# How many "accidents" did yours have as a pup?



## s14roller (Nov 18, 2010)

I picked up my new female pup at 9 weeks and have had for her for 4 full days now. 

So far, she has been very good in her crate, no accidents thus far inside. 

The following accidents have occured: 

- first night home, she was walking around in front of her crate and peed a bit. 
- 2nd day, was in front of the door (about to let her out) and she peed.
- 4th day, pooped in dining room (just as I'm running to grab leash). Finished outside.
- 4th day, tried to poop in dining room, carried her out (she let out 1 piece) and finished the other 3 pieces outside. 

On average, she poops 4 times a day, and pees 8 times a day. That's 16 poops thus far and 32 pee times. 2/16 mistakes for poop and 2/32 for pee.

The question I have is, what should I be expecting in terms of "good" housebreaking? It's frustrating when there are accidents when I know it's my fault. When did you start seeing some reliable house breaking? 

Thanks!


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## Emoore (Oct 9, 2002)

You need to tether her to you. Obviously she's not housebroken at this point-- she doesn't have it in her mind reliably that she needs to stop and tell you she needs to go outside before she eliminates. To avoid accidents, she either needs to be tethered to you or in her crate. 

We had probably 6 or 8 accidents over the course of the 3 weeks we were housebreaking. Most of them were on *ahem* my husband's watch, because he can't be bothered to tether.


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## DanielleOttoMom (May 11, 2010)

I got Otto at 8 weeks he had one accident in the house. I took him out every 30-45 mins. At night I woke up every 3 hours to take him out for bathroom break. With Enzo I did the same method he now is 15 weeks he has had three accident. It's been two weeks with none. You have treat them as you would a baby establish a schedule and keep it. Do what works best for puppy and family. Patiences is key here and it does take time. Remember they are babies. Good luck with your new babies.


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## doggiedad (Dec 2, 2007)

start taking your dog out more often. when i got my pup at 9
weeks old he was out every 15 minutes. then we slowly increased his time
to every 1/2 hour, 45 minutes and so. in side of 11 days my dog had
10 accidents. 5 of the accidents were in one day, the 11th day.
after that he never went in the house again.


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## JOSHUA SAMPSON (Feb 21, 2010)

sounds like you're doing pretty good. The way I do it is the crate is kept by the door, and the ritual is we always go outside as soon as the door to the crate is opened. So all my dogs know that as soon as that crate is opened we're going outside to go potty. After everyone has pottied THEN we can play/go in and eat/whatever. But they usually have no problems after they are old enough to not make messes in their crates anymore.


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## LaRen616 (Mar 4, 2010)

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

We only had 2 potty accidents and both were my fault.


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## plusdoegsd (Nov 15, 2010)

king had about five accidents he was born in november so december housebreaking in knee deep snow is a little more challenging. so i shoveled a path to his area in the yard and we would visit this area whenever i noticed him circling and sniffing the floor. and after water etc.


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## s14roller (Nov 18, 2010)

Thanks, everyone! 

It sounds like the best thing to do will be to decrease the timing on taking her out, and maybe only by 10-15 minutes since all accidents were literally as I was going for the collar/leash. 

Admittably, taking her outside has gotten a bit frustrating when she doesn't need to go right away, as she enjoys eating dirt and grass. Can't quite understand it! 

At night, she has been great. She eats/drinks at 7-7:30PM for dinner, gets walked a few times before we go sleep, and I take her out again sometime between 3-4AM. The next time after that is when we get up and get ready for the day.


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## Whitedog404 (Mar 25, 2010)

Three accidents total with Dexter. All were our fault.


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## bruiser (Feb 14, 2011)

Bruiser had 2 accidents and both were my fault.


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## DJEtzel (Feb 11, 2010)

Frag only had two accidents inside, one at 13 weeks and one at near 6 months. Both were my BFs fault for not paying attention and getting him out when he had to go.

I rescued Bailey at 10 months from a shelter and she had probably 8 accidents inside or in her crate the first week or two, but she had giardia too so that was hard to deal with. Now she's all good though and housetrained.


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## Wolfiesmom (Apr 10, 2010)

Wolfie had 6 pee accidents total, and no poop accidents.


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## Stella's Mom (Mar 8, 2011)

My 10 week old girl Stella will indicate she has to go out most times. However, for some reason she will be on the leash on the way to front the door and she will squat and piddle a bit before I can get her out.


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## Good_Karma (Jun 28, 2009)

I don't remember the number of accidents, other than there were several, and all but one were pee. To me it sounds like you are doing great so far. Accidents will happen. You have to be quite vigilant in order to prevent them, and we're all human so sometimes we stop paying attention or misjudge the time between potty breaks.

My only advice on helping with the outside getting down to business potty time is to bring treats with you and put the act of pottying on command. HUGE party when she gets it right.


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## BestK9GSD (Oct 26, 2010)

We got Kimber at 8 weeks old and have had our share of accidents in the house about the first 4 weeks. He would be playing and then all of a sudden just stop and pee with no warning and no signal (none that we could easily identify) and we were taking him out on a regular basis and after naps, feedings and playtime. I'm sure there were some cues we just weren't picking up on - so a lot of those accidents were human error. He has been accident free for about 2 weeks solid now, but just last night (and he will be 14 weeks tomorrow) - he gave us the most clear indicator that he had to go out, by going to the door, turning and looking at me and waiting. I immediately got up and took him outside and we had a 'potty party' in the yard - good thing I don't have too many neighbors, cuz I really went overboard with the praise - but it worked, because about 2 hours later - he did it again!!! I think we all have it figured out now . 

So, it's going to take time (hopefully not as long as it took us ), but be patient and eventually everyone will be on the same page!


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## valb (Sep 2, 2004)

We got Tamsen a couple of days before 8 weeks, and she
was completely reliably house trained at about 11 1/2 weeks.
First puppy I'd ever crate trained, what a joy. I don't 
remember how many accidents she had, but it was very
few, and like others have mentioned, on my husband's
watch! (To be fair, I was working, he was a stay at home
dad.)

One thing I wanted to mention that might help, is not putting
your pup down before she goes out. Get her out of the 
crate, keep her in your arms until pottied and then she can
go down when you guys come inside.


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## s14roller (Nov 18, 2010)

Thanks for all the feedback, everyone!

It sounds like we are on track, but need to move up the time tables up slightly to make it closer to 100%. I'm hoping by the time she is 11 or 12 weeks, there won't be any issues!


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