I took Coco out constantly....several times an hour because I did not want to depend on her to let me know when she was a pup. I always made a huge deal out of when she did her business and she was always so proud. We still use "go pee pee" although she has been housetrained for about 18 months. This is a hard phase to get through but it is great when they "get it" and will come to get you to let them out. Have patience...it does get better!!:butfly:

 

Your dog is a baby... If he pees in the house, it's your fault, not his. He can barely control his bladder.

My advice is to take him out more often. If he is peeing in the house, he isn't going out enough. Also, take notes of when he goes... how long after drinking, how long after waking up, etc. You'll start to notice a pattern. But I wouldn't expect any real results for a while yet. At this point, the only way to get him to not go in the house is to bring him outside often enough where he doesn't have an accident.

 

What KevinK said. The idea is to take him out before he's indicating inside that he needs to be outside. Praise/treat lavishly, then (if it's not nighttime) spend a few minutes playing with a favorite toy outside (so that he doesn't get the idea that if he's done pottying, he'll immediately be forced back inside).

 

14 1/2 weeks is still pretty young. I don't think most have the idea of indicating that they have to go out at that age. You still need to get the puppy out frequently to prevent the accident before it happens. Be patient, he'll get it soon enough!

 

Holy crow! That is the most beautiful picture of a Dobe I have ever seen (left on your signature)!! Great job!!

 

There's always body language that signals a puppy is about to pee, although it may be different for each puppy. Your job is to watch your pup closely until you recognize what that body language is..then take the pup out as soon as you see it, BEFORE he even starts to pee.

Things to look for would be a puppy who suddenly stops playing and starts pacing around, sniffing, etc.

At 14 weeks of age, I take puppies outside every 30 minutes, whether I see any body language or not. And always immediately after eating, when they wake up from a nap, etc.

 

I like the body signs. Nubis will play guitar when he has to poo. Lol

 

House breaking a pup always take the pup out on about a six foot leash stand in the area of the yard you want the pup to go in let the pup walk around you but do not walk the pup this will help the pup focus on the job at hand,tell the pup go potty or hurry up what ever phrase you choose just use the same phrase each time.You say you have a bell on the door are you ringing the bell each time you go out ? You have to ring the bell until the pup gets the idea it may take awhile.Take the pup out about every 30 minutes,after drinking,eating,playing, naps. If you cannot watch the pup closely put the pup in its crate if it does not go try again in 30 min. If you have the pup loose in the house with you it is best to tie them too you so they can't have any mistakes the more accidents in the house the longer it takes to house train a pup. They are just like babies their bladders and bowl have to grow takes awhile for them to learn to control them selfs just like with a human baby.Since dogs do not know the language you speak it takes them awhile to learn what you want them to do to when they go you have to be there with them so you can praise them so they know they did the right thing yes your neighbors may think you are a little off but that is OK who cares what the neighbors think.Just think in a few months you will have a pup that will go potty on command pretty much.It is very convenient in rain,snow,sleet,on trips to have a dog go when you ask them to go if they need to go . Also each dog asks differently Buddy my Dobe does not ask I ask him he will run towards the back door. Patches my Dachshund she will verbally talk to you in a growly way. Some dogs stare at you, some will go in a circle, each dog is different it is up to you to figure out what they want.Does not hurt to ask them if they want to go potty or use your phrase some times they want to go sometimes not.Good Luck house breaking your Fur kid. This also works with rescues or any age of dog the older the dog you can take them out every hour or two play it by ear use your common sense.

 

My boy will be 14 weeks this friday and he is catching on pretty good, even has graduated from getting me up every 2-3 hours at night to sleeping anywhere from 5-8 hours at a time now.

1) A huge improvement We noticed is giving him something comfy to sleep on in his crate. The very first night he had a nice comfy bed to sleep on, he added 2 hours on to his sleep time. That meant I got 5 hours before the whining started.

2) We would first pick him up and carry him outside, like normal I suppose, and gradually turned that into leading him to the door, with him on his own.

3) At the 11 week mark, we then gradually started letting him walk from his crate (at night) to the door, instead of carrying him due to the longer distance from being in our bedroom.

4) Now, at night, early morning, I can let him out and he will most of the time (if I catch him while he is sleepy enough) come back in and walk back to his crate to lay back down.

5) While romping around the house, he will usually start to give off body language that lets us know he might have to go wee wee. That and he will generally run head first into the back (glass) door.

 

As far as the bells go, we introduced them to Shanoa once she was pretty reliably going outside and had bladder control. We got her as an older pup, so we were able to do that pretty quickly. My method was to put a tiny bit of peanut butter on the bells. Every time we went to the door, I'd hold the bells towards her, she'd bump them with her nose to get the peanut butter, the bells would ring and I'd exclaim, very happily, "Yes! Outside!" and we'd go right outside. She figured out very quickly that ringing the bell led to going outside. I only had to put peanut butter on a few times. Now, she's kind of annoying with them sometimes, because she rings any time she wants to go out (boredom, sees a squirrel, whatever) not just when she needs to go out. But I still like to have them so I can hear that she needs to go out wherever I am in the house.

 

Thanks for the advice guys!

One thing though, we can take Moby outside for an hour and walk inside and he'll pee within two minutes of being inside. Granted, a lot of that outside time is play time and I don't expect him to really stop to pee, but usually we try to give a cooldown time.

As for signs, when he starts sniffing I try to take him out but it seems that often there's no warning. Also, when he sees someone new and gets excited there's guaranteed to be piddle on the ground.

Guess we'll have to just keep working at it.

 

I don't care how long a puppy has been outside, they still need to pee (again) immediately before I bring them in. And if they have been outside playing that means they could literally need to go back outside every few minutes for a while. Hard play makes a temporarily hyper active bladder. Like the others have said, subtle body language will usually alert you, but if you wait until they stop and think to ask to go out it's probably too late.

 

I had my 8 week old puppy house trained in 3 weeks...and I trained in the middle of winter.

This is what I did:
- outside every hour or less
- high voice intensity praise, as soon as you see the squat / constant talking in a loving voice
- loads of hugs & kisses
- out immediately after the puppy stirs / like when it gets up from laying down / after water drink / after play secession / etc.
- set alarm clock for 3:30 am / puppy taken out in the middle of the night / no master bed accidents
My dog would not ring the bell either.

 

And same for me! I mean the bell thing. I am trying it so we shall see what happens, but yeah, Brandy knows very well she is supposed to go outside, but will go RIGHT in front of me without making any move to the door or anything and she is almost 14 weeks! Weird!

 

Good luck with the bell. I LOVE it.
Personally I think the pup has to be at a level, where it is clearly telling you when you say show me. If you try using that prior to this, I think they might not grasp what your showing them to do, is: does it mean going outside, your simply ringing a bell and wanting to show him how to do it.
Its like military drill, initially everything is broken down into squads or sections, to accomplish the final movement under one command.
The bell and like is not simply a trick, its a good way to show the pup that you are giving him more communication skills, similar to hand signals. Naturally bcuz of my prev dobes, I naturally do hand signals along with vocal. After awhile sees the same physical movements from you and will respond.

 

Whenever mine made mistakes in the house I simply told her no, took her to the door and pointed at it while saying "outside!", and then of course taking her out...like everyone else said, best bet is to take your pup out very frequently, and if a mistake happens hopefully you can interrupt it. Never take your eyes off that dog. I made that mistake and found myself stepping in a puddle of pee because it's not always easy to see on my floor without the right reflection.

she doesnt always tell me when she needs to go (maybe because she's taken out enough), but there has been times when she has sat next to the door and looked at me, I would say "outside!?" and then she would look at the door and back at me...

I was very happy when that started happening

 

My son house trained Rush with bells hanging from the back door. He purchased the bells at Walmart in pet section. Every time he took Rush out the first few days he, my son, would ring the bells and say outside. It was amazing when Rush nudged the bells and we went out side and he went potty. We praised him so much and that was pretty much all we had to do.

When he is upstairs in bedroom, without a bell, he almost does a silent bark and sits by door thus indicating he has to go potty.

 

Hey guys - old thread from August 2011. Revived to compliment a signature pic.

Might want to check the OP's date before putting a lot of effort into replying. I doubt they're still trying to figure out this issue.