Boston Terrier Puppy Potty Trained in Seven Days

by Christine
(Memphis, TN)

Our BT was exactly 8wks old when we got him and he was completely potty trained in one week. Obviously every puppy is different as is every owner's schedule, but i'll tell you what worked for us. You can always adapt it to fit your world. :)

Since my husband and I both work full time, our training consisted of 4 important things.
1. A kennel
2. A leash (even with a fenced yard)
3. A scheduling commitment
4. Having the same basic training routine

We went into the whole process like you would a newborn baby. His 1st week with us, we set it up so that either myself or my husband were always at home with him.

We fed/watered him at the same times each day and took up the dish after he was done. (you can change this later after he is completely trained)

During the day, my husband took him out every 2hours. He took him to the same spot in our yard each time and always used the words "good potty" DURING the act. We found that a lot of times he would be so distracted with bugs or smells that he didn't seem like he had to go and at first we were giving in only to have him pee as soon as we walked back through the door. (This is where the leash comes in handy) In which case we decided to keep him moving when he was distracted for too long. We'd give it at least 20minutes each time. I used the same routine at night. Since our puppy's kennel (where he would sleep at night) was kept in our living room, I slept on the couch for a week. This way, every time he started to whine I would hear him. I'd wait a little bit to see if he would go back to sleep and if he didn't then I'd get up and take him out. (It's not fun of course, but in my opinion, the commitment I put in at first payed off in terms of how long the total learning process took)

The MOST important thing we learned was that if there was EVER a time...even if it was just 5minutes...that someone would not be able to completely watch him, we put him in his kennel. This includes your bathroom breaks, quick trips to the store or mailbox, while watching a movie with the family...etc. It will hurt your feelings more than his. After all, his kennel is "his spot" and there will be plenty of time for him to be everywhere you are when he's potty trained! :)

Our puppy was completely potty-trained in 7days. On the 7th day is when he started standing by the door and staring at us to let us know. I think it was only another 4days 'til he was sleeping through the night in his kennel. After that 1st week he has only had an accident 3times.(twice was our fault, and the last time he was "marking" in which case we had him neutered the next week).