We have had our dog since he was 2 months old. We’ve worked on potty training since the beginning, but he still can not figure it out. It seems like we have tried everything (bells,clicker,punishment, rewards). He goes potty when we take him out every few hours, so he knows he is supposed to go outside, but he can’t figure out how to tell us. He accidents are about every few days. Please help us we are beginning to become frustrated with our dog.
A couple of things you may not have considered. Has he been to the vet to make sure he does not have a urinary problem? And, if he is not neutered, he may be beginning to mark territory.
If those are not the problem, have you tried to teach him a word (command) for go potty? I trained my dog to “better go now” and it was great. On rainy or cold days I would take him out and within a few seconds of me saying the command he did his business and we were back inside.
Also you could teach him to ring a bell or push one of those wireless battery door bells at the door to indicate he needs out. You can train him to touch the doorbell button with his nose or paw and reward him by letting him go out.
Take your dog out on a schedule, that is at the same times each day right after you feed him and right before bed.
At this point he may smell the pee if he is returning to the same area each time and he may be confused by the smell and think it is now OK to pee there. You may need to get the carpet cleaned…
I know it can be frustrating, but please don’t give up on your dog. Consult a trainer if you have to, the money will be well worth it when you have a dog you can trust and be proud of.
All I can tell you is what has always worked best for me in the past. You have a potty schedule and you stick to that. When the dog does what he’s supposed to you praise him to the skies. Eventually, as long as you stick to the schedule and don’t keep changing whatever method you use, you will find that he will get the idea. It sounds as though he’s gotten kind of confused with the bells, clickers and so forth. Just use one method only. Some dogs take longer to train than others, so don’t be frustrated. It takes patience on your part as well as perseverance.
Continue taking him out every few hours, if he doesn’t know how to alert you, don’t sit around and wait for it to happen, make it happen. Teach him to ring a bell when he wants to go outside (target training) hang a bell from the door handle and try and get him to paw at it or nose it, when he does treat and praise and open the door, so he knows when he does this, the door gets opened and he is free to go outside.
Check out the link below for online video training courses, for under $40. You can watch a free lesson. You can order the lessons, download them and start fixing the potty problem in minutes.
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It takes time and patience. My dog is two and still has accident’s. Keep working on it it will take time. If this does not work put wee pads in the house or those potties with grass.
You do realise dogs will have accidents up until 9 months or even a year old right?
the site http://www.dogtrainingscene.com has a really good free course on how to potty train your dog.
I would first always use positive reinforcement when possible, since you have already done that you are half way there. It appears your dog has two issues: holding it in, and telling you. To solve the holding it problem simply put him in a cage.
Now this may sound bad but if the cage is large enough and the dog is taught it is a safe place this is perfectly humane. I have 3 dogs and 1 of them couldn’t get holding it. So I bough a sizable cage, put a blanket in it and every time I left the house I gave him a few treats and put him in the cage. I made sure to not use the cage for punishment; he was always rewarded for going into the cage with treats and praise. Having him in the cage for a few hours while I was at class or work forced him to hold his pee in because he did not want to pee on himself. I started out with having him in the cage when I went to gym (about 2 hours), then going to class (about 4 hours) and worked up to when I was going to work (about 6 hours). Everyday he was taking longer and longer pees outside and after 2 weeks there were no more accidents in the house. Now when I leave the house he does not need to be in the cage.
There are bound to still be accidents though; if you catch the dog peeing inside stop them immediately and take them outside and praise them for the pee-pees outside (but it appears you have done that already). Another thing you could do is just not give them water after a certain time until they get better with holding the bladder
Are you sure he isn’t telling and you’re simply missing the Q? Not to sound mean. However, I have a 7 month old pup. He’ll let me know when he’s in the crate, he’l cry until his face turns blue. But when he’s out its a different seen. He’ll just go stand in front of the door. I was testing to see how trained he was, then he’d sit there like “come on”. What I have always done is get him excited by the door. I get hyper and asks “gotta go potty”, I’ll hit and scratch the door. When I ask, he’ll either jump and hit me, do a 360 or bark. I let him out and then say go potty. It works great for us. When he’s scared of the rain or darkness, he’ll move away from the door but I say go potty and he does. Each dog is different. One dog of mine stands or her back legs or will simply dash out the door as soon as it opens 🙂 good luck!