Help needed with unruly puppy

by Silvia Dicovich
(Trumbull, CT)

Hello,
I am a Boston Terrier owner, my puppy is 3 months old and not housebroken, in fact this is a problem. We had him for only ten days, I tried to install some kind of schedule but it seems impossible. I am following the suggestions as far as taking him out to relieve himself after sleeping, feeding, napping, playing, etc. but regardless of all the effort, after only 15-20 min. he was out the puppy will still pee in the house, (many times if I let him).

I had other dogs in the past and I manage to teach them relatively soon to be housebroken, in addition they could hold at least for an hour if not more. I do not have other animals in the house to explain this behavior as marking the territory. At this point I am not sure what to do. Is this behavioral maladjustment or there is something wrong with my puppy? Please let me know if you have any suggestions. Thank you in advance.

PS - He is in the crate part of the time when I am not watching/playing with him.

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Help needed with unruly puppy

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Sep 06, 2010
 Peeing in the house
by: Jenai

There's probably nothing wrong with your puppy but if you are concerned and nothing seems to be curbing the behavior take him to the vet to ensure he doesn't have an issue. Ruling that out ask yourself this:

What do you do when the puppy has an accident?

What we did is follow the rule, "If you don't see it happen don't call attention to it." If we caught ours in the act we would look him in the eye and very sternly say, "No." then put him where we wanted him to go (We are on the ninth floor so we have a litter box on the balcony for when it's not feasible to take him out, and it was crazy to think a wee pup was going to be able to hold it down all those flights) and said, "This is where you pee. Go pee!"
If we came upon a wet spot we did not take him to it, scold it, nothing. One of us would take him where he could not see the other while they cleaned it up.
If you scold them after the fact they don't equate the negative response to the act of peeing in the house properly and end up just hiding it anyway. Taking them to it, putting their face in it or otherwise scolding them worsens the problem. It's very important as well not to let them see you clean it up. For some dogs this makes them do it even more.

Our puppy is five months old now and hasn't had an accident in almost two months.

I also strongly discourage the use of pee pads. I know many people use and recommend the but I find them to be a hindrance as they teach the puppy that it IS okay to pee in the house, in certain spots. It is NEVER okay to pee in the house and they must learn this.

I hope this advice helps. My sister in law had issues house training her puppy as well, she's from the same litter, and when she followed our recommendations her puppy stopped going in the house after less than a week.

Oct 28, 2009
 same here
by: Anonymous

We have a four month old Boston and she has accidents in her crate. Our dog walker takes her out at 3:30 and then by the time I get home at 5:00 she has piddled in her crate. I know she can hold it longer than two hours. I am not sure if this is out of spite or just because she does not like her crate.

House training does take time and is frustrating at times but just like everyone says, "it takes time". The one thing I don't understand is that my Boston will hold it all night long when she is in the bed with us.

If anyone has any more suggestions I would love to hear them.
Sep 23, 2009
 we r getting there!
by: Anonymous

i have a 10 week old bt and so far she is learning very fast! she has a few accidents in the house now and then but its only if she is distracted and playing in her own little world but most of the time she will actually go to the door and cry to be let out! i was shocked when she 1st did it!but since i 1st got her i've been on top of the potty training i crate trained her! Don't lose hope - they will get the hang of it! : )
Apr 04, 2009
 This is how I did it.
by: Anonymous

I have a 4 month old. He is not the easiest to train. I had to out wait him when taking him outside at first. But once he learned he could come inside AFTER he piddled, he was more that willing to do the deed as soon as his paws hit the dirt. I guess there is something to be said for house training in the winter time. Now all I have to say is "do you want to go OUT?" and he trots to the door. He still can't hold it all night, or while I'm at work, but I expect that will change as he grows older.
Hang in there, don't give up!
Jan 18, 2009
 Puppy potty training 101
by: Anonymous

No puppy is house trained a 3 months of age. It is the owner that is trained. A 3 m old pup is still a baby and you would not expect a human baby to be toilet trained say at 6 m to a year old, would you? So do not despair over your pup - it just doesn't have the muscle control to hold itself yet.

I currently have a 3.5 month pap/pom puppy and he is not trained yet either but we are working on it and I expect soon we will start making headway. I will scold him when he goes inside then put him in the spot where I want him to go, I also give lots of praise when he goes where he is supposed to relieve himself.

The best you can do is confine him to an area that the messes will not do any harm or be content to clean up after him and in a few months rent a steam cleaner and thoroughly clean the carpets.

Patience is the key though and if you are putting puppy outside to do his business he needs to be out for more then just a few minutes and when he accomplishes his "duty" give your puppy lots of praise and soon it clicks as to what you want. This is a good time to introduce a word that means you want him to go such as "Pee time or Go Potty" and they start to associate this word to going to the bathroom.

As a previous person mentioned, if it is cold out this may hinder the potty training. After all we won't bare our butts in the cold, will we?

Hope this is helpful and Good Luck
Jan 18, 2009
 puppy potty training
by: Anonymous

I have a 3 mo. old also. We actually tried pee pads in a play pen area. But soon found out that them sleeping in the same area where they slept was really bad. We bought a crate also, one with a divider so we could change the size when our baby girl got larger. At about 3 months they can hold out for about 4 hours and 4 months about 5+ hours. Prepare before taking her out of the crate so get all dressed and have the collar and leash ready. Take treats with you outside and say Need Out or Want to pee/wee? But, before I made the mistake of setting her down to close to the stairs going to our apartment so she knew that she could go up them. I would walk about 15 ft out and put her down. She will sniff. Pee/eliminate and give her a treat and praise her. If she does not go in about 10 minutes take her back inside and put her back in the crate for 10-15 minutes and try again. Let her have some play time if she eliminates. If not, no play time. I got all this from Dog Info.
Oct 25, 2008
 I had the same problems..
by: Anonymous

My two were very hard to potty train. Especially because I live in Michigan and if it was too cold, they refused to go outside. They are not stupid dogs and they learn quickly..(that it's too hot or too cold and they'd rather go 'inside'!) It took me about two years of extensive training and after I got them a couple of warm sweater/jackets they took more easily to going outside in the cold/hot. Good luck and remember to have patience!!!:)
Oct 10, 2008
 Mine Too!!!!
by: Anonymous

I don't know what the answer is but my little guy does it too, I have had him a week, and he will NOT potty outside, pee or poop, I leave him by himself, I stand there with him, I take him out after every mean, every nap, and sometimes just because.....
Oct 10, 2008
 puppy training
by: Anonymous

First of all, there is nothing wrong with your puppy. He just does not have the control yet that you desire. I never really consider my dogs fully house trained until they are a year old and will not have accidents in the house when left alone for long periods of time.

How long is your puppy outside before he comes back in? I leave my pup outside for at least a half hour because they seem to need the exercise to stimulate them to completely relieve or eliminate themselves. I also make a fuss and ask them "YOU NEED OUT" when ever I am near the door so they begin to ask out when I am in the area of the door.

You are doing well when letting your puppy out after he sleeps or eats, but remember he is still a baby and you wouldn't expect a baby to start using a toilet until they are more mature and can understand the concept and half the muscle control to hold themselves.

My Pup is 7 months old and she is almost there in the house training department but if I am not diligent she will have accidents.... I will scold her and show her, then I put her outside. I also find that I will scoop up her mess if it is #2 and put that outside as well.

Pee pads by the door may help speed the process and then you can start moving the pee pads outside. Another trick that I stumbled on was leaving the water bowl outside so they start asking out when they are thirsty and while they are out there is bathroom time. Of course you have to be careful with young dogs that they do not become dehydrated.

I hope this is helpful.... good luck and enjoy your baby, they grow up fast!

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