10 Week Old Westie Puppy Help!!!!!!!!!!?
Filed under Care & Training Q&As
I have a 10 week old westie puppy that is having potty training issues. He will definitly go outside, but will come right back in the house and urinate or defecate in his crate. I’ve tried taking him out every hour all night long, every two hours, every four hours. But most days I will wake up and hes already peed, then he gets mad when i have to bathe him. I know he can hold for 4-5 hours because he has done it many times. And one day when he was exhausted from activity, he held for 7 hours. He already knows what SIT means…but he can’t get the concept of going to the bathroom outside. Any suggestions?
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After waking, sleeping and playing, put him on a lead and take him outside, wait with him (whatever the weather or time of day/night ) until he toilets and praise him while he is doing it, by putting a word to it, like ‘be clean’.
Once he has toileted outside take him back to that spot each time and wait quietly until he ‘goes’ again say ‘be clean’ when he is doing it.
If he toilets in his crate, it may be an issue of safety, remember he is still a baby and not so long ago taken from his mum. You can take the paper he toilets on from his crate and put it outside where you want him to go, so he can smell it.
If he toilets anywhere in the crate or house but you don’t see him doing it, say nothing, just let him outside and clean it up (don’t get cross with him as it makes the matter worse) . Wash his crate out with non biological washing powder/liquid as this doesn’t give off an ammonia smell ( which replicates the ammonia in urine and will encourage him to toilet over it)
I have a large stone set in concrete near my training centre which I pour a cup full of bleach and water over to keep it clean every couple of weeks , bleach has ammonia in it, so it encourages dogs to toilet on it and so clients visiting with their dogs can toilet them prior to coming into the centre for training. This is something you can try in your garden.
Most dogs will learn within a week on starting this training, keep calm, don’t tell him off for toileting elsewhere as this seems to be confusing him, he thinks he is being told off for toileting full stop, which is not what you want. keep it simple and clear for him and don’t talk to him too much, just what you want from him.
I hope he is not in his crate all the time as this is a punishment and you will end up with a fearful dog because he hasn’t experienced the outside world. Crate training is great however the crate should be open for him to go in and out of, fed in his crate and sleeps in his crate, but not closed in all day every day. If he is then he is not going to want to toilet outside as it means going straigt back into a crate and by him toileting in the crate, you let him outside to clean up after him, so by toileting in the crate he is getting to go outside even for a short while……………think I would do the same as him to get some freedom! If this is so, then you are sucessfully training him to toilet in his crate.
Good luck, it is hard work for a couple of weeks, however you then have a dog who will go to the toilet on command, by just saying ‘go and be clean’
take him out after playing, eating, waking up, and every hour. keep him close to you, like on a leash, for now so you can watch him and tell if he’s about go. quickly run him outside. good luck! patience is key.
He’s ever so young love, it might just take a bit more time. Our second lab just plain didn’t get this, she was six months old before she stopped regularly peeing on the floor….and she had an older dog to show her as well as us to train her.
Stop bathing him and put a training pad in his crate so if he does pee he isn’t sitting in wet all the time.
What did you mean by “I don’t give in until its time to go outside” – the puppy shouldn’t be shut in the crate unless you have to go out or it’s night time, during the day, you need to have him out as much as possible. This sounds like you don’t.
It is usually 1 hour for each month of age, plus 1 hour, so your puppy should only be holding his potty for 3 or 4 hours at the most. Set a timer or alarm at night so you wake up and take him out. It is rough taking them every two hours, I am doing the same thing. You really just have to give it time, and stick to what you are doing. Most puppies stop having accidents around 12-weeks-old, but don’t let your guard down that early, the bladder is not grown until 6-months-old and they are not fully potty trained until 1-year-old. It sounds like you know what you are doing, you just have to hang in there a little longer. Here are some tips, use what helps. I use a crate* to potty train with, but only for potty training and then I break it down and store it. I put blankets and a small food and water dish in the crate. Dogs don’t potty where they eat and sleep. When they are first little, I only expect them to hold their potty for 4 hours, and then 6 hours, then 8 hours and so on. So when they are first little, I set a timer or alarm clock to wake myself up at night to take them *out. I only allow my puppy in the bedroom* or the living room, only one room at a time. They have to graduate to more space. If I allow them to have full run of the house, it will overwhelm them. I take them out the same door each time. I tie a dinner bell to the door handle. Do not use a jingle bell as they could get their toe caught in it. So when they are little, I ring the bell for them, and then open the door to go *outside to potty. When they get bigger, I take their paw and whack the bell and open the door to go potty. Eventually getting to the place where the puppy will ring the bell and let me know when they need to go potty. Dogs want to please you, so it is your job to let them know what behaviors please you and what doesn’t. So when my puppy goes potty, I give her a treat*, and clap, and make a fuss and praise her. So she learns that going potty outside makes me happy. If she has an accident, make a disgust sound like “tsst” and take her out right away. I never yell* or spank* my puppies. Take them out when they first wake up, after they eat or drink, before nap, finish romping, when their activities change, or when they are sniffing around. Some puppies go pee right away, but may not go poop until 10 minutes later, so wait for the poop. I have a little play time here, because sometimes I think they are done, and they are not. Puppies train at their own pace. While I may have a puppy that hasn’t had an accident in several weeks, I don’t let my guard down. I don’t expect my puppies to be “fully potty trained” until one-year-old. If they have a setback, shake it off, and start over. I only have my puppies in the crate when I am not watching them. When I am sleeping, cooking, ironing, doing chores, basically when I am not watching her. All other times, she is out of the crate practicing being a “big girl.” This is the time I train her how to behave in the house. So we are practicing “no barking”, ‘no biting”, “no jumping”, and “don’t eat the furniture.” I also have to practice “playing inside” so she doesn’t knock over things. You must keep the puppy in sight when they are little because they don’t know the difference between newspaper and carpet, and you don’t want them sneaking off and getting into trouble. Some puppies can sleep through the night around 3-months-old, but their bladder is grown around 6-months-old.
REVISIONS:
*I use a CRATE to train with. It is the method I prefer, compared to other methods I have tried. I noticed that if they are in the crate, while I am doing chores, they are o.k., because the crate allows them to see me and be re-assured. The crate can also be a comfort when stored in the basement for dogs who live in areas where thunderstorms and tornados are an issue. . However, use the method that works best for you…..a laundry basket, a cardboard box, a woof-woof house, x-pen, child gates, whatever works for you.
*OUTSIDE, pee pad, litter box, whichever method you are using. When the puppy is first little, keep the pee pad, litter box near the food and water dish, so the puppy can eat and drink, and then go potty. You can move it away as they get older. The pee pad has a scent that smells and initiates potty. Sometimes a pee pad makes a sound that scares some puppies, so you might want to use a litter box if that happens. The pee pad allows a puppy to walk around, but a litter box keeps the puppy in one place.
*BEDROOMS, I use the bedroom and living room for training, because it works for me. Choose rooms that work for you, but watch for rooms that are damp, or drafty. While my puppies sleep in the bedroom during training, once they are trained, I let them sleep where they want to. They don’t have to sleep in the bedroom forever.
*TREATS. While I use treats for training, you don’t have to. I like Charlee Bears for training (a little cracker for a little mouth,) I use them for training, but once they are trained, I cut back on them.
*SOME PUPPIES will go potty in the same spot each time. Some puppies have to be told to go potty. A command like “go out” for pee, or “go finish” for poop, might work for you, keep saying “go finish” until the puppy poops. This is a good thing to train if you travel with your dogs. By using commands, the puppy won’t get confused when you are visiting someone, on vacation with you, or when you get to a new home. The command will tell them what you want them to do in an unfamiliar place. You might also want to use a leash method, so the puppy doesn’t sneak off, or for strange places.
*YELLING. It is not a good idea to “yell” or “spank” your puppy and then take them outside when they have an accident. They may get confused and think that going outside is punishment. While you want to correct them, if you are extreme, they may not want to go outside again. Shake it off, and resume your schedule. You have to keep it real. Puppies train at their own pace, but a puppy can only hold their potty for a few hours. A guide would be 1 hour for each month of age, plus 1 hour, so a three-month-old puppy should only be expected to hold their potty for 4 hours at most.
SOURCE: These tips, tricks, and ideas were contributed from many brilliant minds. Thanks for your help!
in his crate, only give him enough space to turn around so if he needs to pee then he learns to yelp so you wake up and take him outside
another thing to try is buy a small sqaure of turf and put pups bed in a corner in your bathroom put the grass next to the bed and put boards up so pup cant get out, he’ll then learn that he either pee’s on bed or pee’s on grass,when he starts peeing on grass his brain will automatically see grass as the toilet(kind of like when you sit on the toilet and find it hard not to pee, ur brains sayingg peeeeeeeee)
make sure he doesnt get a bad habit of learning to yelp for attention using the crate method
That’s not how you crate train. It’s a tool, not a replacement.
1. Use the crate only when you can’t watch your pup – he should be free to run, play etc the rest of the day – leave the crate door open incase he wants to go in.
2. The crate needs to be just big enough to sit, lie and turn around – if he’s dirtying it it’s too big and/or he’s desperate.
So – during the day, he’s free to go around your living room/ room you’re in most. Take him out every hour, if he sniffs the ground or turns around looking for a place, about 20mins after dinner.
WATCH HIM CONSTANTLY. He’s a baby, he can’t be in a crate for hours at a time. He should only ever be in the crate to keep him safe at night (away from elecrical wires) or you can’t be there to watch him. He can’t stay in the crate all night – you need to get up at least every 2 hours and take him out – especially if you ignore his whining.
I think your expectations are a little high, and he’s realising that going in the crate gets him attention. You need to take him out while you’re playing too – he doesn’t have concentration to remember to watch you, run after the ball, be aware he needs to pee AND tell you about it!
Patience, consistant behaviour and rewards for behaviour you want (crying when he needs out, going towards the door).
our weeen really good with his westie is now 14 weeks old and he has been really good with his toilet training. he still goes on the pad at night as we didnt want to start getting up in the night and him get used to it.we put him out every 10 to 15 mins to start with even especially when playing . as soon as he went for a wee or poo we gave him masssive praise . he still had accidents as he didnt understand to start with. when he weed in a place he shouldnt we told him off and made him stand on his toilet pad to associate it . eventually he started taking himself to the pad , and then he started to stand by the back door .i think as they have such tiny bladders it is a nightmare to start with but our pup holds alot longer now. also he is free to roam around our kitchen diner and has been better behaved since having more space and seems much happier ; )