# How long to potty train?



## Jeeper

So I will be getting a new pup from a breeder when I get home, it should be about 8 weeks old by that point. I was wondering how long it usually takes to potty train them? 

About 2 weeks into owning it, I plan on driving home for a week to see my family (getting home from deployment) and in those 2 weeks I will be home 24/7 with the pup. My parents have a few cats/rabbits, and our family friend nextdoor has a dog, along with my sister. I will also be seeing alot of family, so I figured this would be a great time to socialize the puppy. My parents really want to see it as well. 

If its not trained by that point, its not to big of a deal, as my parents still want me to come home, but I was just curious.


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## Jeeper

I guess I should restate what I said, I know it will take longer then 2 weeks, but if I watch her constantly, and am always around to correct her, will she be more understanding in 2 weeks? or do you think she will still have no clue why im taking her outside lol

Please forgive my inexperience, my wife is the one that has grown up with dogs..


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## GSDBESTK9

It will depend on the puppy and your consistancy.


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## Cassidy's Mom

There's no way to predict how long it will take. Surely longer than 2 weeks (at least to be completely sure that she totally gets the concept and is 100% reliable about letting you know she needs to go out) but it could take a month, 2 months, 3 months. The more diligent you are about preventing accidents, the faster it will go. Be sure to clean any accidents in the house thoroughly with an enzyme cleaner to completely remove the smell.


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## suzzyq01

It is based on the puppy and your consistency. It took Sonar about a week to get it completely. I was lucky because I had an older dog he just followed when I said "let's go outside" and it just clicked. Not to mention I was taking him outside almost every hour and encouraging him to "potty" then would reward with affection when he did. He didn't get water two hours before bed at night and didn't have any accidents in the house. They are super smart and will get it quickly if they have a good leader and consistency!

PS don't waste your money on piddle pads they will just tear them up and pee next to them. haha

Good luck!


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## Jeeper

thanks for the info everyone... 

do any of you think the week trip home will be to much movement for the puppy? I figured it will help to get her used to moving around and seeing people if I do it early on. She will have a lot of attention due to all my family coming over to say hi... most of my extended family owns dogs also.


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## MicheleMarie

not too much movement at all!!
my boy was potty trained completely by 13 weeks. i know i can leave him and he won't go  before that it was only an accident here or there. being with him all the time will be a sure help.

since your pup will be 8 weeks old you will want to take him out every hour and praise when he goes like the previous poster said. when you catch him inside make sure you say "NO!" or whatever no command you want to use further on when he immediately starts to go inside. *pick him up* and put him outside to finish going. when he is done praise him and *pick him up and bring him back inside*. no playing before and after...it will help to sink that message in. you can then take him back outside after a few minutes indoors.
some other tips for that age. when he drinks water or eats he will have to go almost immediately. when he plays he will have to go. if he's in his crate or sleeping i found i could stretch it to every 2 hours...but if he wakes up after say an hour long nap he will have to go.

those tricks are what helped me  every dog is different though!


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## Emoore

Just keep in mind that at that age, their bladder is _tiny_! She may start figuring out that outside is the place to go, but by the time she realizes she needs to go and then lets you know she needs to go. . . . . she's already went.


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## AddieGirl

Don't worry too much. Our girl is 12 weeks old and totally has the potty thing down already (we got her at 10 weeks). I wouldn't trust her to roam free at home alone, but she whines to let us know she needs to go out. I don't work so I have been able to work with her a lot and she has only had two accidents in the house in 2 weeks. Both were while my husband was in charge  . The first couple of days we would take her out pretty often, about every hour or so, but we noticed that she was hanging out near the front door sometimes and every time we took her out she went potty. Now she will either go to the door and whine or come to us and whine. If you ignore her or don't hear her (like my husband, lol) she will probably have an accident. 

When I take her out I walk calmly with her to the yard and stand with my arms crossed and say "go potty". When she does, I uncross my arms and give her lots of praise and petting. Honestly, I don't think I really did any potty "training", she pretty much trained herself.

I will say that as far as your trip goes, be prepared for car-sickness. It probably won't happen, but on our 2 hour trip home from the breeder, Addie got carsick and vomited between the seats. Crating your puppy in the car would help to contain the mess if it happens. Keeping the car windows cracked will help with car sickness too.

Congratulations on your puppy! We are new owners too and it has been the best experience!


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## got_e46

Our puppy is getting the hang of it, and we are starting to understand what whine she uses when she needs to potty and what whine she uses when she just wants to play. Im pleased to say that she hasnt had any accidents in her crate at all, and only three accidents in the house when we werent quick enough to take her outside.

Shes got two distinct whines we have noticed so far - a very soft nasally whine which usually means she needs to potty, or a very loud open mouth whine when she wants to come out of her crate to play. 

She also has different nips/biting that she uses when she wants to play and when she wants to potty. I noticed that when she wants to play, she shakes her head around and barks and will nip until we redirect her to a toy. When she needs to potty, she nips gently and doesnt bark, but will whine softly.

Since I am usually awake till 1-2 in the morning, I let her have her last water around 10, with a potty break by 11, another at 1:20-2ish right before I pass out, and then again at 6 am when I wake up for work.

As far as the trip goes, our breeder is roughly a 35-40 minute drive away so we didnt really experience car sickness. She fell asleep about 5 minutes in and stayed asleep till I stopped.


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## LaRen616

I got Sinister when he was 11 weeks old, he was completely potty trained before he turned 13 weeks old.

So it took us less than 2 weeks.


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## Jeeper

Thanks for the input, I gives me some hope in training the puppy somewhat soon. It will be 8 weeks so im sure its bladder will still be small... And the ride is about 8 hours, so im sure I will be stopping often. I plan on keeping her in a kennel to keep her safer, and so she doesnt pee everywhere.

The nice thing about Jeeps, they have floor plugs, so worst case I just hose it out lol


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## gmcenroe

My dog was potty trained in a few weeks. I took her out a lot and when she went potty I attached the "go potty" command so she knows what that means. Very helpful in shortening those potty break times later on on car trips or whatever. Now if I say go potty she goes almost immediately. Usually before they go poop they will circle around on the spot they are going so you can say go potty then once you see his/her behavior. If the start to pee in the house, they will usually stop if you pick them up and take them outside immediately. Frequent trips outside and limiting water after 7PM will make your potty training easier. Also if they are in a crate at night they will usually not want to mess up the crate, just make sure they go before you put them to bed for the night.


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## zyppi

I think it depends a lot on _your_ commitment and availability.

I think Sofie had maybe one accident and Jack never did.

I crate train my puppies and am here to take them out often. I don't allow them to wander unsupervised.

Once you recognize the beginning of a squat... well that's when you scoop them up and take them out praising the heck out of them when the pee hits the grass.

Since they do have little bitty bladders, expectations have to be in proportion.


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## doggiedad

my pup came home at 9 weeks old. it took
11 days to house break him. after the 11th day he never went in the house again except when he was going through his dire rear days.
i would use caution taking my 8 week old pup around a lot
of animals especially if he doesn't have the necessary shots.


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## neiltus

I picked up my 8 week old last friday...she was kept outside in a pen with her littermates. No inside accidents in 2 days. Watch the signs, if you see her sniffing, move her out. 

Generally the first 3 days for us was all poop and pee and bitching in the kennel. Now I can kennel her without a peep.

Start early, get over the hard part, because if you don't it is tough later


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## Quinten78

zyppi said:


> I think it depends a lot on _your_ commitment and availability.
> 
> I think Sofie had maybe one accident and Jack never did.
> 
> I crate train my puppies and am here to take them out often. I don't allow them to wander unsupervised.
> 
> Once you recognize the beginning of a squat... well that's when you scoop them up and take them out praising the heck out of them when the pee hits the grass.
> 
> Since they do have little bitty bladders, expectations have to be in proportion.



Ok I have had Gunner for about two weeks. I cant tell when he is about to go pee. He never starts to sniff and he doesn't squat. I watch him like a hawk and he will now just stop in his tracks and pee. I take him out side all the time and he will not stop peeing inside. I think our carpet in now so spotted I am affraid of seeing what it looks like under a black light. I clean up every accident with solution and a rug washer, but he still pees EVERYWHERE! any thoughts?


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## obelinux

I do have a similar problem with my 12 week old. Can never figure out when he pees. He also doesn't understand "NO", so that's a slight hassle. I try to take him out every 2 hours or so, but he ends up having a pee on the floor late at night. Also once or twice through the day while I'm working.


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## Sunflowers

What happened here was I took Hans out every hour and a half, and also after play, naps, and half hour after eating. When he peed I said pee, when he pooed I said poo, and now he knows and will go on command. We had two pee accidents and both were my fault. Easiest dog ever to house train.


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## Amt6121

It took Brutus 1 week to get it down. We crate trained him and we made a schedule and stuck to it every day. We took him to his spot and he would use the potty and we would praise every time so he knew going outside was good thing. He had one accident a couple weeks after that but it was my fault for not noticing the signs he needed to use the bathroom. Good luck with your puppy


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## Blitz-Degen

I've had my pups since they were 11 weeks old, and it took them 2 weeks to "get it". The first week I took them out every hour or so, or immediately when they had an accident. I picked them up mid stream or squat (both males) told them no, then said outside, then took them outside. I would not speak to them or handle them except to say potty and to move them to "their spot" to go potty. Having 2 helps a lot, as they were very motivated to do as well as the other. I gave them a very small treat every time there was success. Milkbone has "mini" treats, they are VERY small, 5 calories, and perfect for potty/training treats. They were not allowed to come back inside until they went potty outside. I sat outside the whole time, no matter the weather. It's very hot here and they don't like the heat at all. We may have an accident here and there if one of the humans takes too long in the shower or something, but generally they're really good now. I got them trained to potty outside in ~2 weeks, and I've already weened them off of the treats/rewards for going potty outside. Now they get lots of loves and verbal praise. If we are sleeping they cry at my bedroom door. I'm lucky to have a door leading to the back yard off of my master bedroom. The problem we've had is getting them to be more vocal when we are awake. If they leave the room, I still follow them. They won't cry at the door if we are awake. The car is a whole different story. I have one that throws up incessantly in a car, no matter how little food he's had (if any) and no matter how short the car ride is (less than a mile), while they both don't communicate they need to go potty in the car at all. They just pee. I'm working on that next I hope, but I have to get one of them not to be carsick. Two weeks isn't unreasonable, but I don't think it's the norm either.


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## jewels04

I am so praying our boy picks up on it quickly, he is 8 weeks so I am hoping by 12-16 it will click!


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