[Bessiethebassetsdad]

Hello from the Gator Girls!

I know that housebreaking bassets is more difficult than most breeds. I have the luxury of working from home and take the girls out once an hour to do their biz. When I take them out, they are great at going as soon as we hit the grass (Although Bessi does enjoy writing her name on our brick pavers). The problem that I am having is that they will still piddle inn the house....sometimes soon after I bring them in. They have a 4' x 6' gated play area in my home office

Hold on ........Bessi just went pee.....AARRRGGHH! (We went out for a potty run 41 minutes ago).

I do make water and food available to them at all times...and maybe that is the issue.

I know that many people are in favor of crate training, but I want them to run around and play in their little play area.

Aside from crate training, what can i do?

 

[Mikey T]

The problem that I am having is that they will still piddle inn the house....sometimes soon after I bring them in. They have a 4' x 6' gated play area in my home office

The problem is quite simple. if the girls are sleeping or generally inactive going every hour is not a problem. But if they are playing and active it is more like every 10-15 minutes. You need a schedule not just food and water but also play time and sleep time. Organize play time to when you can watch them and take them out more frequently. If not look at a means of seperating the girls and having the sleep/rest If you allow them together they are going to play and mess up your schedule. it is that simple

Housetraining Your Puppy

Do not rely on a puppy to tell you when it's time to go out. That is expecting too much responsibility and communication at too early an age. It is up to you, the adult human, to know when he needs to go out. Watch his activity level and the clock.
A 12 wk puppy who is busy playing may need to urinate every 15-20 minutes, whereas a resting puppy might go for an hour, and a sleeping puppy can go 8 hours at night. Activity makes urine! Activity makes urine! Repeat this 10 times, slowly. This is a very important lesson for new puppy owners.

If you can not suppervise the girls during play time then at least move them to an acceptable surface that is set up a play area outside for them that way the accident are not occur in the house. You can create shade with a screen but I like the Reflextive fabric shades available from clean run and others.
Cool Puppy Shade Cloth Panels

I do make water and food available to them at all times...and maybe that is the issue.

that is certainly a contributing factor. it is hard to have predictability and a schedule of when the dogs need to go when that can do what they want in the food and drink. Personnally I have not seen a free fed basset that was not overweight. does one exist probably but it is exceedingly rare. SO to me restricting access to food is a major health issue. Much of the orthopeadic problems in the breed are at least partial attributable to being over weight.

The Importance of Schedules

To housetrain effectively, you need to establish a schedule that works for your family and will help your puppy learn the rules quickly. You will be amazed at how quickly your puppy learns if you stick to a schedule that has fixed times for eating, sleeping and exercising. Now is a good time to review sample schedules and prepare one that will work for you.

 

[loopylou]

Hey there!

how old are the girls? When I first got my Basset Monty I took him out after he slept, played, ate, drank and generally blinked! It felt like we needed a revolving door on the house. Thing is this became less frequent and now he asks out (he's 20 weeks now). Just hang in there, it does get better! Despite what some folk say - you can train a Basset!!!!!!

 

[Bessiethebassetsdad]

Hey there!

how old are the girls? Despite what some folk say - you can train a Basset!!!!!!

The girls are now 11 weeks. Thanks to Mikey T, I now have some great ideas on how to conquor the piddle!

From my 3 weeks of basset ownership, I think that the question is not "Can a Basset be trained" but "Can the Basset train you!" I am trying, but am a slow learner!

 

[Mikey T]

Can the Basset train you!"

the one thing about bassets are they are very consistent about punishing you for mistakes, leaving food on the counter etc.

 

[Wworm]

Personnally I have not seen a free fed basset that was not overweight. does one exist probably but it is exceedingly rare. SO to me restricting access to food is a major health issue. Much of the orthopeadic problems in the breed are at least partial attributable to being over weight.

We agree with this, and this is from experience. Mr. T the dachshund before Worm, was free feeding (always have food available) and overate. He started off as the skinniest puppy, people always yelling "feed your dog!" to us. And became overweight by 3-5 yrs of age. My parents would not stop free feeding him-- "what if there's an earthquake while we're gone?"-- which is a good question, and now that Worm is not free feeding, this issue is still unresolved-- so he never lost the weight and continued to be an overweight sausage dog.

 

[ChucksMom]

Chuck usually piddles a few times when we first take him out... Maybe give the girls a little more time outdoors to see if they go again?

 

[Barney'spal]

before i got my basset i was told by everyone how hard they were to train. i'm a lover of dog doors and am not fond of crate training...i know, i'm in the minority on that. it took about 3 weeks for the process to "pretty much" sink in his head...still have troubles on rainy days..have to watch him like a hawk then. i'd say that at 5 months he is 98% trained which is far behind the other breeds i have had, so guess all those people knew what they were talking about. at 8 weeks, alot (every 15 minutes) was put into his training, but i actually did something right and got him in the spring. michigan winters can be brutal and hopefully he won't regress. hang in there...it gets better!

 

[Mikey T]

still have troubles on rainy days

I have a dog door but I do believe it is one of the weakness of using a dog door for training the other is the dog never actual learns the need to hold it. IMHO the dislike for rain can be partially a learned reaction When you are housetraining without a dog door you go out with the dog no matter the weather but with a dog door Sometime human goes out and play wth dog but only when it nice, Rain = bad. I think it is posible to reduce that mentality on the dog somewhat by going out with the dog in the rain and making a concious effort to make rain more fun than nice days to be outside.

If you do a search on the problem of a basset not wanting to pee when it raining or having accident in the house when its raining 90% or greater it is a dog that had a dog door for at least part of the housetraining.

 

[jaleely]

one day about 7.5 months old, bowser just woke up and was potty trained *lol* after all the struggles, and accidents! you really do just have to keep them on a routine, it will take time, but they'll get it eventually!

 

[MollyMcFrecklesMom]

Same thing that happened to Bowser happened to Molly. Patience and persistence, and one day it just seemed to click. Waiting for that to happen with Winston, but he's still only 6 months old.

 

[janey135]

like everyone has said it will get easier,i do agree though that basset's do seem to be harder to puppy train than other breed of dogs bertie is 27 weeks now is my 1st basset and has just about mastered puppy training i have found it easier though being warm here and being able to leave my back door open so he can go in and out when he wants too, he's basically realised that he has to toilet outside.

 

[Esther]

I'm still working on it.
I hadn't set foot inside a day in my life until february.
so even tho I'll be two saturday i still have my moments.

 

[Mikey T]

esta' I'm sure your ma understand that it take longer to learn new stuff when you have to unlearn old stuff first and some time that old stuff pop up out of know where because of force of habit. it just the way things are.

I know for example if I am driving to a place for the first time and make a mistake getting there it is big toruble. I tend to make the same mistake over and over again even though I conciously thinking purposly to advoid it and the once I get it right through enoug repitition occasion without warn that sam darn mistake pop-up and ally you can is say to your self what the [email protected] are you doing it simply the way brain not just human brains are wired.