Question:
AQ>And you’re right about paper training him – while it might make things AQ>easier *now*, it makes it more difficult in the long run because then you AQ>have to teach him that it’s not okay to go anywhere in the house, even if AQ>there happened to be a newspaper lying on the floor. AQ>April with Levi and Caper Despite the fact that I DO paper train (when you live on an upper floor of an elevator building, and your pup is too young to be out on the streets because his immunizations aren’t complete, you must paper train–unless the dog is small enough to use a litter box), you do remind me of one of my "favorite" Haver memories. It was cold and snowing outside, so I could not immediately rush him out when he signaled that he needed to go. As I was struggling into my boots and coat, Haver walked to my desk, pulled the TIMES from the top (taking anything from the top of tables or desks was verboten) so it fell on the floor, and then proceeded to urinate on it! Of course he hadn’t unfolded the paper, so . . . . (They’re so bloody smart, even when they disobey.) Avrama & Shomer — * SLMR 2.0 * Total Dobe = D(evoted) O(bedient) B(rave) E(nterprising)
Response:
Religious use of the crate method seemd to really work for me. We [my new wife and I] added an 11 week old border-collie/english-shepherd to our new family as of two weeks ago; it only took three days to house train her. I completely skipped the whole paper/wee-wee-pad business. Basically, it took a lot of patience and vigilance. 1) keep an eye on the puppy AT ALL TIMES. 2) as soon as puppy is ready to ‘fire the cannons’, immediately pick puppy up saying ‘OUTSIDE!’ in a loud and disturbing [but not painful] voice. 3) immediately take puppy outside and hang out until puppy fires the cannons outside. 4) if puppy never goes (ours was initially rather scared of the outside world– as well, we had a mondo-huge wind storm the first couple of days she was home), take her inside and crate the puppy– don’t scold or discipline puppy; s/he hasn’t done anything wrong… 5) leave puppy in crate for 30 minutes to an hour or so… 6) when uncrating repeat 3 through 6 until s/he goes. 7) upon elimination outside, reward dog tremendously. — Now my only problem is that Janis isn’t vocalizing her desire to go outside quite loud enough yet– and she, as a young puppy, doesn’t have full control, yet. I expect to have the occasionally unloading in the house for a little while… but she understands the basic concept and is improving every day. b.bum
Response:
Puppy potty paper has NEVER worked for me. It’s a toy I agree, it will make him think inside is OK Jane Webb
Response:
> We have a ten week old rat terrier. Have had him for three weeks. > Spends the night in his crate. Never soiled his crate. Let’s me know > when he needs out, once or twice a night. Always take him out to the > same spot in the yard, he takes care of business quickly. But once in > the house, he let’s loose where ever he wants. Friends recommend this > puppy potty paper. That to me sends the signal that it’s OK to go in the > house. What am I doing wrong? Is he just young?
He is too young to be left in the house without supervision. Just like you would not leave the diapers off a baby, you must supervise his every loose moment. If you can’t watch him, put him in the crate until you can. Take him out on a leash as soon as you let him out of his crate. Take him out after he drinks water, after he eats food, after he plays hard, etc. Avoid the potty paper unless you like the idea of his using the Sunday news- how would he know the difference? Pay close attention- if he starts sniffing- ask him "Do you need to go out?" and then take him without waiting for an answer. Eventually, he will let you know when he needs to go. Did I mention praise? Every time he goes, praise, praise, praise! When you want him to produce, tell him what you want. I used to say "hurry up". Pretty soon, if I said that, Marc would perform on command. Just be sure not to use your choice of phrase at other times 
Ruth Mays Cinnaminson, NJ USA 08077
Response:
: We have a ten week old rat terrier. Have had him for three weeks. : Spends the night in his crate. Never soiled his crate. Let’s me know : when he needs out, once or twice a night. Always take him out to the : same spot in the yard, he takes care of business quickly. But once in : the house, he let’s loose where ever he wants. Friends recommend this : puppy potty paper. That to me sends the signal that it’s OK to go in the : house. What am I doing wrong? Is he just young? Your last guess is the correct one – he’s too young to be expected to have absolute control. Give him another couple of months. In the meantime, watch him like a hawk when he’s running around the house – he should never be out of your sight. Take him out regularly (start with once every hour, and if you still have a problem, take him out more often). If you see him start to go in the house, tell him no and rush him outside to finish. You’re not doing anything wrong except, perhaps, giving him too much unsupervised freedom in the house for his age. And you’re right about paper training him – while it might make things easier *now*, it makes it more difficult in the long run because then you have to teach him that it’s not okay to go anywhere in the house, even if there happened to be a newspaper lying on the floor. April with Levi and Caper
Response:
We have a ten week old rat terrier. Have had him for three weeks. Spends the night in his crate. Never soiled his crate. Let’s me know when he needs out, once or twice a night. Always take him out to the same spot in the yard, he takes care of business quickly. But once in the house, he let’s loose where ever he wants. Friends recommend this puppy potty paper. That to me sends the signal that it’s OK to go in the house. What am I doing wrong? Is he just young?
Response:
> We have a ten week old rat terrier. Have had him for three weeks. > Spends the night in his crate. Never soiled his crate. Let’s me know > when he needs out, once or twice a night. Always take him out to the > same spot in the yard, he takes care of business quickly. But once in > the house, he let’s loose where ever he wants. Friends recommend this > puppy potty paper. That to me sends the signal that it’s OK to go in the > house. What am I doing wrong? Is he just young?
What do you do when he "let’s loose" in the house? He is pretty young and good house-breaking takes time. Paper training is ok; I’ve used it in the past, but you are right, it does give them permission to go in the house-on the paper anyway. What seemed to work well for me is to take the puppy out as regularly every two hours as possible. As soon as the puppy left her crate or ate I took her out with LOTS of praise when she went potty outside. When she had an accident inside I would shout "no" to startle her then run over pick her up and take her outside. If she went out there more praise. If not she went back into her crate until she did go potty outside. Good luck and let me know if I can help anymore (assuming that this was helpful). lisa
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