Boston Terrier Seems Impossible to Train

by Alexa
(Pittsburgh, PA)

My Boston terrier will be 8 months old as of August 13th and I am having problems with him peeing and pooping all over the house. He will go outside and pee multiple times and even poop and come in and pee on beds, couches, etc. I am at my wits ends with this. I don't know what else to do. It is the only problem I have with him aside from his inability to pick up tricks I repetitively try to teach him. Please help! Any tips would be wonderful.

Comments for
Boston Terrier Seems Impossible to Train

Click here to add your own comments

Dec 09, 2011
 Impossible to Train
by: Anonymous

I agree with the above poster on how to potty train your puppy. It sounds like you are at your wits end and who would not be with a house full of pee and poops all the time. I would first off get or rent a steam cleaner or company to clean all the rugs and keep a bottle of OUT on hand for accidents. I have a steam cleaner and they are reasonable at a box store. I add a capful of bleach to the water and cleaner compartment which really gets the pee smell out of the rug but test a small are first if it is a dark colored rug.

I potty train my Boston's much like I did with my children. I would bring him out every hour on the hour on a leash, very important to use a leash, Or a few minutes after a meal again on a leash and say 'potty". Don't leave the food and water dish down at all times until they are trained so you know when they will need to go. Also the first thing when you let them out of the crate is to bring them out to go pee and the last time at night before you go to bed. Let them sleep in a small crate, enough room to turn around or a crate with a divider you can move to make it larger or smaller. When they go outside give them lots of praise and a small treat. The little liver treats at petco work well. It will take a couple weeks of non stop training or longer before they get it but they will if you do this to the letter as with a toddler. My kids were easier to train and it only took a few days but puppies take longer. If you only do it part of the time it will take much longer for them to put together what they need to do. Just think of them as a baby at this stage and don't ever hit a Boston. They never forget and are too sensitive for corporal punishment. Being firm and saying NO works better and praising them profusely when they get it right.

I always try and find a large stuffed amimal for them to ween on too and you can throw it in the washer in a mesh bad and wash it periodically that can be it's "Baby". Bostons for some reason like to nuzzle of pretend to nurse on a stuffed animal slightly bigger then it is in size. This one stuffed animal can be used as a treat when they go outside. They will lay with it and "play nurse" with it and this makes them very calm and peaceful. -(Like it is still with it's mother). Eventually I need to replace it when it falls apart after many washings but my Bostons all love their "Babies". Also keep him in a kitchen or area without carpets until he is trained. They sell baby gates at the store, This will make any accidents easier to clean up and the crate's with a side door can also act as a gate to block off a door. Good Luck and don't give up because once they get it you will have a wonderful companion for many years :)
Sep 03, 2011
 potty problems
by: Anonymous

our BT took forever to train almost 2 until no accidents! My husband is a truck driver every time he would leave he would potty on the floor. He finally stopped. Good luck! keep on it
Jul 31, 2011
 Response to the untrainable 8 month old
by: Anonymous

Hello, I'm really new at this training business and haiving a BT. We've had our puppy for 2 months, and although he's had his share of accidents in the house, we feel that he's doing pretty well. We found that crate training him in a smaller size crate that fits him helped us out. Are you using a proper deorderizer spray to clean where he's peed in the house. Apparently that is vital because if you don't, your home will smell like a bathroom (to a dog) and he'll continue to use it as one.
As well, we thought our dog was not very smart, then we realized we were confusing stupid with stubborn. He actually is super smart, and will do just about anything, and learn just about anything if you give him a treat when you're introducing the new desired behaviour. We don't like to give him too many treats, so even giving him pieces of his kibble works.
Not sure if that was any help to you at all....but I hope so.
Jul 31, 2011
 Boston Terrier Training
by: Anonymous

I own 19 months old bundle of joy, a female boston terrier. Potty training with her took a lot of work and time. She was fully trained by her first birthday of course the number of accidents she had were so less comparing to the early time with her. Yours is still 8 months so it still has few more months to go. Just be patient with him, establish a routine and take him round the clock outside at the same time everyday like 6 am, noon, 5 pm, 10 pm and midnight. And each time praise him so much when he does potty. I did it each day and just in case I put a potty pad and papers at a corner of room so if it is urgent for her, she wouldnt go all over the place. Dont worry sooner or later he will learn it and he will ask you to go out for potty. The success for me was teaching my puppy a fixed schedule based on her age and too much praise.
As for the tricks, also dont worry he is still young with short attention span to get all tricks. Mine was the same. So be patient and just work on sit or come commands. As bostons get older, they become much easier to teach the tricks. I gave up on teaching shake when she was your puppy's age but now it took few weeks and she learned it well. So just be patient and enjoy the beautiful puppyhood. All will come together by time, patience, and practice and most importantly TREAT (praise). Just enjoy the time bonding with your puppy before you know its over. Good Luck.
Jul 30, 2011
 I have BT training problems too
by: Claudia

Hey, I have the EXACT same problems with my girl OREO. I love her dearly but, I also cannot stand the pee and poo all over my house!
I foud and bought a book online called Boston Terrier Secrets by Abhik Sarkar, which claims to be able to rid them of all these bad habits (and teach them to do tricks too). I will let you know if I come right with this book or alternatively you can look into it for yourself. Good Luck!
Jul 29, 2011
 Training Bostons
by: Anonymous

The first thing we all need to remember our Bostons own us we don't own them....lol.
Seriously, you just have to be patient 8 months he is still a baby and is still trying to figure everything out. Like with the tricks just one day after mine was a year old he could suddenly do all the tricks we had been trying to teach him that we thought he wasn't picking up. The same thing with housebreaking it takes alot of patience my female was a year old before all accidents stopped.
Jul 29, 2011
 training
by: Linda Galway/TurnerME

Make sure there is no issue with a bladder infection or anything like that, which will give him the urgency to go all the time. If you rule out any physical issues, I would start by not letting him out of your sight when he is in the house; if you have to hitch him to your belt, do so, so you don't get distracted and lose track of him. Keep him engaged by talking to him,keeping him on your lap, that sort of thing. Keep some of those tiny treats (I get them at Petco; they are gumdrop shaped.) in your pocket and give him one every now and then when he has NOT peed inside, even for 10 minutes. Is he neutered? If not, get him neutered ASAP. That might help if he is marking territory. Once he has gone 10-20 minutes without peeing in the house, say something like "Do you have to pee-out? Let's go pee-out!" Happy, Happy. A boy will likely pee out even if he doesn't have a drop in him, so once he does, praise, treat, and go back in. "Good pee out. No pee in the house. Pee out. Good" That's what I would start with. Perhaps other owners have different strategies. When you have to leave him, use a crate. There are plenty of web sites that will explain the crate-training procedure, but make sure it is not too large and that, if he does pee on any blankets, you remove them. Good luck.

Click here to add your own comments

Join in and write your own page! It's easy to do. How?
Simply click here to return to Forum - Boston Terrier Characteristics (& Behavior)