# Age and potty training



## llamattude (Feb 11, 2013)

Hi;
I just got my first GSD pup this will be the second full day we have had her. For the most part she is doing wonderful much better than I was expecting. I do have a question though. While potty training is going better than I thought, she seems to need to go a lot and most times she lets me know, but we do have accidents after all she is a pup and never been through anything like this before. 

I'm just not sure how much going to be concerned about is to much, if they have little control of their bladder right now, or if this is just part of the learning process. My last dog are in the process of preparing to put down due to hip issues not hip displaycia (sorry for misspelling) but other issues is 12 years old so it has been that long since we've had a puppy and I've forgotten. I will say that he was extremely hard to potty train so, I do remember that much.

She is most times letting me know when she needs out and when I take her out she does her business right then, a great sign for only two full days. 

Thanks
llamattude


----------



## 1sttimeforgsd (Jul 29, 2010)

I am assuming your puppy is around 8 wks old, at that age I was taking my boy out every 20 min or so. They do have to go a lot when they are that young, and it sounds like your pup is already learning to let you know when it needs to go out.


----------



## Rangers-mom (Jan 28, 2013)

My GSD is 9 months now and we got him at 7 weeks. Like your pup he was really good about going outside, but he still would come back in and go again. We confined him to the kitchen for a while. I want to say at least a month, but i could be wrong. It was pretty exhausting when we went through it and it seemed to last a long time, but it really didn't take too long. We went out of town when he was 13 weeks old and i remember that he was trained by then. In fact i remember telling the person watching him that i didn't even remember the last time he had had an accident.

I think we were pretty lucky in one respect though - our pup slept through the night without having an accident from the first night we got him.


----------



## llamattude (Feb 11, 2013)

Thanks, like I said it has been so long for me I have forgotten. Every 12 years it is hard to remember.  We do have a few accidents yesterday when she would get excited playing I noticed she would just go. When she did I would set her outside. But we are having fewer. She has only pooed in the house once and has let me know when she needs out every time. The peeing is the issue. I guess I over worry about bladder infections and stuff as my Greyhound we just had put to sleep due to bone cancer when we got her at two years old we had problems housebreaking her to find out she had a bladder infection that had been left untreated for a year so she had damage, and was a full time management issue with her, but we got her at 2 years old and had to have her put down at 12 so I feel we done something right. But with that I worry about that issue as well and want to be on top of it. 

So, far she is a perfect girl and do expect some accidents here and there, until she is older. 

Thanks
llamattude


----------



## Rangers-mom (Jan 28, 2013)

Llamattude, what i do remember is that there were good days and bad days. Some days there were hardly any accidents at all. Some days it was one accident after another. Eventually there were more good days than bad. Still we could have a few days in a row with no accidents and then a day with multiple accidents. All i can say is keep the pup in an area that is easy to clean until you are confident they are trained. It is kind of exhausting, but it is a relatively short period of time when you look back on it.

When we got our pup it had been 20 years since we had had a pup so I know exactly what you are talking about. I don't even remember training our first puppy. I guess i was so young that the energy expended didn't even phase me (LOL). Or maybe it was that she was already 12 weeks and caught on much quicker.

In any case once you get the pottying down then comes the chewing phase. We were dumb enough to purchase a leather sofa and chair right before we got the pup so we sweated this phase. Luckily is was also short lived and all our new furniture escaped unscathed.

Good luck.

Robin


----------



## Cassidy's Mom (Mar 30, 2003)

llamattude said:


> I'm just not sure how much going to be concerned about is to much, *if they have little control of their bladder right now, or if this is just part of the learning process.*


Yes, and yes.  Baby puppies don't have any more bladder and bowel control than human babies do. Fortunately, they develop it much more quickly! But she also needs to learn that outside is the only appropriate place to do her business, and that can take weeks or even months. 



> She is most times letting me know when she needs out and when I take her out she does her business right then, a great sign for only two full days.


Keep in mind that in order to alert you that she needs to go out, she must first understand that she MUST go outside for potties. It's not realistic to expect her to let you know she needs to go out if she's still having accidents in the house, so start there first. Are you using an enzyme cleaner on the spots to completely remove the smell? If not, she can still smell it even if you can't, and she'll continue to be attracted back to those same places. 

Also, it's really important to prevent accidents in the house as much as possible while reinforcing good potties outdoors. That means you need to supervise her very closely (confine her to her crate when you're not able to), take her out very often and encourage her to go (many people use cues such as "hurry up" or "go potty"), and the times that she does, it's good to be very enthusiastic with praise and to give her a little treat. 

Time and consistency are the biggest things right now, but it sounds like you're doing fine so far.


----------



## Anja vom Spokane (Jan 13, 2013)

we watched our Anja like a hawk when we brought her home. she would go at 20 minutes, 30 minutes or up to an hour. if she showed a sign like she was gonna go we would take her to the back door and wiggle the handle and tell her "potty outside" and give her a treat BEFORE letting her out. once outside we would wait for her to go potty and then reward her with a "potty outside, good girl!" followed by a treat. took her about 3 days to fully get it. we did have a few accidents which is expected from pups. you really have to be diligent about watching your pup and looking for the signs. even if you catch them starting to squat you can give a loud "NO" and take them to the door. the "NO" usually stops them from going long enough to get em outside.


----------



## doggiedad (Dec 2, 2007)

take her more often to avoid accidents. don't wait for her
to tell you she needs to go out.


----------



## POWERSCOL (Jan 3, 2013)

With Emma at 11 weeks were almost there - one puddle on the vinyl today. I only use the crate at night, so otherwise I need to watch her

She is starting to develope a schedule. She can now go 6 hours at night before she wants out. She also needs to go a few minutes after eating and after every nap. If I see her sniffing around I know it time to go "outside".

She is now starting to verbalize with either a wine at the door and just today started by Barking at me and running to the door.

She is learning much faster than any other dog I have had.

I do make sure to verbalize and praise her if she does go outside. 

One thing I learned quickly was to give her enough time to go. She will pee, and waite a minute and pee again - the same with the poops - there are usually two movements for every occasion with her with a few minutes between. She is also not very responsive to come in unless her business is done.

Hope this helps


----------



## MichaelE (Dec 15, 2012)

doggiedad said:


> take her more often to avoid accidents. don't wait for her
> to tell you she needs to go out.


I agree, _while she is learning_. 

As she gets a bit older she _should_ let you know in some way that she needs to go outside.

Whether she whines at you, sits at your feet and whines, or hangs around the door that you use for potty, or some other signal, she will learn to tell you.

You don't say how old she is.

Lisl will whine at me, sitting or milling around me. The first couple of times I missed tis signal, weeks ago, but I recognize it instantly now.

She knows not to go in the house but if I miss the signals, she doesn't have enough control yet to hold it longer than she's telling me she has to go.

Now, she won't go in her crate, and she won't go in my bedroom whether she's sleeping in the bed or on the floor. Never has, and probably never will unless she's sick.

Lisl is the easiest GSD I've ever trained.


----------

