaviour you don't want.

Source of knowledge: Raised two dogs from 8 weeks to 5+ years and currently dealing with a 9 month old rescue pup!

Click to shrink...

This is incredibly helpful, thank you so much. We haven't been keeping her leashed in the leash in the house, so we'll definitely start doing that. Crate training is the one thing I feel like we're doing right -- she LOVES her crates. Goes into it of her own accord, sleeps like a babe whenever she's in it.

 

[Minthara]

If you've been watching videos you've probably already seen him, but I like this guy:

Zak George’s Dog Training Revolution

This is the official YouTube channel of me, dog trainer Zak George! :) In order to get the most out of my videos, I recommend that your order my book here: h...

www.youtube.com

Click to shrink...

This guy is pretty good. My wife follows him because our current 9 month old is technically her first pup (she entered our other dogs' lives when they were older) and she really likes his advice.

From what I've watched, its solid.

 

[Ronabo]

Try putting bells on the door you would take the dog outside. Then associate ringing the bells to going outside to potty with the dog. It works really well sometimes.

 

[Raxel]

You made a classic mistake, one that most owners do - myself included. You're trying to learn on the go. Puppies are an absolute pain and they will test the very limits of your patience. This website saved my arse 9 years ago when I got my GSD:

Raising a Puppy

www.dogstardaily.com

The guy behind it has promoting positive reinforcement for decades.

From what I remember, housebreaking can be made easy by taking the dog outside every hour. I used "Be quick!" as a command. If she urinates, give a high value treat (ham is perfect) and lots of praise. If she doesn't do anything, bring her back in and do it all over again the next hour. Repeat enough times and your dog can now urinate on command!

 

[dyelawn91]

Pics, for those who've asked! Top to bottom is Scully, Ravioli, and Lulu.

 

[TarpitCarnivore]

While this can be true, especially for rescues, most of the time that neurotic behavior can be trained out of them with careful training and/or expert advice. But yea, there are some special cases where crate training isn't the way to go, but its fine in most cases.

Another point for crate training OP: Do NOT put anything you value or the dog can destroy on top, in or around the cage. Also, take off any collars or harnesses before crating them.

What I've done with the past 3 dogs is keep the collar and harness bedside and when the dog needs to go out in the middle of the night they stay in the cage while I put the collar and leash on then either I carry them outside if they are very young or we walk outside before they get to do anything else. This should be the same routine you do first thing in the morning too and first thing you do when you come home to her after she's been crated.

Open door > Collar > leash > outside > inside for hello and whatever else.

Click to shrink...

Out one rescue was a puppy mill rescue and we were instructed to not put her back in a crate. She has no accidents in the house after we retrained her and when we leave she just sleeps in a bed.

Our other went through professional training and it helped him settle down a ton but in a crate he never relaxed. He was consistently anxious and would pee in it all the time. We tried him out of the crate and his behavior improved a lot.

The other dog we tried in the crate with the above dog. He'd have intermittent accidents and wouldn't relax. Same thing, left him out and he instantly chilled and we never get accidents.

It seemed like they both needed to investigate noises. In the crates they'd just lose their minds and freak out.

This is not me trying to say crating is bad just offering additional details on behavior identifiers. One dog loved her crate and she'd just sleep like a brick.

 

[LanceX2]

Crate training, always crate training. And rewards when they go to the bathroom outside.

Click to shrink...

yep

 

[Clay]

My advice: take her out constantly right now. Like every 30 minutes - hour and a half at most when you are awake. When she goes potty outside, praise the crap out of her like she won the dog show when she's done (might scare her if she's in the act) and give her a small treat.

Always worked for me.

Click to shrink...

My wife and I got a puppy and that's exactly what we did. Took him out every hour on the hour whether he was showing signs of having to go out or not, stayed out with him until he went, and made sure he knew he did something awesome when he finally did.

Definitely got old a few times and I have no idea how we would have managed if we weren't both working from home, but our pup only had about five accidents in the first week or so, none since.

We also taught him to ring a bell by the door when he needs to go out, may be worth thinking about OP. We just picked up his paw and batted it for him before we took him out and after a few days he started doing it himself.

 

[ty_hot]

When you get the puppy you need to take it out every few hours. By few I mean 2 or 3 hours. Once they pee outside, celebrate and give a treat. Repeat it everyday. after some time you can raise the time to 4 hours, then 5, etc, till the point where they can hold of for half a day (but you arr a good owner so you will take them out 3 times a day, right?). Btw, even if they pee inside, you just run and take them out and when they pee again you celebrate + treat. There is no mistery, it is a lot of work at first but it works.

 

[BlackGoku03]

I don't know what to do, y'all. We rescued a puppy last week, an absolutely precious little 9 week old pup that we named Scully, but I'm at my wits end and it's only been seven days. A puppy seemed to make the most sense because we have two cats and we were having trouble finding a rescue dog that was good with cats. Raise a puppy with cats, and it'll be fine with cats. We knew it was going to be hard, but like...fuck me this is so exhausting and I have no idea if we're doing anything right and I feel like I haven't had a real moment to myself since we brought her home. Even something simple like giving her water to drink is fucking stressful because I have no idea how long to wait to take her out, sometimes she gives me signs that she has to go, sometimes she doesn't, and is any of the housebreaking shit we're trying actually working? I don't know and I feel like garbage because of how pissed I'm getting at this two month old puppy.

I guess I just needed to vent. We have her signed up for some puppy socialization courses, so hopefully that will help. Does anyone here have any experience housebreaking and training puppies? Any resources or advice you could share would be a godsend right now.

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Just got a puppy two weeks ago. She was born July 15. I've been having 75% success doing the following:
-Take her out every hour. If I'm not on her schedule, then the next time she pees/poops in the house, I know I can take her out in hour from then.
-Take her out after a nap.
-After eating and drinking.
-Take her out after playing.

It helps to have someone helping, like my wife and kid. But someone has to take point and be consistent. Have puppy pads if you aren't able to take the pup out every hour. Eventually, their bladders will catch up and they'll notify you when they have to go.

 

[Clear]

We tied a bell to our door and anytime we took her out we would grab her paw and hit the bell. After about a week or so she knew to hit the bell herself to let us know she has to go.

 

[Ferrio]

I'm a fairly recent first time dog owner, mine being about 1.5 years old. The nightmare was intense for 2 weeks, basically no sleep because she wasn't eating due to various reasons and the constant vigilance for potty training. Rough part lasted a few months, then it got better with accidents being occasional. It took a good year for life to feel like it was back to normal where she could be fully trusted. Now she can stay home all day with no accidents and is doing great.

Doggy daycare helped a lot too, took some stress away and the socialization was great for her. Good option, even if only one or few times a week.

 

[the globglobgadgalab]

Nice to see you're getting a lot of help on here. Raising a dog is complicated dude, and a puppy on top of that is a 24/7 job - and it sounds like you came to extremely unprepared and are now paying the price. You need to sit down dedicate time to learn how to be a dog owner. It will be so much easier for both of you. Good luck.

My quick advice:

Learn to crate train.

Then learn to walk him.

 

[Kensation]

As far as house training goes, when our dog was a pup, we took him outside every two hours, no exceptions. We set alarms at night for every 2 hours and took turns taking him out. After a month or so, we increased the time to 3 hours, then a few weeks later to 4 and so on.