My and my husband's 3 1/2 month old pup, Thor, is being very resistant to potty training. Sometime he will go to the door and whine but it is very rare. He normally just goes and pees on the floor. But a lot of the time it is on the bed or couch. I don't know what else to do. We have tried putting his nose in it and then taking him out. We have tried just taking him out regularly. We have tried taking him out as he pees. Popping his butt while he's peeing. Nothing works. We need help. Badly. I just bought a new carpet for our apartment and don't know if I can afford another one if he ruins this carpet by peeing all over it. And I can't do laundry everyday when he decided to pee on the bed and blankets and pillows, I work 6 days a week. I need help?? Please???!!

Do you use a crate? If not, I would try crate training?
Does he seem to not notice that he is peeing, or seem to not be able to hold it?

Positive reinforcement all day long. I know it's rough at first but unless you catch him in the act and can correct him then refrain from any punishment and promptly take him out and reward him for going in the correct place.

Using the positive reinforcement for potty training or anything else with a sibe will go a long way. They can be stubborn but they are smart dogs and will begin to realize and relate the positive treatment to positive behavior.

Well the issue is we have tried that. We tried popping him on the butt and taking him right out and the other clean the pee spot and then he never seems to go pee outside. Pooping outside isn't an issue. But he seems to know he is peeing. I am planning to take him to the vet as soon as I have a day off or have time in my week. (Maybe after 2pm Friday or before 3pm on Saturday) But I'm not sure what to do till then. He is ruining our mattress, carpet, couch and it's very stressful ):

Is this all while you are home? Or while you are away, and do you use a crate?

Part and part. My husband is always home, some happens while he is home alone and some of the time I am also here. And we don't have a crate

For the praise when he goes outside are you giving a treat ever?

On average right now at 3 months he shouldn't be able to hold it more than 2-3 hours as well. I'm not sure how often his schedule may be right now

Well he normally holds it all night which is weird. And then he goes very frequently in the day. He peed on the bed twice today..

Well my husband just let me know that when I am at work, Thor isn't peeing inside. But when I am home, he is.

Does he seem to strain at all when he pees? Does he pee a little or does he empty himself? Also, does he drink a ton of water?
Would you considered a crate? A lot of people here, you'll find, really love the crate, it's sort of a life saver, plus most of the pups really love it.
Sorry for the stream of questions all at once haha. You have a super cute pup.

No, no strain.
He empties out.
He drinks more than Germany!
We have used a crate in the past when Germany was teething. She loved it. She slept in it all the time.
And thanks! I need new photos of him big time. His ears are far from being any kind of floppy now

Sounds like he has too much freedom and autonomy.

I don't agree with the too much freedom at all.

Sounds like you have a puppy you aren't potty training. When I started potty training with Sheba, she was taken out every hour-1/2 an hour. Hour at the most. They don't know it's not acceptable to pee in the house unless they are taught that the only acceptable place is outside. At three months old..they are no where near potty trained, and if they are, then you have one exceptional puppy. Puppies don't automatically know that they can't pee inside. Dog don't even know unless you have spent the time and effort into training them.

Every time your pup eats, drinks, plays..take him outside. All the time. Take him out every hour and praise like crazy when he pees. If he has an accident inside..hitting him and smashing his nose in his pee does absolutely nothing except probably make him afraid and confused. Dogs can't associate that way. Dogs don't know that because they peed and now their nose is in it means that they did something wrong. All they know is that you are making them do something very unpleasant and they don't know why.

I think this is a case of expecting way too much way too soon. Sheba was about 6 months before she was completely potty trained, and now we are in her teenage relapse phase. It happens.

Take it slow, and don't get mad. They don't understand things the way we do. Take him out frequently and praise like crazy every single time.

So if you totally restrict his time with play and training and then taking him out after each, or every 2 hours or so, I think that qualifies as a limitation and control of freedom. As in, reducing his freedom

my pup was having a hard time goin outside as she is new to the outdoor world as she hasnt been vaccinated fully i havent took her on any walks outside on her leash.
i would stand there for 25 mins in the freezing cold in the middle of the night and she would just lie down on the floor and go sleep.
i decided i would try her on puppy pads and put them at the back door where she is able to go independently. she progress she made in a few days was amazing she has since been allowed freedom to the whole of my down stairs and has not had an accident since.

a few point a noticed that might help you from my last couple of weeks.
to much room to roam = accident. example akira was confined to our front room where we watch tv and we are in their most of the time it soon become clear she thought of the front room as her den it was where she slpet eat and played. if i saw her go or try to go would give a quick hey to make her jump and put her straight on her pad. saying toilet all the while i was carrying her. then when she finished i said good toilet and rewarded her with a treat that she loves i only give her this treat when she goes toilet on the pad.
i have put her treats in a container that i can shake she instantly recognises the noise of the treats shaking after only a few days i am now able to shake the treats to get her attention and say toilet and she will go then she gets rewarded.
now she will go to her toilet area whenever she wants toilet as she has instant access i am quite lucky that i have a small utility area between my front room and the outside door which am able to leave open.
but i definatley think the combination of the independance i give her to go when she wants (while still keep FULL attention on her to praise her) her favorite treat and the association with the shaking the treats and saying the word toilet.

the problem with letting her have to much space to roam is as i found out as soon as she left my front room she would ashume she was out of her den and go toilet anywhere the more she does it the more scent she leaves and the harder it becomes to curb her habbit which u have let her feel is an acceptable boundary.

lastly i know you want her outside as do i but i believe the toilet command and treat is goin to come in very important here as when she has more control over bladder and is going toilet everytime on command i will be able to place her pad outside slowly moving to the area i want her to always go to give command, praise and treat as i am now.

consistancy is key.

dont get angry with ur dog its your fault if you dont see catch the accident in progress put your own nose in her mess as your punishment

hope this helps

Quote :

i decided i would try her on puppy pads and put them at the back door where she is able to go independently. she progress she made in a few days was amazing she has since been allowed freedom to the whole of my down stairs and has not had an accident since.

Puppy pads are great but I've heard its really hard to train a dog to go outside once their used to the pads. I had a friend who's doberman took a year to pottytrain to go outside because she wanted to use the pads inside instead. I have another friend who's chiuahua still goes inside and she was trained on puppy pads as well.

I would say until she gets the hang of it, take her out every hour. We did this with Karli and gave her a treat every single time she went outside. We also used a crate and that helped a lot in potty training her. Take her out within 20 min of any activity she does. I also would avoid popping her in the butt when you catch her going. That's not positive in any way and all it does is scare her. I've some to accept that the accidents Karli does have (like the one last night) are my fault because I didn't take her out when I should've. Being only three months old she's needs to go out as much as possible. Its frustrating but some pups are more stubborn then other. Patience will go a long way to get her where you want her to be.

hi cinnamonbits i understand what your saying i have heard a few people who have had a problem getting the dogs to stop going in the house after using puppy pads i think it has do do with wether they associate their treat with going toilet in the place or on the pad.

hopefully they associate it with the pad that way when you move the pad then outside then consistantly praise her for going outside she will get used to it.


im just thinking AaronandAnnePeebles may find it a lot less stressfull and something to work from if they can atleast control where he is goin and not on their bed because we all love our dogs but thats gotta be frustrating.


i have always been aware of the problem that using a pad indoors might cause but like i said there was such an improvement with akira i had to take advantage of it.
after your reply yesterday and knowing i have a couple of days with little to do i decided i would move her pad outside and see how she got on. firstly i put a baby gate up where her old pad used to be so she can see her old spot and probably still smell her scent however she has no access any more i also hung a chain of the gate. and whenever she runs to it she nocks the chain and i have been taking her outside on her old pad.

lots of success so far all yesterday and this morning she has seemed to pick it up really quick.
it feels like we are getting somewhere.

Well I have taken a lot of advice from this.
He is being taken out more often and is doing a lot better now that he gets a treat everytime he goes as soon as he is done peeing. We take them out with us even when we go on a walk. That helps a lot! We take him out everytime he goes to the door. He's good about going to the door but not about letting us know. So when we see him go that way we take him out. Also we watch for the little signs like him sniffing around and stuff that seems like when he needs to pee. He doesn't always need to pee when he goes out. But he is doing much better. Thanks