House Training

[colinp]

Does anyone have any tips on house training?

I have a husky puppy (14 weeks approx), when she wants to 'go' she runs to the door, then to someone, whines a little then back to the door. The problem arises when we are asleep. Before she would wake-up and play, this would be noisy enough for 1 of us to wake up and let her go outside. Recently either we're not waking up or she is quieter. I'm under the impression unless you see the dog do something wrong scolding her is pointless as she won't know why we're angry and the 'rubbing her nose in it' I think is wrong and would be very surprised if it worked.

When everyone's up and she runs to the door we usually go outside quickly, would it be a good idea to wait a little and try to get her to learn to wait. Maybe this way she would learn some control.

Thanks for any help

Colin

[Pseudolus]

First observation is that your dog is already house trained. Shes asking out, and not being let out. If it's a poo, then you are feeding her too late. Dogs typically are like clockwork with their toilet needs and go 20-40 minutes after eating if fed two times a day. Routine of feeding first thing in the AM, and about 6pm in the evening and you will not have a problem unless it is an upset stomach; you do not want to dissuade her from asking out for this very reason. If she is peeing, then again, I would suggest you try simply removing the water bowl 30 minutes before bed time, and then take her out just before bed time. Empty bladder then, and no problems. Try this as it will most likely work, and don't be concerned about her not having water in the night time; she should be asleep after all.

[meatboy]

our dog was just over 1year old when we had him and he had never been kept indoors till we perswayed him,during the day its easy yet at first he would mark the same spot inside so a rolled up newspaper and a tap on the nose and scolding him in a deep voice did the trick,as for the night like a.b.says feed him no later than 6pm,we feed ours 4.30-5.00.take him out 5.30till 6.30 he will have a good drink when he gets back,when its hot after his walk cut his activity down so not to get him too thirsty,then when we are ready to go to bed we start to switch everything off let him out just walk round the garden with him once he has emptied staight in and up the stairs.at first he used to rub his nose on my arm if he wanted to go out but now its a job to get him out in the morn.6am.he did do the same upstairs marking same spot but he soon stopped.clean the spot with a little bit of bleach.one thing i would say is dot feed him barrow food,e.g.barbq.pork or cooked chicken liver these always seemed to upset his belly.its the same when y have visitors who bring food with them try to get them not to give him tit-bits,we always got some beef jerky chews on hand.ours has his stitches out today and having him neutered has made him the perfect companion.

[WaatWang]

Hello ColinP and congrats on your new pup! It sounds like you're doing a great job housetraining as Adam says - she goes to the door to be let out, so understands what is expected of her. The trouble overnight is that - at 14 weeks - she is just not old enough to hold it for an entire six to eight hours while you sleep. A good estimate is that they can hold their bladder approximately one hour for each month of age. If your puppy is only three months old and you don't want accidents in the house, unfortunately you're going to have to get up to let her out on a regular basis for the next few months. It's incovenient, but consider it an investment in your home and your dog. Good luck, and hope you enjoy life with your new friend for many years to come.

[Nienke]

I agree with the earlier advices: to give her last feeding earlier, to take her water away a little before bedtime and take her out for her last pee and poo just before bedtime.

As it seems she is already quite well house trained, she let you know when she need to go out, it may be an option to restrict her freedom during the night to only her sleeping place. Most dogs don't like to pee or poo there where they eat and sleep. Chances are higher that she will wake you up when she needs to go.