Can a 10-week-old puppy truly be 99% house-trained as ads claim?

Some dogs house break easier than others. Small male dogs can be the hardest to house break. I would recommend to continue treating them as if they are little puppies. Its still important to eliminate the potential to have accidents in the house. Until you are sure they will not longer potty in the house, continue the focus on housebreaking.

No, it should be fine. I purchased an ex-show dog (a male Basset Hound) who was kept in kennels outside, never indoors, and moved him into my home. He was almost two when I did this, and he very easily adapted to living in a home and I potty trained him successfully. It can take months to housetrain a puppy, so be patient. I hope this helps!

I see that Mabel is only about three months old - it's completely normal for her to still be having accidents. Remember, she's just a baby. It will take quite a while for her to be reliable in the house. Most dogs are at least 6-8 months old before they can be trusted without supervision in the house. At this age, you should be taking her outside every 20-30 minutes if she is awake and active. Make sure that you go out with her for potty breaks, and reward her with a rest as soon as she potties outside. This will help to ensure that she goes to the bathroom every time you take her out, which will help to keep her bladder empty and prevent accidents. She should also be supervised at all times in the house, and confined to a crate or puppy-proofed room when you're not home or unable to watch her. We have an article in our database with more details about how to house train puppies that you may also find helpful. You can read it here: https://www.petcoach.co/article/7-rules-for-effective-housetraining

It's very normal for a 16 week old puppy to still be having accidents in the house - most puppies are not reliably housetrained until 8-10 months of age, or older. It sounds like you're on the right track by taking your puppy out frequently, and praising and rewarding him when he goes - but if he's still having accidents in between potty breaks, I would recommend taking him even more often. I take my puppies out every 20-30 minutes while they are being housetrained, unless they are sleeping. There is no need to cage him after he has an accident, or use any other type of punishment, as this won't help - focus on getting him out more often to prevent accidents in the future, if this is happening. Don't wait for some type of signal that he needs to go - just take him every 20-30 minutes. Once he's gone a full 14 days with no accidents at all, you can start to give him a bit more freedom and space out his potty breaks a bit more. Just be patient and consistent, and give it time - he's still just a baby. He will get the hang of things as he gets older :)

Wait until the puppies are 8 weeks old and then get one. You can then carefully start potty-training your puppy, They are babies, so they will have accidents. Most likely potty training will not be 100% successful until they are at least 3 months old. If you let the puppy stay until it is 8 weeks old, it will not develop bad habits. On the contrary, it will have the opportunity to get well socialised as it will be able to play with its siblings and still has mommy for comfort.

I see that Murphy is still very young, only about 3-4 months old - this is much too young to expect him to be reliably housetrained. Most small-breed puppies like Shih Tzus are not reliable until at least 6-8 months of age or even older, so it's very normal and expected that he is still having accidents. You will need to be patient with him while he learns. Take Murphy outside frequently (every 20-30 minutes while he's awake and active) - go out with him so that you can watch, and reward with a treat as soon as he pees or poops. Inside, he needs to be supervised at all times to prevent accidents. If you aren't able to watch him, or when you're not home, he should be confined to a crate or a puppy-proofed room where accidents will be easy to clean up. If you see him start to have an accident, just hurry him outside to finish up there - then praise and reward as usual. It's actually not recommended to use any type of punishment for accidents in the house, as it usually doesn't help and just makes your puppy afraid of you. If he has an accident, clean it up without comment and focus on supervising him better next time.

14 weeks is very young to be fully house trained. The best thing to do is have a urine sample checked by your vet. If there is an infection then it can cause these symptoms and you will need antibiotics to fix this. If there urine is normal, then it is just behavioral and training problems associated with his age.