Potty Training Timeframe?

[emmathebrindle]

I am currently in week 5 of housetraining my brindle Great Dane, Emma. She is 11 weeks old and seems to be catching on fairly quickly, but still has at least one pee accident inside each day. I am trying to be patient but this is beginning to be difficult for my husband to deal with and we are ready for her to be able to roam on her own!

My question is: How long did it take for you to completely house train your pup? Keep in mind I started from scratch; we rescued Emma from a crazy-lady puppy breeder at just 6 weeks old (Emma's Mom had been bred twice in just two years; she was taken from the woman when the puppies were just 4 weeks old and was put in a Big Dog Foster care).

[AmberDZ]

Puppies do not have full bladder control until between 4 and 6 months. Puppies need to be watched and not let out of your sight unless they are in their crate. That way if you see them getting ready to go you can get them outside to potty.
I am a schedule freak when it comes to potty training. Everything is scheduled...and I mean everything. Pups need to potty shortly after eating and drinking, they need to go out after waking and playing. I don't even leave them alone long enough to grab a bottle of water...they go with me or go in their crate.

It just takes diligence and time...good luck

[SuzanneRM82]

Eisen is 7 months old and I still have to keep a pretty close eye on him. I couldn't leave him unattended for over 2 seconds without a pee accident until he was close to 4 months though.

[oshagcj914]

Finn was having multiple accidents in the house daily until about 4 ˝ months. At that point we had to crack down on our pottying schedule. At just about 5 months, something clicked and he figured out that he needed to ask to go out, and we have had no problems since then. We had success in really cracking down on the schedule like Amber DZ said as well as limiting his space to just the living room and crating him whenever we couldn't be right there to supervise. He was taken out literally every half hour throughout the day in addition to after meal, after playing and naps, and anytime he came out of the crate. We got some better treats and had a huge happy party outside when he went there.

[Thalimar]

The more accidents you can prevent the quicker they'll learn but she's a long way off from roaming free. Even puppies who are starting to learn to ask to go out will find it easier to just squat and let er rip. When nature calls it calls - the hold it and ask to go out mentality can take some time to kick in. I'm sure you've seen the web ads saying "never pee in the house again in only 5 days" which are a a bunch of Bologna so don't let those miracle cures discourage you.

But there's also a big different between potty trained and housebroken. The latter is a much longer process Just be diligent with potty breaks, praise like crazy for going outside and interrupt any indoor tinkles with a loud clap and rush her outside.

Use a good odor neutralizer like vinegar to clean up any accidents as well.

[saharadane]

I have always felt that puppies get the idea of going outside to potty fairly quickly. But, I don't think they get the idea of "holding it" until they go out side a little later. I call it their responsibility to want to go out.

When one of my males was a pup, he was doing great on going outside to go potty. I would tell him "good boy...go out side and potty". When he was about 12 weeks I was on the phone with his breeder when puppy decided to pee in the kitchen. I said to him "No....outside go potty". He ran to the door (piddling on the way) and I let him outside. I swear he never went in the house after that. I felt that he had a lightbulb moment that he must go outside.

[Nerdzilla78]

I got SO lucky with Egon. He was housebroken/potty trained within a week of coming home (so by 9 weeks). I do think that the cold we suffer through in March near Chicago played a role- who the heck wants to go outside to potty more than he/she has to when it's 40 degrees outside!? :P
On a serious note, I truly believe that being at home with him all day, every day, helped. He was never allowed to have an accident because I was always around to correct it. And his breeder instilled a sense of confidence in us that we COULD do it, and told us HOW to do it (building on what she had started at her home), so we just did what she told us to do, and it worked. He never got yelled at for accidents, we just rushed him outside to finish and cleaned up what he did do. I also freely admit that we got lucky with Egon- he was an amazing dog in so many ways. <3

[Zanth]

Khan picked it up really fast. He had the idea down by 10 weeks. But if we weren't fast, he'd go by the door. We never yelled at him when he did that, only if it happened anywhere else inside in the home. We bell trained him which took about 1 week to get down. I would say by 14 weeks we were done with accidents. We were training it in winter, so even after he was doing well, I treated him EVERYTIME until about 5 months.

Keep in mind they can't hold it well for a while. The bell is great because it let's them communicate with you. Puppies will drink more in summer and at that age you're looking at average 3 hours between pees.

[emmathebrindle]

UPDATE: We are now approaching week 15 of potty training Emma. She is doing much better, still has an accident about twice a week, but has learned so far that carpets are always off limits and seems to keep it on the hardwood (thank goodness). She is 100% crate trained now, she can hold it for up to 6 hours in the crate, but she hasn't seemed to make the connection that she also has to hold it when she's outside of her crate. Patience is a virtue!

[GraciesMama]

We rescued Gracie when she was about 6 months old. We know very little about her history as she was turned into a rescue after being found abandoned on a country road near the edge of town.
She was totally untrained when we got her-- no basic commands, no leash training-- but she was pretty well socialized. She was potty trained in about 2 weeks, and no accidents since then.

[kayla baxter]

I take puppies outside every 20-30 minutes in the beginning. Zephyr came home at 8 weeks, had a total of two pee accidents and was asking to go outside by 9 weeks. Riddle came home at 10 weeks, had a few pee accidents and was probably fully house trained by 13 weeks. I literally don't let them out of my sight and really don't give them a chance to have an accident because of how frequently we go outside.


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