Assistance with potty training

[02bella]

I rescued a 8 month old (that's what the pound said) American pit bull terrier named Bella and she will not go potty outside unless someone goes out and stands with her.. If no one is outside she will just bark and wine at the door. How can I break her of this and get her to go outside by herself.

[Fundog]

When starting out with housetraining, we must always accompany our dogs/pups outside to eliminate. This is the surest way to guarantee success. Expecting independence at this point in the training is not reasonable. So for now... always accompany her outside, and make certain you have a treat in hand, so you can reward her immediately after she wees or poos. If she does not require treats, and has been eliminating outdoors regularly already, then praise is sufficient. Independence will come with time, don't rush it. It may very well be that she is not accustomed to going out on her own, as she may have always had to be on a leash. Even graduating to eliminating free without a leash is a big step for a dog! These things just take time, so take a chair and cup of coffee out with you, and seize the moment to get a breath of fresh air for yourself.

[sez88]

Keep going outside with the pup for now, remember to treat her as soon as she goes. We had the same issue with Charlie, we tried the following and got there in the end. Each time she is taken outside gradually move one step closer to the door than you were last time , its a slow process but eventually she will feel comfortable enough to go outside alone. Juts make sure you don't go too fast, if she isn't comfortable with the situation, then go back to the position where she is comfortable. You will get there it will just take time.

good luck.

[Mattie]

Have a read of viewtopic.php?f=20&t=1981 it will help you toilet train her.

[tinytwo]

One thing that's always a plus, when going out with your puppies to potty is that you KNOW if they actually did go potty!

That's a big one if you're working on potty training. A puppy that was let out to potty by himself may NOT have pottied after all, and then could come back in and do it inside. And, a foundation of potty training is to supervise your puppy and not really give them the freedom to roam around the house, unless you know they are "empty"; that's when you can give them a bit of freedom.
If you don't know if they've actually pottied, that could be an issue!

[Mattie]

I always let the roam round the garden and watch them, I do have to do some following but I am happy to do that. I find they are more likely to toilet if they are free.

[Nettle]

Mine are all fully trained and I still go out with them. You can't beat knowing that they have actually done what they need to do - and also it is a good barometer of a dog's health to see what it produces.

[Mattie]

In bad weather or very cold I can watch my dogs from either the kitchen or conservatory Nettle, I am such a lazy owner.

[crysterlovesisco44]

Have a four month old Boxer mix I sit for that will not let you know when he must potty. How do I get him to let me and his owners know when he has to go?
He's very sweet tempered and barks only sometimes when he plays.
Would love some advice to help them.

[Fundog]

A lot of times, they are letting us know, but the communication is so subtle we fail to interpret it as such. For example: My Annie will just come and sit in front of me, staring imploringly at me. If I ignore her, she will raise a paw and put it on my lap. If I still don't get it, she may begin to whine or even bark--- but that means she is about to float away, poor dear. I'm a bit slow at reading her... sometimes I have to ask her a bunch of questions about what she needs--- fortunately, she does understand a lot of words, so she can confirm whether or not I'm right--- but even that is difficult, since it isn't like she can bob her head up and down for "yes and no!" Instead, when I finally ask, "Do you need to go potty?" She does a little dance and looks excited. Then she starts to head toward the door, but then stops partway to make sure I am following her--- just in case I didn't understand when she said "yes."


Now Dottie's language is just a bit more misleading: First she sits in front of me, or starts loving up on me--- which she does frequently anyway, as she LOVES to be touched and rubbed on.... but then she starts dancing and pouncing and going into a play bow--- which doesn't make sense, because she does not yet feel comfortable with "playing" with humans (She'll play with Annie, but not us people). Granted, my first thought is delight and hope that she is finally initiating play with a human, but then it hits me that she needs to go out. So then I ask her, "Do you need to go potty?" To which she gives a joyous leap and runs for the door, prancing the whole way.

Complicated? Certainly. But I'm learning.

[Nettle]

At four months, he probably doesn't realise himself when he needs to potty - same as with a small child.

So you commit to taking him out every hour and rewarding him vastly when he obliges. They soon grow up: you won't have to do it for many weeks. But they can't grow up any faster than it takes.