[amandakeffer]

Hello! I'm new both here and to puppy raising in general. Effy is 13 weeks now, and she's absolutely wonderful in all regards... except for her potty training and leash walking. Where should I expect to be on either or both of these things at this young age? I'm not expecting perfection in either area at this point, but these are definitely her problem areas and any advice would be so helpful!

 

[Gretchen_Red]

Hi and welcome!

Are you crating her? If not I highly encourage you to do so. Also when you taking her outside are you asking her to go potty and repeating it until she goes and immediately giving praise and a high value treat?

How long have you had her? I didn't pick Gretchen up from the breeder until she was 10weeks and I think it took us around a monthish to potty train.

What issues are you having with leash walking?

 

[amandakeffer]

Hi, thank you so much for your reply!

I crate her and night and when I can't be supervising her during the day. She is really comfortable with the crate, sleeps through the night, and doesn't really whine much. She's very good about the potty training in the morning. I take her out first thing when she wakes up and she poops and pees outside. I take her out every hour, but she still pees inside on the floor in between potty breaks, and she does so without really any warning.
She's been going to the vet for her check ups and regular puppy shots, and they haven't said anything about a UTI or kidney problems, but might that be something they just haven't checked for in a puppy getting standard exams?

Unfortunately, she was given to me as a gift and she came from a byb who gave her up when she was just 6 weeks old. I know this is much too young and no responsible breeder should ever do that, but it is what it is at this point. I fed her the powdered puppy milk formula mixing in with more and more dry food until 8 weeks, and she has always been eating wonderfully since.
I have been reading here and from other resources that behavioral and temperamental issues can result from being separated from the mom and litter mates at such a young age, and I want to be proactive in preventing that as much as possible.
I have been putting in extra effort and care to socialize her to the fullest extent, and she is incredibly enthusiastic now towards all people and dogs of all ages sizes etc.
However, now as a result whenever we are outside leash training and someone walks by, or heaven forbid we pass another dog, she goes crazy with excitement pulling on the leash and doing anything to try to get the person to pay attention to her/pet her or play with the other dog.

 

[Rosemary]

"I take her out every hour, but she still pees inside on the floor in between potty breaks, and she does so without really any warning."

If you take her out every 60 minutes, and she's peeing in the house in between trips, then you need to take her out more often. Take her out after she wakes up from a nap, after she has something to eat (she should be getting fed at least 3 times a day at this age), and after she's played for a while. If you see her start sniffing or circling, take her out. Take her out every 20 minutes just because. A lot of people use a tether (a leash attached to their belt) to keep the puppy within easy reach.

At 6 weeks, she was fine eating just dog food, so you didn't really need the formula. They are usually off mom feeding them by then, anyway. It's for social and developmental reasons that they should stay with their littermate and mom until at least 8 weeks.

The outside world is too exciting for her to be able to focus on training at the moment. Try training inside, or in your backyard, and gradually increase distractions as she gets more confident and obedient. If you can get her into a puppy socialization class, that might help with the greeting frustration, as well.

 

[Reanna1990]

I know for sure that at 13 weeks Whiskey still needed to go out every half hour at least. They usually give some warning signs like pacing, or sniffing. Just now at 5 months old we have been able to increase his potty break time to once an hour instead of half that. Good luck with your pup.

 

[theann2258]

Hi, thank you so much for your reply!

I crate her and night and when I can't be supervising her during the day. She is really comfortable with the crate, sleeps through the night, and doesn't really whine much. She's very good about the potty training in the morning. I take her out first thing when she wakes up and she poops and pees outside. I take her out every hour, but she still pees inside on the floor in between potty breaks, and she does so without really any warning.
She's been going to the vet for her check ups and regular puppy shots, and they haven't said anything about a UTI or kidney problems, but might that be something they just haven't checked for in a puppy getting standard exams?

Our pup is 10 weeks now and I would say he is 75% potty trained. He used to squat and pee with no warning as well. So we started to take him out every 15 to 20 min if he was outside the crate for the first 2 weeks and rang a bell and said lets go potty every time we took him out. He now rings the bell on his own and we take him out every 30 to 45 minutes regardless if he rings the bell or not. It is a lot of work but so worth it!

 

[dobegal]

Dax is 12 weeks and we take her out every 30 minutes. The exception is when she is finished eating, she tends to pee right away. She does go pee and poo once during the night. We crate her during the day and my husband comes home after she has been in the crate for about 3.5 hours and stays with her for one hour. I then come home about 3.5 hours after that. We play in the yard have our lessons followed by more play and lessons.

 

[falnfenix]

we were on the every 20 minutes plan until Rip was maybe 3.5 months old. she didn't always need to go, but we weren't going to risk it.

 

[Patches Mom]

House breaking 101 :
If you take them out on about a 6 ft leash it helps keep them focused tell them go potty ,hurry up or what ever words you want to use just use the same words each time. Stand in one spot let them go all around you till they find the spot then Praise like it is the greatest thing you ever saw. If they do not go in about 20 minutes go back in and crate them or tie them to you them go back out in about 30 minutes.pups need to go out after naps,playing, eating & drinking 1st thing in the morning last thing at night depending on the age of the pup you may need to take them out at night too. Always use a pet urine enzyme to clean up all traces of urine or feces you can use a black light to find all traces. It takes about 3-6 months of contestant training to house break a pup the more accidents they have the longer it takes. Hang a bell on the door you go out you ring it until the pup gets the idea how to ring it yes sometimes they ring it to go look at a squirrel but its a phase they go though you just have to go though it with them. Do not forget to praise each time they go to reinforce the potty training. If you are consistent you will also have a pup/dog that will go potty on command comes in handy when it rains,snow, is icy, on a trip at night . People will think you are a amazing trainer too. Good Luck with your new baby.
Are you going out each time with him and making sure he goes and praising every time he goes I believe it is important to ask them if they need to go potty or what ever words you want to use same words each time though. When he is playing you might ask him if he needs to go like a little reminder. I still to this day ask mine if they want to go if they have been in the house awhile.If you hang bells on the door if you ring them each time when taking him out he will learn to ring the bells on his own. This system really works just have to be consistent with it.Hang in there.

 

[amandakeffer]

Thanks for all the replies!

I probably should be more consistent in taking her out at more frequent intervals. I do see improvements as she is starting to understand where the door is for potty training as we are working on doorway obedience manners.
I grew up with a toy poodle (who still lives at my parents house) and she was trained with the bell on the door so quickly, and I initially did that with Effy but have not been as good as I should be in using it.
I am in an apartment with her so it is just a little more of a commitment to always be going up and down the hallway and stairs to get outside, as opposed to just opening a door directly to the yard.

 

[MeadowCat]

Every mistake she makes will set you back, so you really, really want to set her up for success by taking her out really often. Every 20 minutes is a good schedule for a young pup. It's definitely harder to do puppies in apartment buildings. She probably does not have the bladder control to wait longer at this age, so you'll just need to take her out more frequently.

 

[amandakeffer]

thanks so much for the replies! She hasn't had an accident for almost a week and she has finally got the hang of going to the door and whining when she needs to go out. Thought i'd share a few pictures

 

[Patches Mom]

Cute little girl.