How Do I Potty Train My 5 Month Old Westie?
September 16, 2009 by admin
Filed under Care & Training Q&As
Potty training westies can be very difficult, believe me! I know. It was very hard training mine as well, but if you follow these guidelines, you’ll have him/her trained before you know it!
First, you NEED to know this:
within 10 min.of eating, they will have to urinate.
within 30-45 min. of eating, they will probably have a bowel movement.
within 5-10 min. of drinking water, they will have to urinate.
during play sessions (with you, another dog, or by themselves), puppies will have to urinate approximately every 10 min. You better watch the clock, because this will occur. As the puppy matures, this time frame will increase accordingly. During play, the dogs are just like children, they forget…until too late. They play hard, & suddenly, they will stop, take 2 steps & squat!!!!
immediately upon “waking” (night sleep or day nap), they will have to go urinate.They may not be able to make it to the door & you may need to carry them.
Set up an exercise pen or buy some galvanized wire to create a pen in the yard. This pen should be 4′x4′ to 6′x6′ in size. Place this pen where it is easily accessible to you … right off the edge of the patio, for example. Using a confined & defined potty area serves multiple purposes. It will help the dog learn they should go potty in a specific area & on command. One common problem facing many owners is the dog goes into the yard & as soon as they come back into the house…they potty in the house. This situation is brought about because the dog gets so excited & involved in the “stimulus” of their yard … they forget to do their business. When they come back into the house, the stimulus level immediately diminishes … result, the dog realizes … I need to go potty & they do!
If you teach them to use their pen, they will do their business & then, they can go play in the yard. Now, when they have been playing in the yard … they will need to go back in their pen right before you bring them into the house. The playing will have stimulated their system & they will need to go again. Initially, when using the pen … you need to stay with them & encourage them verbally to go potty. As soon as they do, praise them & have a treat to give them as a reward.
It is crucial that you be patient when they are in the pen. If you get upset or irritated & demand they go potty, NOW … this stress will lock them up. Again, this is just like children. Right before we leave for a trip, we will demand a child relieve themself & they just can’t. So, we turn on the water to help them. You do not have this tool at your disposal with the dogs. Rather, you will be creating a “no win” situation for the dog.
Every owner should use crate training as an aid to housebreaking. This is for the benefit of the dog (& you). If they are loose in your house when you are gone … they will have an accident during the housetraining period. Every accident you allow to occur is reinforcing the “wrong” behavior & making the desired behavior more difficult to secure & lock in!
Just as you would with a child, remove the dog’s water about an hour before going to bed. Do not allow your puppy or unhousebroken older dog access to areas in your house where you cannot keep an eye on them (this is true for chewing, as well).
If you do not CATCH them in the act … DO NOT SCOLD THEM!!!!! When dogs go potty, they are doing what comes naturally … nature calls. Initially, they do not understand the ground rules. Inside vs. outside is a foreign concept … they have to go … so they do! It is up to YOU to teach them that outside is desired & inside is not acceptable. If they have an accident & you do not see them do it … do not scold & do not let them see you clean it up. Note: Scolding is verbal. Spanking or other physical methods do NO good at all.
If you catch them in the act or immediately after (walking away), DO SCOLD them, show them the problem, further scold them … BUT THEN, as you take them to the door to go outside … BE HAPPY & EXCITED!!!! This means “let’s go outside, let’s go potty”. If you continue to SCOLD them all the way to the door & as you put them outside … SCOLD “you get out there & do your business!!!!!” Well, you have just told them that “inside” is bad & “outside” is bad. So, where in the heck are they suppose to go!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Also, you can train dogs to “RING THEM BELLS” to go outside. This is a 3-tier process. Go to a craft store & buy 2 large (2″ diameter) bells. Tie them to a long shoestring about 4″ to 6″ apart. Use the larger bells so, if the dog happens to chew one off…they cannot swallow it. Put a nail in the wall, right by the door, & hang the bell strand. EVERYTIME … & I do mean EVERYTIME you open that door & the dog is going to go out (whether with you or to be out in their pen), YOU ring the bells. Do it moderately, you don’t want to “scare” the dog. When you ring the bells, say … “outside, go potty, outside”.
Within a short period of time, the dog will understand that the bells mean I get mom’s or dad’s attention & the door opens! The next tier of behavior will be:
The dog will “ring them bells” every 5 minutes. WARNING … this will drive you insane. But, you must be consistent, patient, & follow the routine. So, you must take the dog out EVERYTIME they ring the bells. This will not go on for more than a day or two. The real key is that you must NEVER lose patience during this phase … you must react positively & reinforce the “outside” behavior. Consistency & patience at this point will be very demanding on you, BUT, your efforts at this phase will garner phenomenal results.
The next tier of behavior will be … the dog will go to ring the bells, move their nose or paw toward the bells & STOP before they ring the bells. You will almost hear their thought processes. Hmmm, ring bells … get mom’s attention, ring bells … go outside … hmmmm, I don’t really have to go potty … I don’t think I will ring the bells. At this point … you are home free!!!!!
I used the above method, building a pen. It worked wonders! My westie is now 6 years old and obviously no longer needs the pen. That’s just to get them started. He goes in the yard and is very obedient.
Good luck!!!!
Related West Highland White Terrier posts:
OK- Take the dog outside every hour and dont go back inside until it pee/poops.say “go outside?” before you do take it out.I trained my Pitbulls to go pee/poo on command-easy-all you do is say “good pee or good poo” for whiche ever you dog does give it a treat and a pet when its done.Down the line you can just say go pee & go poo and your do will just do it.It cute the time down on waiting for the dog to find a spot to go if your inna hurry.But back to basics- make sure you take your dog out after playing with it,10-15 mins after it eats/drinks and just every hour. Before bedtime—whatever time you out your dog in his/her cage b4 you go to bed–dont feed or let it drink maybe 2hours before that bedtime! it makes it easier so you dont haveto clean up the cage in the morning.When you get up take the dog straight outside and say what i told you to. after his/her breakfast take him out 30mins after and then once an hour or as needed. NOW IF YOU NEED CAGE TRAINGIN ADVICE~~~ look for my answers i posted for cage training answers.Dont listen to these other fools on here.My training methods are straight forward and dont take no extra unnecessary crap. i like point A to point B straight line training…and my dogs are 100% fine
I will tell you honestly cage training is the best. it might sound mean but it really works. I have six dogs and am still potty training the 2 littlest ones. i have crate trained them all and it really works.
get a long leash and put it around your waist or wrist and if you see him/her starting to circle then take him/her outside when they go pottty give them lots of praise
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 I use a word like “shame” and take her out right away. When correcting, I use a stern, firm voice, but I never yell* or spank* my puppies. Take them out when they first wake up, after they eat or drink, 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 explect my puppies to be “fully potty trained” until the 6 to 8-month-old time frame, and depending on the puppy, one-year-old. If they have a set back, 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. 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. While personally, the crate traumatizes me, (it looks like a doggie jail), my puppies do better in the crate. They like it, I guess for the den like feeling, but 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. It is a safe secure place for them. However, use the method that works best for you…..a laundry basket, a cardboard box, a woof-woof house, child gates……whatever works for you.
*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. Although I use them to give pills too. I used different treats for different things. We use one bone at bedtime to let the dogs know it is time to go to bed. We use a big rawhide for when we go on long trips, so they have a bone to amuse them, and they will be expected to hold their potty. When they get the rawhide, they will not eat their food and water, until we get home from our trip. (dogs are funny) Do what works best for you.
*Some puppies will go potty in the same spot each time. Some puppies litterally have to be told to go potty. A command like “go out” for #1, or “go finish” for #2 might work for you. 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 unfamilar place.
*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.
*Sometimes it seems like you take your puppy out 5 million times a day. You can sit on a bench, or folding chair, or a 5 gallon bucket turned upside down to stay in the shade. I use an umbrella for shade too. You can always tape your favorite tv shows. In the winter I micorwave a gel pack heating pad, (sold at walmart in the pharmacy, made by Kaz, I think.) I put the heating pad under my jacket so I won’t freeze to death. In the summer, I freeze bottles of water, so we can grab one real fast on our way out the door. I have a mini back pack by the door I can just grab with doggie treats, a flash light, a rubber band for my hair when the wind is bad, etc. Do what works for you.
*Time lines. Keep it real. Puppies train at their own pace, so while your last 2 dogs may have trained faster, this puppy might take longer. Training is all about routines, and repeating yourself. It is about rewarding good behaviors, and correcting bad ones. If you have a set back, shake it off, and keep going. Good luck.