# our new pup reilly!



## dk (Jul 20, 2011)

Hey all,

Fantastic site you have here. some really good information. 

So my gf and I just added a now 13 week old, new puppy V to the house, named Reilly. We have a 5 year old, 20 lb, very active minpin, who we wanted to give a companion to and just in general wanted a larger dog. 

So far Reilly is amazing! he heels perfectly, sits. walks off leash amazingly. he is an all around awesome dog!

But....we are having a bit of trouble potty training him. However maybe this is normal. He still pee's on the carpet. close to 3 weeks after we have had him.

The kicker is, he can hold his pee all night (he sleeps with us) does not poop in the house. If he has to poop he will usually whine or make it obvious if he has to do that. but for some reason when it comes to pee. He will still pee in the house. 

Now we take him out all the time. Anytime he sniffs we take him out, etc. But he will occasionally get one off if we are not watching close enough. Its not like he is marking. but more so he just doesnt know how to tell us. and also I Think he thinks carpet is ok still. 

I just bought some bells and am starting to train him on that. But is there any other suggestions out there? should we re-clean our carpet so there is no scent? would that help.

any suggestions would be great. and maybe this is just normal. and im reading to much into it!

Thanks all!
-D


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## Jasper (Mar 18, 2011)

Hi there 

This is quite a common query on this site (from what I have seen).

I found it really helpful to use a cue word, we used "hurry" each time our V went to the toilet outside, we then gave lots of praise and and acted all excited when she went to the toilet. She then learnt to associate the cue word with going to the toilet and she pretty much goes to the toilet on demand now. 

I found that it was all about going out regularly; as soon as your V has woken up, been fed or experienced a bit of fun and excitement. Then by using the cue word we would get positive results. 

Good luck!!!


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## dk (Jul 20, 2011)

how many weeks did it take you to break yours? and just in general what seems to be the average time it takes? I guess thats my other real questions. 

We do all the praise. and everything. he takes to that really well. just seems he doesnt want to try and give us any signs minus the sniffing!


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## redrover (Mar 17, 2011)

It takes a while. I think it took Jasper about 3 to 4 weeks before he figured out that the door meant going outside, so sitting by the door lets the human know I have to pee.

Make sure you clean any accidents up with a cleaner meant for these kinds of things--an enzyme cleaner is best. I used Nature's Miracle products, and they are miracles! I found them when I had a cat with chronic UTIs, and cat urine is absolutely foul and NM got rid of the smell. Just cleaning it so that you can't smell it doesn't usually help, as their noses are much better than ours. I did find that if you don't really clean it up well, just shampooing the carpet can actually make it worse. A tenant that lived in our unit before us had a dog that had accidents all over the carpet. She got it cleaned, and when I moved in there was this overwhelming stale urine smell, which hadn't been there before she got the carpets cleaned. I had to go back over the entire place with NM, the landlord said if that didn't work we'd have to put new carpet in, etc. Awful.

Anyway, just keep up the same pattern each time you take your puppy to potty--same door, etc. Eventually they'll make the connection and figure out their own way to let you know!


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## barretts87 (Apr 24, 2011)

One thing that helped us with our V, was to set an alarm on our phone for every hour (at first when Abby was 8 weeks old), then every two hours, and now at 20 weeks we make sure she gets a chance to go outside and go potty every 3 hours. She can hold it all night but during the day since its so hot she drinks a lot of water so she has to go a little more often. Also we got a bell and put it by the front door, everytime we take her outside just to go potty, we gently grab her snout and drag her nose across the bell so it rings. After about 2 weeks of doing this she got the idea and when she really needs to go she will ring the bell and then come find us and sit down until you take her outside (really cute). 

Realize though that this can backfire if you ring the bell everytime you go outside with your dog, to play, for a run etc because then they will think that if I ring the bell i get to go outside...period. So far by only ringing the bell when we are taking her outside to go potty and then back inside we haven't had any problems with her just randomnly ringing the bell. It takes time but keep with it and it will get better. Setting the alarms for us helped sooooo much.


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## mswhipple (Mar 7, 2011)

Congratulations on your new family member!!

I don't mean to boast, but it's never taken me over one week to house train a dog. The secret is this: You need to make that your first priority -- you must be constantly vigilant and always supervising. You have to really dedicate yourself to the project, and I mean completely. 

Do not punish for accidents, but do rush him directly outside, even if it's "after the fact." When he does go potty outside, praise A LOT. Throw a little party right there in the yard. YAY!! I'm sure you already know all of this. You just can't let your guard down, not even for a minute. It has to be TOP PRIORITY. Nothing else matters until this is done.  Don't let your attention wander.


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## datacan (May 15, 2011)

Congrats and let the fun begin 
Whatever happens do not ever be angry at your V. they are special animals and demand attention, love, clear boundaries and rules. 
Hang in there, do not be afraid if your pup steps in it's own poo, is chewing out of control, crying or eating too much (I think I covered all).

Spend time just bonding no rush in training and they will reward you months later.


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## Ozkar (Jul 4, 2011)

Try this, it has worked for me with my last four or five puppies.

When he/she has a wee inside, mop it up with paper towels, pick up puppy, take puppy and the wet paper towel outside to the area wher you want him/her to do it. Place the paper towel down, place the puppy down, let him/her sniff it....Praise madly!


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## Jasper (Mar 18, 2011)

I agree with Ms Whipple! By doing similar training and throwing similar sounding parties each time my Jasper toileted outside, we too had her house trained in about a week!

Good luck!!


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## dk (Jul 20, 2011)

thanks for the suggestions and input all. I will try all these things. 

Whipple:im amazed you can do that in a week! you mam are far more vigilant then I...and I thought I was very vigilant!!!


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## mswhipple (Mar 7, 2011)

Well, I can't take all the credit... my Mom taught me how to do that.  And I know that people here on the forums are going to get tired of reading this, but... If your pup has an accident in the house, or does something else "wrong," go find a newspaper, roll it up, and smack yourself over the head with it, because you weren't watching him closely enough! Good luck. If you are consistent in this way, it won't take long for your dog to learn just about anything.


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