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Housebreaking a young pup?


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Hi everyone,

 

Just wondered if perhaps we are expecting to much, our little Cali is 8.5 weeks old, and is pooing and weeing all over the house, we are trying to train her to do her business outside, and at the moment she does it outside about 1/3 of the time, mostly we take her outside after a meal or when she has had a drink and she won't do anything, then we take her in and she wees on the carpet. Obviously it is a little frustrating and smelly! We are not telling her off when she does her business in the house because it is her first week with us and also because she has a weak bladder being so young so it doesn't feel appropriate, although we give a lot of verbal praise when she does it outside.

 

So my questions are:

 

1. At what age did you border collie start doing their business outside on a fairly regular basis?

2. At what age were they fully housebroken?

3. What tips or tricks do you have to help housebreak her?

 

Thanks

 

Kat x x

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I would never expect an 8 1/2 week old puppy to even understand the most basic concepts of housebreaking. At that age, most puppies aren't mentally or physically developmentally capable of being housebroken. Of my 5 puppies, 3 had the basic idea down by 4 months. They were not reliable but they at least understood what the goal was and if I stayed on top of things, we had no accidents. One was close to a year before I considered him reliable. He was the hardest dog I've ever had to housebreak. To my astonishment, Quinn did seem to truly understand housebreaking when I got him at 9 weeks and he only ever had a few accidents (all accidents are the human's fault, of course). However, he was in no way reliable until he was a good deal older.

 

With little puppies, I am taking them out all the time. After they get up, after they eat, after they drink, after they've played. Pretty much if they're awake, I'm taking them out every hour. And if I can't keep them in my field of vision, then they are crated. Period. Lots of praise when they potty outside. Only interrupt if you catch them going inside. Never punish. If you come across a mess, don't say anything, just clean it up and do a better job of keeping the puppy with you or else contained. When you take her out, no playing, just keep walking around until the pup pees or poops, then lots of praise. If the pup simply will not potty, bring her in and crate her for 10 or 15 minutes, then take her back outside to try again. No play or goofing around inside or out until she potties. I teach a "go potty" word which is "hurry." But it can be any word or phrase you're comfortable using. That comes in very handy even with grown dogs who sometimes get distracted and you're in a hurry.

 

Do not free feed. At that age, you want to feed at least 3 times a day. Only have the food down for 20- 30 minutes max, then put up until next meal time. Regular meals mean predictable output. Pretty soon, you'll know before your pup does when she needs to potty. If you stick to this kind of schedule and management, then accidents should be relatively few and the pup should eventually get it. Again, it seems that a lot of puppies aren't going to get it until about 3 or 4 months of age. And even then, they will usually be limited in how long they can hold it when they're awake.

 

I'm sure there are other housebreaking threads on these boards so you might want to do a search to get other ideas. I know people who live in a high rise apartment might not be able to take a puppy out as much as I do. I've only lived in a second story apartment and a house with a yard, so lots of tromping in and out when the puppy is little.

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I'll second that. Basically, I'm the one who's housebroken at this point. Juno at 3 months has a predictable enough digestive system that I seem to know when to make sure she goes out and when to make sure she stays out long enough to produce the product! :rolleyes:

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We got Scout at 5 1/2 wks and just kept taking him out 30 min after every meal and after when he drank plus every two hours, I think by the time he was 3-4 mo. old he had it down and would just sit at the door.

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I learned something off this thread. I got Ruger when he was 3 months. He lived outside in a kennel during those months. I believe he was fully housetrained in a couple of weeks. The first few days were a chore but he just started getting better and better. I think we purchased his crate around that time as well. It's interesting that 3 months is the magic number.

 

Another point, three months is just about the right time to start basic training. It's that time to break out the leash and give about a 10 minute a day lesson on sit, short stay and heel. I am almost positive by 4 months Ruger was housebroken completely, could heel (he still pulls some), sit and return a frisbee. Do I not miss those days. Border Collie pups can be evil and maniacal chewing machines. If you think doing their business inside is bad, wait until Cali eats your carpet among other things. :rolleyes:

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It's interesting that 3 months is the magic number.

 

That's just a personal observation based on puppies I know that 3 - 4 months seems to be when the blocks fall into place. I still wouldn't consider them reliable or finished with training though. I also think that Border Collies in general seem to housebreak earlier and easier, but I've heard of BC's that took several months.

 

 

Do I not miss those days. Border Collie pups can be evil and maniacal chewing machines. If you think doing their business inside is bad, wait until Cali eats your carpet among other things. :rolleyes:

 

You know, of all my dogs and puppies, Quinn caused the least damage to the house. I think some of that is we become better owners and trainers (hopefully) with each dog, but the other part is he was so awful for the first couple of months that I never let my guard down around him. My hyper vigilance when he was loose and my consistency in keeping him crated when I couldn't keep a close eye on him seriously limited his destructive activities. He kept going after my carpet and would grab the weirdest things (picture frames, pottery jar lids, porcelain figurines). The hardest part was keeping him focused for any length of time on toys and nylabones to chew. It made me crazy. I don't miss those days, either! I was never a huge fan of puppies and Quinn was so horrid as a baby that I plan to do my best to start with an older puppy/teen or adult for my next dog down the road.

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Liberty wasn't fully potty-trained until around 11-12 months. I attribute this to two reasons...

 

Poor thing was sick the first ten months I had her

 

And we lived with my mother for 6 of those months and her two dogs--two months older than Liberty--(dandie dinmont and shiz tsu) were not any where near being trained. (My mother and her boyfriend don't understand even the basics of dog training)

 

I moved in with my mom when Libby was 5 months and stayed until she was 11 months. Before we moved in, Libby was pretty well trained, with only two or three accidents a week (my fault). AFter we moved in with my mother, it was like she was thinking "They don't go outside in the cold/rain etc...so Why should the Libby?"

 

Then we moved in with my boyfriend and his 6 yr old labrenard. Libby seemed to instinctively know not to potty inside because the big dog didn't. Also, I put bells on the doors--both at my mother's and my boyfriend's--I'd have her nudge the bell every time she went out to potty.

 

After about a week, she'd run to the bell whenever she had to go. The bell is gone now but she still runs to the door. Except now, she stands up and tries to turn the knob to 'let herself' out. She has before!

 

We've had two accidents, and both were due to bladder infections. Libby is now 19 months old.

 

Hang in there! SHe'll get the hang of it when she's ready...

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Hi everyone,

 

Just wondered if perhaps we are expecting to much, our little Cali is 8.5 weeks old, and is pooing and weeing all over the house, we are trying to train her to do her business outside, and at the moment she does it outside about 1/3 of the time, mostly we take her outside after a meal or when she has had a drink and she won't do anything, then we take her in and she wees on the carpet. Obviously it is a little frustrating and smelly! We are not telling her off when she does her business in the house because it is her first week with us and also because she has a weak bladder being so young so it doesn't feel appropriate, although we give a lot of verbal praise when she does it outside.

 

So my questions are:

 

1. At what age did you border collie start doing their business outside on a fairly regular basis?

2. At what age were they fully housebroken?

3. What tips or tricks do you have to help housebreak her?

 

Thanks

 

Kat x x

 

Kat, don't even think about house training at this age. Work on it but there is no way your dog will learn yet. I have a dog that took easily 6 months and another that has taken almost a year. I have another dog who would go outside any time. We would bring him in the house and he would go again. We would play with him and he would stop and go. It was taking forever. One evening while playing he stopped and started to go. I jumped up, grabbed him and headed for the back door. He went all the way to the door and down my legs. I put him down in the grass and sat down, he finished. I literaly gave him a lecture on going outside and if he needed to go he should go to the door and bark. That didn't work but about a week later we were playing with him and he dropped his ball and ran to me. Something, the great BC fairy perhaps told me to get up and go to the back door. I did, he followed, did his thing outside and has not gone in the house since. Strange but whatever works I guess.

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