How long does it take

Hello everyone...I have a "puggle" to me just a cute mix..but I got him at the local shelter so before I get in trouble for supporting the breeders please understand that we didn't do that. Anyway we have had him since September 29th and he was 13 weeks when we got him. I have been very consistent with the pitty training but it isn't working most of the time. I say most because he does ring the bell sometimes. I am starting to get a wee bit frustrated because I want to be able to ease up some. I feel like I need to watch him so much when he is outside the crate and it stresses me out some I want to just enjoy him. We went thru a spell for about a week where he rang the bell all the time and life was great and I relaxed and then he started just going anywhere again. I know I have to start back over which I am doing but how long does it really take to potty train a puppy. He is now 5 months old and in a couple of days will be neutard so I am thinking he won't want to go outside then because of being sore but will have to be carried. I don't know what else to do. No I am not saying I am going to give him away because I am not but really need to get this under control before the end of January when my schedule picks up more and I will be available a bit less..my daughter 13 and husband along with 3 year old son will be here but this was my choice to get him along with my daughter but she is a kid. My husband didn't really want a puppy because he is busy and didn't want added work although he does help but to a point so what I am saying is that I am concerned if this isn't really under control by then we may have a problem and it will take a lot longer...anyway I have rambled what I am really asking is am I doing something wrong..or is this just the process it takes?

Thanks
Noddysmom

Hi, welcome to the board and thanks for adopting!

5 months old is still very young, especially for the mix he is. How consistant are you in taking him out or rewarding him for even looking at the bell? Without being there, it sounds to me like he hasn't quite "got it" yet in regards to "bell=outside=potty". You might have to start from scratch, or at least back up a couple of steps. How often is he being let out or wanting to go out? Increase that and reward heavily for each time he does use the bell. It is possible to housetrain a dog reliably in about 3 days, but it takes work, diligence and commitment. I haven't done the bell thing yet, so I can't speak to that.

Check out the "Dog Training" section here; there are a lot of threads about potty training.

As far as the neutering goes, I think you'll find you have the opposite problem of having to carry him. Most dogs bounce back quite quickly and you'll have more of a problem keeping him quiet so he doesn't tear his stitches out.

hi and welcome!
congrats on rescueing!!! I have a six month old sheltie who isnt 100% potty trained. 5 months old IS young for your breed. you will just have to deal with it and try your best

Thanks for your responses. He goes out when he gets up and about 15 mins after eating he is either in his crate after eating or I am right there with him trying to wear him out if it is a work day and I have to leave him. IN the evenings he goes out about 3/3:30 when my daughter gets home then eats shortly after that. Throughout the evening I will ask him or try about every hour or so depending on activity level. He asks sometimes throughout that time. As far as treats I had started to scale off on those but with the current situation I will start back up...thanks again.

good luck!
staying on a schedual and feeding at the same time every day helps. and taking away water at night before bed, and basically just do everything at the same time everyday

Thanks I will keep at it...I guess every dog is different as is every child..my son just turned 3 and is still in pullups and my daughter was done by 2 and 2months...thanks again. I will keep to a tight schedule..what is everyone thoughts on petsmart doggy daycare for a couple times a month...

Time and patience wins out . I wouldn't count on the bell .

I agree I am not counting 100% on the bell but it gives him someway of making noise but anyway that he wants to show me I am all for....thanks..pateince isn't always easy for me as my son wears it out most of the time...but I try..lol

This may be an obvious thing you already tried but since you didn't mention I will ask anyways. When he is hanging out around the house with you, do you put newspaper down for him and try to get him to go on there rather then the floor? It wouldn't hurt to have him paper trained too just in case you aren't around or you ran into another room or to the shower or something and he really has to go. At least there is a safe place for him TO go rather then anywhere in your house.

Just a thought...

I haven't tried it recently because when I first got him I would put potty pads down and he has never used on. I still put them in the bathroom when he is in there himself when we go out for short period on the weekends rather than in crate all the time and he doesn't use them the one time he did have an accident in there it was on the floor no where near the potty pad. Thanks for the offer but he has no interest in that stuff..well anyways we made it with no accidents yesterday and we are working on today if we get thru the next 6 hours....

I also wouldn't count on the bell. Just take him out on a schedule, giving him plenty of opportunities to go. Make sure you reward him every time you go outside. Don't leave him unsupervised in the house. By that, I mean don't let him out of your sight even for a second. If you don't want to crate him, tie his leash to your person.

I have a 12 week old adopted puggle and his potty training is going well (now that I said that he will have an accident tomorrow).

I found that he was having more issues before I cleaned my rugs really well. He is constanlty sniffing EVERYTHING everywhere and I think the smell from prior accidents was really confusing him. I bought a steam cleaner, spot treated the heck out of everywhere I knew he had gone and then spot treated and steamed a 2nd time. Since I did this there has only been one accident (my fault he TOLD me he had to go, lol, and I didn't move quick enough).

I did the cleaning on the advise of the trainer since she noticed how very beagle like he was with his sniffing- if yours is the same you might want to do the same. The trainer even told me to toss our mop head after cleaning the floor and then to repeat and toss the mop head again!

We found that the training pads seemed to confuse him and we got rid of those week one.

Thanks again everyone. Things have been good the past 2 days although he left us at 6pm last night for the doctors as he gets neutered today. I am more worried about that right now than the training. I just hope all goes well and he comes home a happy little puppy. I don't remember any trouble with my cat many years ago he just changed into a friendly animal but Noddy is already friendly so I don't know how he might change. You guys are great.

HOw do you get your puppies pic on the screen.