New to the forums, and new puppy, housetraining questions

[Max's Dad]

Hi all. My name's Tim, and I live in Southeastern VA. I recently bought my first puppy, a Pembroke Welsh Corgi named Max. He's 12 weeks old. So far he's a good puppy, I've gotten him leash trained pretty well, and we're working on crate training. I just have a few questions about house training.

I take Max out about once every hour. I feed him in the morning around 5:30am, and in the afternoon around 3-4pm, to better help me gauge when he has to go potty. I have a crate downstairs (we live in a townhouse) that I put him in whenever I leave the room or the house. He sleeps in my room on the floor, and I have papers down in case he needs to go; so far we've gone 2 days without him having to go at night. We're down to one accident in the house a day, and he's pottying outside regularly, though it does take some coaxing. He's not very good at giving me cues as to when he needs to go potty, though.

I just want to make sure that I'm doing everything right. I am very prone to panic attacks and I've been panicking every day about this potty training thing. I've read so many mixed reviews on the web - some saying you can't housebreak a puppy until they're 6 months old, other saying it's easy to do at 3 months - that I'm not sure if I'm trying too hard, or not enough.

Any advice out there? I just want to be able to relax around my new buddy, and I'm sure he can tell when I'm stressed. Thanks in advance.

-Tim

PS - I bought Max from a breeder in Southern VA. He'd been paper trained when I bought him, and was used to being both outside in a kennel with his mom, and inside in a crate with his father nearby.

 

[Maxy24]

You sound like you are doing everything right! The internet is not always a great place to look and honestly neither are many books unless you know what to look for. That's why I like forums, lots of info from lots of people and they can be very specific to your problem. You can housebreak a dog way before 6 months, our dog was housebroken when we got him at 4 months and the dogs at the rescue I volunteer at are often housebroken earlier than that because they have a very structured system where they are either crated or outside, they never get the chance to go potty inside. You can just wait for her to start asking to go out or you can teach her to ring bells when she wants out. If you want more info on the bells ask and I'll help you learn how to teach it. You've nothing to panic about, you're doing great and I'm sure he'll be housebroken in no time!

 

[lizzybeth727]

I agree, it sounds like you're doing fine. And no one can tell you at what age your dog should be potty trained, it depends a lot on the dog's personality and early experiences (like, the first 2 months).

I think the easiest way to potty train is to keep your puppy either tied to you (with a leash) or in his crate at all times. That way you can see quickly when he's having an accident, and run him outside at that point. You'll also be watching him much closer if he's with you all the time, and you'll probably start to recognize the "warning signs" of a potty accident. The warning signs and your puppy's personal body schedule are what will tell you when your puppy needs to go.

 

[Max's Dad]

Thanks for all the positive reinforcement, it really helps. Today's been a great day so far, he's going potty outside every time. I've been keeping him in his crate for most of the day, unless we have a play session or are outside for a walk. Here's a pic of Max, sleeping in his favorite position:

 

[Dekka]

OMG too cute.

I agree you sound like you are on the right track!