House training....Question..

[taraann81]

It has been 4 years since vve had our ovvn puppy. VVe have had a fevv rescues in and out but those vvere for relatively brief periods of time.

Novv vve have Adelaide...

VVe have had her 1 vveek today. She so far has been the easiest pup to housetrain I have ever had. She already vvhines at the door to go out! She has only had a fevv accidents. 1 the first day and 1 yesterday(both vvere my fault for not paying the attention I should).

Anyvvays, she absolutely loves being outside. She asks to go out every 10-15minutes all day! So I am constantly in and out, in and out. Sometimes its just to play, other times she has to potty. I vvon't let her out unsupervised so I am joining her on these frequent excursions.

My question in should I continue to let her out every time she asks until the house training is further cemented in her head? I can do this longer but don't vvant to do it indefinately.

She vvas raised in a kennel outside at her breeders, so it seems she just prefers the outdoors. All of our dogs are house dogs, I don't really have an area outdoors vvhere she can have unsupervised outdoor time. Our house is not too vvarm for her.. I haven't even turned the heat on yet and vve are in ontario.

Anyvvays any advice vvould be great.

 

[RiverOtter]

As long as letting her outside to play isn't distracting her from pottying outside or really interfering with your life, let pups be pups and enjoy playing with your big bundle of fluff!
It's only a training problem when she gets so distracted playing that she forgets to "go" and then "goes" inside when she's not so busy.

But one thing I would do is schedule a couple of long, outside playing sessions to have fun with her and wear her out a little. She'll quickly learn that 9 and 4 (or whenever) are when she gets to run about outside and play till she's done and all the other times are "Do you have to go? No? Back inside."

 

[Crazyland]

Yep, What riverotter said.
Take her out as often as she asks. But make certain times play times and other times potty only. That way she isn't playing you when it really counts.

 

[arabianequine]

Get use to it....seems the way it goes here too at 11 months still. Our saint cries to go out....if we are asleep she nudges us....sometimes in the face with a wet nose nothing better to wake up too and jumps up on the door to get back in and barks. In the warmer weather I can leave the front door open to the fenced yard and she goes in and out the screen door by herself. She pushes to go out with her head first then her shoulder to get out he rest of the way. To get in she jumps up on the screed door and it is a heavy screen door but no window in it so she pulls it back with her paws and dodges her head in before it shuts and comes back in the same way which is nice. In the winter it is every time she cries she goes out and if we are not here home she is outside or with us she loves that too.

 

[taraann81]

I must admit I haven't been outside this much since baseball season ended! I bet it vvill get even vvorse vvhen it snovvs! Oh vvell she is such a good pup it really seems like a mild issue, I just vvasn't sur ethe proper vvay to deal vvith it!

Thanks River and Crazy ofr the advice, I guess vve vvill continue our frequent excursions for another month or so!

 

[StormyMoon]

I use a crate in the house for my dogs if I am in the middle of cooking I can't just drop it to go outside it would be ok if she learned to space the potty time out a little. My dogs would never soil where they sleep their cave so to speak. We give them a kong toy filled with chicken soup frozen in the freezer that keeps them busy until I can dedicate the rest of my time to them.

 

[chrisbc33]

She is very cute!!!

Sounds like you are doing a good job getting her out to potty, but she really shouldn't NEED to go out every fifteen minutes. She may really like being outside, and it may be too warm in your house or she could also be a bit bored being inside.

I would recommend some good chew bones to give her exercise without having to run and play. Bones (and by bones I don't mean it literally, but there are lots of good approved chewies at TS, Petsmart etc) provide great stimulation for a growing pup and it will also wear her out and give you a bit of a break from going in and out, in and out all day. It doesn't replace good ole playing which she also needs too, but I couldn't raise a pup without chewies.

Another good thing to do is to have ONE place for her to go potty. I use a small pen (5X7) and it's for potty time only. The benefit is that they learn to go in one spot, and they can't run, play and get distracted by everything else out in the yard. I stand right by the pen and as soon as they potty, they are released and we go off to have normal fun. By doing it this way, they also learn to go on command. Sometimes you will put them in and they don't have to go........thats okay too. It still works great and it's how all my pups have been trained and it's super easy. Once they are trained, you can eliminate the pen altogether and they will usually still always choose one spot to go.

Good luck!

 

[Crazyland]

Nothing wrong with real raw bones.

Just don't use smoked or cooked.
They are a heck of a lot better for the dogs than greenies and rawhide!

 

[taraann81]

Thanks guys! Yes she has ALOT of chevv toys and bones, and bully sticks. Unlike our last 2 dogs, this one is a chevver! Being a giant breed I need to control her exercise a bit. VVith three kids, I find myself saying okay kids, thats enough for novv let her rest. So I don't think a lack of excercise is a problem. Mentally she should be pretty stimulated as vvell. VVe are vvorking on leash training, sit and a solid recall for short sessions through out the day.

I honestly think its because she vvas raised outside and just loves to be out there. My house isn't too vvarm, vve are in Ontario an have yet to put our heat on, it gets fairly chilly in here. I do use a crate, but I vvill try to use and oudoor pen for potty business.

Thanks everyone for the advice and suggestions!