Potty Training a puppy less than 2 months old

[CountryPrincessxoxo]

obviously he is still very little and wont be able to catch on at high speed yet, but i was wondering about any tips anyone has for potty training. So far i have potty pads in each room (he sleeps in the kitchen though) and we go outside frequently. Sometimes i notice he uses the potty pads alot, and other times he just is walking around and pee's on the floor. He is very good about pooping though, he usually waits or if he really has to go he will cry out and ill take him outside. Though he sometimes potties inside, every time we go outside he both pottys and poops and gets praised before we go inside. So atleast he knows to go outside also, its just a matter of teaching him that its ONLY outside or to use a potty pad if he cant make it.

[Tanya]

he's really too young to know he has to pee. so he can't know ahead of time to let you "know" he has to go- he just goes. I would ditch the puppy pads (unless you have to leave him for a few hours) personally but that is your call. Go out often, like every hour sometimes (more if he is playing)

[MeganWUlery]

My little Cocoa is now four months old and has not had an accident inside for about a month. I never used puppy pads because I didn't want C to think that it was ever okay to pee inside. When he was very little I did leave them in the kennel but that only lasted two weeks. With C I brought him out everytime he ate or drank water. I also took him outside as soon as he woke up. Pups really are like babies and training goes better if you give 100 percent to it. Anyway, C now goes to the door when he has to potty and waits for us to open the door so it was all worth it

[hbeam]

so, on this subject...i have a 6 month old female...the problem isnt that she goes in the house, she doesnt, but i take her out every hour, she does however, still pee in her crate...and she is yet to learn to alert me that she needs to go. She doesnt go to the door, bark or whine, i only know cuz she starts doing this little potty dance. when will she start letting me know on her own, or any tips on how to teach her to, also, any tips on how to keep her from going in her crate?

[Sophiesmama]

Sophie is 6 months today! We got her at 8 weeks. We took her outside about every hour at first. We always took her to the same place, and out the same door. We would tell her, "Sophie potty" when she went we'd say Sophie good girl, good potty, with a lovey-pet! We have found that with every command we have taught her, we prefaced it with her name. That way she alwys knows when its her we are talking to. We had a box of puppy pads given to us, and all she wanted to do was eat them, so out they went. We were lucky. From early on, Sophie has slept with us. The first night home from the breeder, my husband slept in the floor with her, and noticed she held "it" all night. So, when she was itty bitty and only 8 weeks, she slept between me and my husband, usually flat of her back. We took her out before bed, and again about 6am. At first she wanted to stay up and play, but would go back to sleep in our bed till about 10am. Never an accident in our bed. Its like she just knew.... Anyway, after 3 months of age she was having very few accidents. By the time she was 4 months they were rare. She will now go to the door and sit and wait. We have been teaching her to speak when she is at the door. We don't always know she is wating. So now we say Sophie Speak! then open the door for her to go out. We are fortunate to be retired, so we never had to crate train her. Someone is always here. If we had to go and leave her, we got a sitter. I have an abundance of friends of my sons' who are Sophie lovers, so getting a sitter is easy. Potty training takes patience, but labs are really smart, and figure it out pretty quickly.

[Luvmydog2much]

Ditch the potty pads. You're only teaching her to pee inside.

It usually takes a good week or two for me to potty train an 8 week old, and thats because we never have accidents. I'm on them like white on rice.

This is my then 10 week old asking to go outside. (actually I'm laughing because I had more comments about being able to leave shoes and an air conditioner cord hanging...but she doesn't touch those things either)

[Tanya]

so, on this subject...i have a 6 month old female...the problem isnt that she goes in the house, she doesnt, but i take her out every hour, she does however, still pee in her crate...and she is yet to learn to alert me that she needs to go. She doesnt go to the door, bark or whine, i only know cuz she starts doing this little potty dance. when will she start letting me know on her own, or any tips on how to teach her to, also, any tips on how to keep her from going in her crate?

make sure to clean the crate REALLY REALLY well with an odor neutraliser (vinegar, nature's miracle) - this goes for any blanket or bedding you have as well.

teach her to use dog bells. you don't have to buy the special poochy bells, just hang a bell yo u can hear from teh door handle. Each time you go out, have her touch it (take her paw and touch it - or her nose). this is the best way I know to get a dog to give you a sound signal.

Now, is she peeing in her crate when she is crated with teh door closed? or is she going going into her crate TO pee?

[hbeam]

She does it when she is closed in her crate...she doesnt make special trips in there to pee. It doesnt seem to matter how long she is in there either, she has done it if only crated for long enough for me to run to store...even though i take her out before crating her. I have been bleaching her crate, then rinsing it really well, but if neutralizer is the trick, i will get some...thank you.

[kaytris]

try feeding her in the crate as well.. not only does it make the crate a more attractive place to be, dogs are less likely to eliminate where they eat. (with some exceptions .. puppies from pet stores/puppy mills/small kennels may have learned that they had no choice but to eliminate close to food...)

[hbeam]

I will try this, thank you!