Needing some advice on house training

[bksheppard]

So we have been house training Silas and Koda and we knew it was going to be a tough thing to get through. We always reward them when they use the bathroom outside and they seem to be learning that really well. However they still constantly use the potty on the carpet. We've tried ignoring them when they use the potty in the house and then clean it up when they aren't looking. We don't have enough money for a crate at the moment due to some military issues that can't seem to get settled. So i was wondering if anyone had any advice, it would be extremely helpful.

[Rich & Kody]

I don't know about how the other trained theirs, but as I was inexperienced at the time I trained Kody with a Strong voice when he was bad and a treat when he was good. It didn't take that long for him to learn the difference, However depending upon the age and the amount they are being fed, and how much they drink, you need to ensure they are able to go out as often as possible. When Kody was younger i took him out hourly rewarding him each time he did it outside. When he did it inside I would use a raised voice and then ignore him. As he got older I would take him out every other hour. It took about 2 months before he started telling me he had to go out.

[bksheppard]

We take them outside every morning, after every meal, when they wake up from a nap, after play time, and before they go to sleep; plus anytime we leave to go out they stay outside. Also we only feed them 3 times a day, they don't get free feed until after they are trained, and we may just decide to keep them off of free feed just to let them know that we are the boss and not them.

[Rich & Kody]

How old are yours?

I really think its just a matter of a waiting game. The one thing to bare in mind is never to resort to physical punishment (not saying that you do do this of course) With Kody it really was a transformation over night, except for the odd occasion that he had diarrhoea he just got into a routine that he went outside. I'm not the most experience husky owner as I have only had mine for 7 months, but the house training was a bit of game of trial and error. Positive reward and a stern telling off when bad I found worked well for me. I used a meat treat to reinforce the good behaviour, and make sure you do it the instant they go outside. I had a very happy voice a good stroke even while they are doing it and a reward once finished.

Just remember they are a very intelligent breed, Eventually they will learn

It took around 2 months for me before he was going outside 90% of the time, We still had some issues but by age 7 months he had stopped going inside. One thing to remember is the more they play the more they tend to go so if they are very active you may want to keep play time outside, or a door open to an outdoor area.

Best of luck

[lyra]

How old are they? If they're still young enough to do this easily, when you notice one going pee inside, pick him up and say "outside" in a stern voice. Then promptly go outside and wait for them to pee again. Praise lots when it happens. When we first did this with Lyra she didn't have enough sphincter control to stop peeing, so she'd whiz through the air. But eventually she could hold it until she got outside.

Crates are a lifesaver when it comes to housebreaking, but if you don't have one you could tether them to a leash inside. We had Lyra attached to a standard 6 foot that was roped around one of our couch legs for a good three weeks whenever we weren't having supervised play. It gives them a smaller area so they're not as tempted to go to the bathroom if they have to stay by it.

[Mazz]

When Zoya was a puppy, we took her outside quite a bit, about every hour to hour and a half. When she pottied outside, she was praised. When she pottied inside, we picked her up and took her outside right way, if we caught her in the act. We did not punish her. The key to potty training is being consistent and being frequent. During the night, I was up every hour and a half to two hours to take Zoya out. Pretty hard to praise a dog when you are half asleep and it's 2:30 in the morning, but you gotta do it. We did use a crate, but only at night. Some dogs learn quicker than others, but it boils down to being consistent and being frequent, praise the good and ignore the bad. It seemed to work with Zoya. She was 90% trained in about two weeks. She's a few months over two years old now, and it's been a little over two years since she pottied in the house.

[bksheppard]

They are 9 weeks. Thanks for the information, I will definitely be needing it!

[Damrod]

Lots of good tips:

http://www.dogbreedinfo.com/housebreaking.htm

[Zen Perez]

One thing that made a huge and FAST impact was taking taking the poo/pee outside to Zen's spot and leave it there for her to see and smell. That is when we weren't able to catch her before or after. Then, next time we went out (hopefully preventative), we would take her right to it. She caught on like lightening.

I think the thing that we learned the most was that until the training was done, we could never take our eyes off her if she wasn't in her crate - so it was high alert - and even then, she could still sneak a pee. Our household mantra was "Constant Vigilance!" And, we took her out often to prevent the accidents.

I think it took us 4-6 weeks total. Oh! we still don't take our eyes off her - but now it's for other reasons... it's like she looks at something and thinks to herself - "I can swallow that".

Best of luck!