My 4-month old puppy won't house-train. What are effective tips?

I will give you the method I suggest to help potty train puppies. I find it to be effective in house breaking them: Start by keeping your puppy on a regular feeding schedule, and taking away her food between meals. Take her out to potty first thing every morning, and once every 30 minutes to an hour. Always make sure she goes out after meals, first thing when she wakes up from a nap, last thing before bedtime at night, and right before you leave the house. Take her to the same spot each time to go potty. Her scent there will encourage her to go. Stay with her outside each time she goes to potty, at least until she is fully house trained. When she goes outside, praise her and give her a treat. You might want to consider crate training as part of her house training. It allows you to keep an eye on her for signs that she has to go potty, and will teach her to hold it until you put her outdoors. The crate needs to be big enough for her to stand up, turn around, and lie down, but it should not be big enough for her to go potty in.

Housebreaking puppies can be tough, especially the little guys. With Leo, what I recommend is that when you take him outsid, you go out with him, use a leash if he can’t stay focused and give him 5 minutes to go. Keep saying, Go Potty! or whatever command you want. If he goes, tell him, Yes! And give him treats outside immediately. It’s important to mark that behavior you want. Now, if Leo doesn’t go. Bring him back in and do one of the following- put him in the crate for a bit, carry him around, or leave him on his leash and hold onto him. The trick is to not let him out of your sight or have him in a crate. This is important! Then wait a 5-10 minutes and take him out again. Repeat until he goes. If he stays to go inside, clap your hands, say NO. and take him right out. Reward him profusely when he does go outside. The key is not to let him have an accident inside by watching him like a hawk!

I generally recommend crate training, especially for large breed dogs. It will give him a safe space to rest and help establish a routine. Try to keep a consistent schedule taking him outside after meals and when you return after leaving. Veterinary Partner has some good tips in their Canine Behavior Series.

If you want her to go potty outside only, I would remove the potty pads as this is likely just confusing her. Giving her the option of both may confuse her as to where the appropriate place to go potty is. Instead, taking her out every 1-2 hours, and establishing a routine of going out after eating, drinking, playing, waking up, etc, can help get her used to the fact that outside = go potty time, along with your treats and rewards. If she has an accident inside, moving her outside to let her finish is best, as well as using an enzymatic cleaner to remove any residue and discourage going potty there again. I'm also attaching a few articles that may help! https://www.petcoach.co/article/how-to-housetrain-your-dog-or-puppy-using-a-potty-cue/ https://www.petcoach.co/article/top-5-tips-to-potty-train-your-dog-young-and-old/ https://www.petcoach.co/article/5-common-housetraining-mistakes/

It can be difficult to re-potty train a dog, especially once they think that pottying inside is ok. First, get a good pet cleaner that talks about breaking down enzymes (I like Nature's Miracle). This will help break down the things in urine and feces that pets smell and we can't. Next, you have to start from ground zero. Take her out every 4-6 hours on a leash. When you first go outside, don't play, just walk around the grass and tell her something like "go potty, go potty, go potty" to remind her that she needs to go potty. When she does, give her a really good treat, dance around and get her excited! A mini puppy party! Then she can go off leash and explore or play or do whatever else she wants to do outside. Consistency is key. You may even have to get her up once in the middle of the night if she tends to have accidents at night. Here are a couple helpful articles: https://www.petcoach.co/article/7-rules-for-effective-housetraining https://www.petcoach.co/article/6-common-reasons-for-potty-accidents-in-dogs https://www.petcoach.co/article/top-5-tips-to-potty-train-your-dog-young-and-old

• DO have a feeding schedule in which elimination breaks follow eating and drinking; this is a natural reflex in dogs. Elimination breaks should also follow napping/sleeping and exercise/play. • DO praise your puppy at the time he is eliminating in an appropriate place! You can also give him a small treat at that time. • DO constantly supervise puppy to prevent him from sneaking off and eliminating when you can’t correct him; try keeping him on a leash attached to your waist. • DO clean inappropriate eliminations thoroughly with enzymatic cleaner to remove residual smells that may entice puppy to revisit the area. • DO leave feces in desired areas of elimination, when appropriate, to reinforce that this is an appropriate area for performing this function. • DO take puppy to the same desired area every time; do not play with or excite him until he has eliminated. He should realize that elimination is his first and foremost duty (no pun intended!) and that playtime is secondary. • DO interrupt improper elimination by startling your puppy (e.g. clapping your hands) and redirect or carry him to the desired elimination area. • DO be consistent and patient until your puppy’s housetraining is complete. Incomplete housetraining is a primary cause of housesoiling as an adult dog. What NOT To Do: • DO NOT punish your puppy for inappropriate elimination verbally or physically (e.g. hitting with rolled up newspaper, rubbing his nose in his mess, etc). This is ineffective and may lead to further and more serious behavioral problems. • DO NOT punish your puppy after you find it. • DO NOT leave puppy outside unsupervised. You may miss an opportunity to praise him for appropriate elimination behavior. • DO NOT make abrupt changes to your puppy’s diet unless instructed by your veterinarian. • DO NOT allow puppy to have free access to the house without direct supervision. Be especially aware if you think your puppy is going to sleep in the evenings…he may be sneaking off to eliminate. • DO NOT get discouraged – accidents will happen and should be expected! Please talk with your veterinarian if you have more questions about housetraining your new addition.

Potty training issues like this can be very frustrating! The key is that you have to be very diligent, and more stubborn than your dog. Unfortunately, when it comes to potty training, going out 3 times a day isn't enough. If there is a way you can take her out more frequently, I would recommend it. Because if she doesn't go when you take her out, but she doesn't have access for another 6 or 8 hours, she is unlikely to hold it that long. You also need to make sure there is nowhere for Cardi to pee inside. This means she either needs to be picked up and carried inside (past where she normally pees), and stay on leash at your side at all times, or in a crate when unsupervised. The crate should be small enough that she can't get away from a pee spot, but big enough that she can stand and turn around. The other big thing is to get rid of the odor of urine inside. This means having the carpets cleaned, and in some cases rip up the carpet and pad underneath. As long as she smells the urine, she will recognize the area as an appropriate place to pee. Once a dog is trained to go inside, it can be a tough process to get them to go outside. The more you can give her opportunity to go outside the better. It might be a process best started over a weekend or a day you can be home. You have to give her frequent chances to do the right thing. Good luck!