jhaas

We have a 15-week old basset puppy named Toby. We have been diligently trying to potty train him to no avail for the past 6 weeks. Anyone have any secrets you are willing to share?? We will try anything!!!

henry'smum

It sounds simple but when all of ours have come home we have taken them outside literally every 30 mins - fortunatly my husband is a smoker - and when they pee or poop give big praise. With one who insisted on peeing in the house when we couldnt see her, our trainer suggested literally keeping her with us -longish leash from pup to belt! so she was never out of sight and then got let off outside. It took a couple of weeks but both worked great. At night pups would sleep by my side of the bed. Im a light sleeper so if Hen would wake up and cry i would wake up and take him straight out. Just remember when they are little they donot have full bladder control and accidents will happen but we have found positive reinforcement works much better than telling off. Good luck

jaleely

At 15 weeks they are still too young to really expect too much from them. Bladders are still growing, and metabolism is pretty high since the whole pup is growing. You're going to need to keep up on the patience! Took my boy until he was 7.5 months old, and he just woke up one day and "got" it. Just be persistent, and remember that you still have a baby.

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Baby Bowsah's Bwog

jaleely

Having some floor stains is expected when you commit to having a puppy! LOL Just think how long it takes a human to learn to be potty trained! We have it easy that dogs learn so fast!

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Baby Bowsah's Bwog

houndmomma

First – Congratulations on your new puppy

You didn’t mention what you’ve been doing so far that’s not working – so I’ll just share with you what I do when I bring a new pup into my house. In fact I’m currently working with Mabel whom I’ve only had a couple months now. I look at this as a job that I do everything I can to set her up for success.
I crate & tether train along with because I’ve gotten so forgetful when she first came in I wrote down when I took her so I could see how her bladder was holding up as a gage.

She sleeps in the crate – when she wakes she goes directly out to potty then gets feed back in the crate while I get ready to start my day. When I take her out of the crate she again goes directly out to potty. Even though we have a big fenced in yard - I take her out to potty on a lead so I can control what we’re out there for. I go stand in the same place and she can walk around me in a 10 foot circle. I also take a treat out with me and as soon as her butt comes up from doing her business – she gets a treat and is told good girl go potty outside. We also always use the same words – go potty outside – go poops outside. With a treat as soon as her butt comes up. Just this month she’s moved to getting her treat inside when we’re done. We’ve also started using a bell for her to give me a signal to when she wants to go out – you have to hold off on this part till they are a little older or the bell will be a toy. So far she’s doing well with it. If when you take her out she doesn’t have to go and is just playing around – walk back into the house with her and take her back out in ten minutes or so.

When we come back I have her tethered to me all day long – I watch when she drinks then check the clock. When I first got her I took her out in 10 minutes – as the days went on more time was added to when she would go out after drinking.

She would get lunch in her crate – and she would stay in for 45min or so for a nap – then again go right outside. Afternoon would be like the morning – watch her and the clock taking her out.

Dinner – back in the crate – she would go outside again – then for a walk – and after her walk again I take her back in the yard to go potty outside – rest of the night is like day – but since I pick up her water early – it’s a little easier – but then again not much because night time is when she trying to play with her brother and sister that want nothing to do with her.

I’m usually good at gauging when she needs to go potty after a few days – by then I let her stay in the house close to her time limit so I can catch her in the middle of an accident – I don’t scare her – I just scoop her up and tell her no – potty outside and place her where I want her to go – and again give her a treat when her butt comes up. This is a little tricky for some – because you don’t want to scare them – you just want to get their attention so they stop before they start – and learn where to do it. If you scare them – they’ll just go off where you can’t see them and go potty. Plus, I don’t ever want one of my fur babies to be afraid of my voice. The reason I do this is to me – it’s just as important to teach them where not to go potty as it is to teach them where to go potty.

All in all – you don’t ever take at least one eye off your little guy till they learn the house rules as to what’s expected of them. I’ve trained a lot of dogs throughout my life and have always had good results. I know not everyone trains the same way – but this has always worked for me – I personally believe that when your pup respects you they want to please you – even basset hounds.

I also have three baby gates up on my kitchen so when I know I’m not going to have distractions I can let her run free and play a little better than being tied to me and its right by the back door so I have quick access outside. For the first six weeks – I took my laptop and worked in the kitchen so she could have the extra freedom to run around. With the gates she can run around in the kitchen only or kitchen/family room or just the family room – but only if I know she gets 100% of my attention. Again, my key goal is always setting her up for success.

Sorry so long – but it’s a lot of steps – even with all this – I’m sure I’ve left off a lot of what I do. I don’t want to jinx myself – but I think it’s been a month since she’s had a accident – and then it was my fault because I was distracted.

Hope some of this helps and congrats again – photos please – we can’t get enough puppy pictures here.

Jen~

Wworm

Oh yes, what everyone says below we agree with, and all the steps that Houndmomma says.

We got Worm at 16 weeks (so i guess we sorta cheated, as he started off w/better bladder control). Like Houndmomma, we watched Worm like a hawk. He was never tethered to me, but i was always following him around like a shadow.

when i couldn't watch him (cooking, taking a shower, etc), he went in the crate w/a toy or a treat. which was good training for him to be in the crate for short stints while we are around, anyway.

we also closed the door to the bedrooms & bathrooms, so not as much space to follow him around in. he had 6-12 accidents total, and most of the time, we were able to interrupt him, tell him no, pick him up, and bring him outside. he was housetrained in 4-6 weeks. we were very tired during that time, but then he was very good. these days, at a little over 1 year old, we are able to trust him (knock on wood), no peeing/pooing, or ripping things up in the house, while we shower, cook, step out for 5 minutes, etc. as we speak, my papers & folders & purse & shoes are on the ground, and he doesn't touch them.

at 16-20 weeks, we had to take him out 6x/day. these days, we just take him out 3x/day for bathroom.

ps. following him around served a dual purpose-- also to tell him "no" when he chewed stuff, as he was teething then, and give him other toys to chew instead...

good luck & keep us posted on Toby!!

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see what the Worm is up to: http://bassetworm.blogspot.com/

Pepe@Moz

Hi! I have the exact same problem! Papaya is 4 month old now and stays out in the yard most of the time. We have now entered the phase that she actually waits to be inside the house to pee and poo... Lovely!
But we are getting there! No accidents during the night!

Guess patience and consistency are key!

Good luck (to us!!)

Mikey T

I going to approach this different here are the areas people screw up making it more diffcult to house train.


1. not realizing going in basset are one of the slower breeds to mature in the area a sphincter control I have not seen a baset truely house trained befor the age of 6 month with a 1 yer being more typical/

2. not createing a ridged schedual of eating dirinking sleep and play to make the dogs schedule of elimination predictable to prevent accidents. {a lack of accidents is not a guage of housetraining simply management}

3. Not understaning the role activity plays in the dogs need to urinate. It is the cause of most he was outside but comes and pees inside problems. It is quite simple a sleeping puppy might be able to go all night, a resting but awake puppy and hour or two and acvtive puppy. 10 15 minutes top. activity creates urine.

4. expecting the dog to learn a signal to tell you it need to go out with out actual teaching it one One reason I recommend teach the dog to ring a bell.

5. Not knowing how to dected old urine with a black light and effectly cean a spot to remove odor. Dog tend to go in the same spot with scent being a big indicator where it is ok to go. If an accident in the house is not effectively cleaned it is going to attract the dog to repeated go there.,

6. the importance of teaching substrate preference and what is under the dogs feet as an signal to go. That act of releive the presure is for a lack of a better terminology pleasurable so in a way it is self rewarding dog that have accident on carpet are going to develop a preference for going on carpet. It is why management and preventing accidents is crucial.

8. The importance of seperating pottying from other outdoor activities. Do not take a puppy for a walk to go potty. What happens is the dog learns by delaying his elimination the loger he gets to continue the walk and have fun not what you want. Designate a small area for the dog to go in. Take then there do not ineteract etc be a boring as possible when the dog goes then reward lavishly and you go on a walk etc. But keep in mind number 3 and make sure the dog goes again before entering the house.

CatherineM

We have vinyl flooring. It saves our sanity. This isn't my first basset. I like dog doors too. In the past, I have used a can filled with pennies. Shake it when you catch them peeing where they shouldn't and it scares them. Our problem with our current puppy is that he won't pee outside. We can take him for an hour walk, and he will hold it until he gets back inside. It's hard to praise him for doing it right, if he won't pee on grass, tree or bush. He is bizarre.

jhaas

Thank you so much....houndmomma and Wworm those techniques are VERY helpful!! We will give it a try...we have been keeping on top of the crate training/interrupting/constant watching, but he still manages to evade us. I am well aware that hounds are a little slower and this will take time....I just wanted to make sure that there is nothing we are missing and that we are using the most efficient techniques. I thought of giving him his treat outside, but to be honest, I've purchased about 10 different kinds of treats and cannot find one that he actually will get excited enough for! Any suggestions on that?