How long did it take to housebreak?

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I just got a German Sheppard Puppy, he is going to be 9 weeks on Friday. How long did it take to potty train your puppy. he already knows to go to the door when we are home w/ him. but it’s when we’re not home that makes me nervous. He hates his crate, and we decided to just leave the crate door open & baby gate him in the kitchen. When will he be able to hold it for more than a few hours?????Lauren,

I know it’s hard, but crate training is the best thing you can do for your dog. The best thing you can do for potty training is set him up for success. Puppies learn to use the restroom away from their litter and resting place. Utilizing a crate will reinforce this. If he starts going whenever he wants, while you have the door open, you will be reinforcing using the restroom inside, whenever he pleases.

The good news is, you can teach your dog that his crate is a happy place to be. Here are some things you can do to make it a good resting place.

-put a blanket or pad in there

-put one of your shirts in there – the scent will comfort him

-put his favorite toy in there

-stuff a Kong ball with treats or stuff peanut butter in there and then freeze it (this will last a long time). Dogs love these and it keeps them entertained for however long the treats last.

Make sure you don’t keep food or water in the crate. It’s best to have a schedule of eating times outside of his crate, so he doesn’t fill his bladder or stomach with a potential accident. Also, make sure he doesn’t have a lot of excess room in the cage, or he will use the space as a restroom. Make sure you heavily reward and praise him for using the restroom outside.

All puppies are different, but a good rule of thumb for how long a puppy should hold off (in hours) on using the restroom is their age in months plus one. Give him plenty of exercise, so he will rest easy while you are gone.

I got my 12 week old Border Collie about 2.5 months ago and he has only had two accidents in the crate. Once he matures and gets older, you can gradually increase his freedom, but you need to make sure he is always succeeding, so don’t move too fast. If he does happen to have an accident, remember he has been in the world for 9 weeks and still has a lot of learning to do. You don’t sound like the type of person that would rub his nose in it, scold, yell or physically reprimand your puppy, but some people do and this is a horrible way to potty train and an even worse way to build a relationship with your pup. The key is consistency.

I hope this helps. Good luck with your training!

Edit:

I just want to emphasize the exercise part. Anytime you need to leave him in his crate, he should be heavily exercised before-hand. Excess energy can factor into heaps of behavioral problems, including anxiety/frustration which can stimulate the bowels and bladder.

Were you referring to the water and food in the cage? If you are worried about him being dehydrated, just make sure he drinks after strenuous activity, but give him about an hour to empty his bladder before he crates up. If you consistently do these things, he should learn. If he does not, I would encourage you to have him checked out at the vet.With consistent training and rewards for pottying outside and ignoring if he has accidents in the house he should be "housebroken" within a couple of weeks to a couple of months. Now a dog is not fully reliable until at year old so you will still have the occassional accident.

Don’t wait for him to tell you he needs to go out, get him out every couple of hours [2] that way he has more chances for success and less chance of failure [accidents]. At this point he can only hold it for no more than 3 hours, dogs dont’ have any bladder or sphincter control until at least 3-4 months old. When he’s about 4 months old he should be able to hold it for 5 hours max but that’s if he hasn’t just eaten and drank a full bowl of water.

Be patient & be consistent with your training. Reinforce the good behavior [potty outside] and do not reinforce the bad behavior [pottying inside]. It’s important you don’t scold when they do otherwise you’ll make him think that eliminating in front of you is scary and dangerous and leads to them hiding it, not fixing it.

The time for it takes to house train a dog depends on the dog and how diligent you are. Right now your German Shepherd is not old enough to hold it for long periods of time. Of course, as they get older they can hold it longer, but I think that it is around 5 or 6 months when you can expect them to hold it all day.when I first got my puppy, we kept him in the house at ll times, it took him just a couple months, but we cheated a little, we have 3 other dog that are potty trained so when they would go out he would to. It was a lot easier that way, he kind of trained himself. When we brought him home to live with us by himself he was trained. It took my dog a year of strict routine for him to be fully housetrained.

Then again, he came from a home where they did not *know* how to housetrain a dog, so he was just used to going anywhere.Yes when he gets a little older he will be able to hold it for longer. It might take a month. It depends on your dog though.

Like is the puppy going to be normal

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