# Need help with house training 2 pups.



## sdom001 (Apr 10, 2011)

Hello everyone. I will start out by saying thank you ahead of time for you taking the time to answer my questions. Now my pups are Ranger and Bella. They are 11.5 weeks old and have had them since 6 weeks old. We have been trying to house train since the first day they were home. I've had Shepherds before but never two and that dynamic seems to have changed what I knew about house training because it is taking way longer than it has ever before.
At first we would take them out of the crate at the same time and they would go outside and also have accidents inside. Then after 2 weeks we switched tactics and started taking them out only one at a time and that has resulted in Ranger getting the idea and he now will go to the door and whine or even if he is having play time on the deck he will whine and get our attention. Bella on the other hand still has accidents both in the house or on the deck. I'm starting to lose my mind. Do I give him more free reign while keeping her still in the kennel? Any help or tips will be appreciated.


----------



## selzer (May 7, 2005)

Hmmmm. 

Two puppies at once is ALWAYS a lot more work than one at a time. Simple mathematics, simply does not work. You might think housetraining will be concurrent, he he he. 

I know, this is NOT funny. 

But this is NOT the only thing that you are going to deal with raising two at once. It is not just twice the food, twice the vet care, twice the socialization, twice the training. It is a LOT more. 

People will tell you six weeks is too young, and littermates, or even pups close in age are a bad idea. They will be right and wrong. People have gotten pups and six weeks old forever and have made it work. Eight weeks is preferable, but you are beyond that so it is water under the bridge so to speak.

But two puppies of the same age at once is something that is doable, but certainly not for everyone. 

In order not to give anymore unsolicited advice, I will stop at that and address your problem. 

Two pups at once is hard with house training because it is HARD to carry two puppies outside at the same time. And when you get them there, they often want to play more than pee. Ick. So, you are taking them out one at a time. 

Your crate is your best friend in this. If your puppy is having accidents out of the crate, this is because you are not paying attention to her. She is not whining at the door because she does not get that yet. A bell hanging on the door knob where they can play with it is a good idea, it rings every time they go out, the associate the ringing with going out, one day you here it ringing, where is the puppy, he is waiting by the door to go out, great! But, if the pup is not trained yet, it should not have that much freedom. Otherwise he might pee on the floor. 

So, until the dog gets it that outside is where you pee, the dog either has your eyes glued to it, or it is in its crate. Hard to do with two at once. I understand. 

I think that after a while we learn to babygate the pup in the room where we are so we can keep an eye on them while we are doing what we need to do. At any moment we are ready to call out Eh! Outside we go potty Outside, as we scoop the pup up mid stream and take them out. 

Then praise, praise, praise and treat for finishing the job outside. 

If you come across the accident in the house, just clean it up, window of opportunity gone, and you need to pay better attention. 

This is not for wimps. Two puppies at once is a pain in the butt. 

Good luck. 

I am sure there will be people who will encourage you to return a puppy. It is worth considering. Raising two at once has a whole bundle of challenges.


----------



## selzer (May 7, 2005)

Forgot to mention, schedule, schedule, schedule.

Stick to it. 

Be sure that you remove food and water by like 7PM, then take them out again about 11PM to potty and then bed, they should be able to hold it for the night. 

When you get up, one will have a stronger bladder, got to figure that out. Take the weaker bladder pup out first. No nonsense, praise the pee and poo if it is there, then go exchange puppies. 

After that, do it in that order every time. After each meal, after play sessions, after sleepies, and whenever the circling and or sniffing begins. 

I do wish you luck.


----------



## 1sttimeforgsd (Jul 29, 2010)

I have a thought, you said we have been trying to house break the pups. Is it possible that your partner could be responsible for watching one pup while you watch the other, that way they would always have eyes on them and you could switch puppies occasionally. While one person is training one pup the other could be playing seperately with the other person. If the two of them are together you are going to have a hard time training because they are going to be too busy playing with each other instead of learning. Wish you the best, you are very brave.


----------



## Sammy79 (Mar 6, 2011)

I have an 8 week old who is almost potty trained. I have a potty bell on the door handle. Over the last two weeks we made a habit to take him out every two hours. Just before we opened the door we would say "go potty" and make him hit the bell. That resulted in the door opening and taking him out. We made sure he went in the same place all the time on a leash. We still make it a habit to take him out every two hours, but he knows hitting the bell will open the door so he will relieve himself.


----------

