What To Do With Puppy

[jamie615]

Hi our puppy is 12 weeks now and is still not house trained, I think she is making progress but the girlfriend disagrees. She stays in the kitchen for 8 hours some days and I come home to several pees and sometimes a poo. We haven't put her in a crate cause it will look stupid in the kitchen. But the girlfriend is stressing out with the constant cleaning on top of the general housework. So I got thinking, if I put her in a crate in the garage while we are out would that be ok? And would it help or hinder the house training? She may or may not stay in the crate in the garage at night, unsure of that cause she is usually good at night cause I lift her water a few hours befor bed.

[CARRINGTON]

Crates are perfect for house training especially if that is where she sleeps as the mother teaches them as puppy's not to go where they sleep. However, for 12 weeks old being left for 8 hours is too long and she cannot hold her bladder that well at that age. Is there any way someone can come by the house and let her out every few hours? I don't think my dog could actually hold his bladder for that long until 5 months or so. So although the crate may help she may still go in it because she cannot hold it long enough. Also when you clean the kitchen make sure you clean it thoroughly as she may still smell where she went and that could be a reason why she is going so often in the kitchen. As for just general ways to help with house training when you are home: 1) if you do not catch her going in the house do not get her in trouble for it as she won't know why she is getting in trouble but if you catch her doing it in the house say no firmly and take her outside and if she goes outside praise her with treats, pets, words, etc. so she associates going outside as a good thing 2) if in the home with you try putting her on a leash and keeping her only in rooms in which you are in so you can tell when she needs to go potty (my dog won't bark to tell us he needs to go out but instead paces by the doors or just paces in general back and forth). 3) always reward for going outside.

 

If she is doing good when you are home with her but is only having the problem when you leave her for 8 or more hours then the problem is more she is being left for too long at too young of an age and restrict her access to water. As for in putting her in the garage the only problem I could possibly see with that is she may associate it as a punishment since it is separate from the house and it may be too cold or too hot (and during the summer I would advise against it as it will get too hot and it is best not to put water in there with them if they are going to be in there for a while as that will cause them to want to go) so you may just have to deal with it being in the kitchen while you are away, however, if she is in her crate then any room will be ok to leave her in. My dog is left in our bedroom while we are out and we have had zero problems.

[BingBlaze n Skyla]

She's a puppy , she needs to be let out every hour or so , plus straight after feeding , drinking, playing, sleeping etc , most puppies don't end up house trained till 5 to 7 months old leaving her on her own for 8 hours a day isn't going to Help her , it will make it worse as she's not being trained , a crate stuck in a cold dark garage certainly won't help specially as she won't have her full coat yet

[Jay]

Yeah, 8 hours alone for a puppy won't work potty training them.  They will need to be trained on where to go.  Also, puppies that age will need to go outside every few hours.  While I agree that crate trainig would be the best option, I would not suggest putting the crate in the garage, especialy if it's not climate controlled. 

 

Crates are not designed to looks fancy, so that shouldn't matter if it looks good there or not.  You can also put the crate in a bedroom as well.  And when you do, make sure the pup doesn't have too much room, or that could cause him to use one section as a toliet and to lay in the dry section. 

 

So, I would suggest:

1) get a crate with a divider and start crate training now. 

2) no more than 3-4 hours in the crate at a time until they are about 4-6 months old. 

3) help girlfriend with cleanup

4) do NOT put the crate in the garage or anywhere else the temps can be extremely cold or hot. 

5) patience, patience, patience!!  Puppies, especially huskies can be stubborn and difficult to train.  It can take a few weeks up to a few months to potty train.

[CARRINGTON]

Yeah, 8 hours alone for a puppy won't work potty training them.  They will need to be trained on where to go.  Also, puppies that age will need to go outside every few hours.  While I agree that crate trainig would be the best option, I would not suggest putting the crate in the garage, especialy if it's not climate controlled. 

 

Crates are not designed to looks fancy, so that shouldn't matter if it looks good there or not.  You can also put the crate in a bedroom as well.  And when you do, make sure the pup doesn't have too much room, or that could cause him to use one section as a toliet and to lay in the dry section. 

 

So, I would suggest:

1) get a crate with a divider and start crate training now. 

2) no more than 3-4 hours in the crate at a time until they are about 4-6 months old. 

3) help girlfriend with cleanup

4) do NOT put the crate in the garage or anywhere else the temps can be extremely cold or hot. 

5) patience, patience, patience!!  Puppies, especially huskies can be stubborn and difficult to train.  It can take a few weeks up to a few months to potty train.

I agree with helping the girlfriend with the clean up and huskies are extremely stubborn (sometimes I feel like talking to a brick wall and getting the brick wall to sit may be more successful then sometimes getting my husky to sit)

[jamie615]

She's only left 8 hours 2 or 3 days a week. I could come home on my lunch break if it would really help on this days. It's about 10 Celsius here so it's not too bad in the garage. What about leaving her in the garden with a kennel? I'm guessing she is too young but when will she be old enough. Sometimes I think she pees on badness, like the other day she was chewing the rug so I said no, she ran around me then back to the spot she was chewing and peed. Like donut you tell me no this is mine lol

[Jay]

Yeah I think coming home for lunch to let him out would be best.

[BingBlaze n Skyla]

Deffo come home to let her out , I don't think leaving her outside in a garage or not is best not whilst she won't have her full coat in yet . She could get really ill

[edson_bsx]

Kimi is nearly 5 months - it wasn't until about 3-months that toileting in the house became a rarity. Just keep with it, we felt in the same position as you do at 12 weeks, as it never seems to be improving. You just have to believe that it is, and when it seems to be getting worse, don't stress as there's a sea of reasons why you pup has sudden changes of behaviour. Whilst we could, we would take him outside every hour, on the hour during day, and about every 3 hours at night. Over four weeks we increased the time gaps to none at which point he'd be telling us when he wanted to get out. 

 

Also, we found training pads to be counter-productive. As they only encourage going inside the house.

[jamie615]

Yeah gonna try a crate and come home at lunch when the girlfriend is working. We were using puppy pads until she started shredding them lol

[Removed #5]

I'm late responding here, but putting her in the crate in the garage isn't going to help a lot with teaching her to not urinate in the house ... desirably you want her to learn two things:

1. You don't piss in the house.  Very few dogs, given the choice will urinate or defecate in what they think of as "their den" By moving her out of the house, you've virtually eliminated (er, no pun intended) her ability to learn that the house is her den.
2. You do want her to learn that the garden (yard) is the place to do her business.  As she comes to realize that the house is her den, going outside will become a natural.  But rarely is it an overnight happening.  At 12 weeks, she's still a baby (if you have kids, did you potty train them at 3 months ... bet it took longer than that!)

Getting her a crate and learning how to use it - there are several threads here on how to tech a dog that the crate is her home - is a big step in the right direction.

Good luck!!