Am I doing this right?

    • Bronze

    Am I doing this right?

    I have a rather young Alaskan Malamute puppy, only 7 weeks old (was already winged off her moms milk and on dry dog food when we got her).  My first priority with her has been to try and house train our puppy Allie.  We feed her once in the morning, once when I get home and a few hours later. 

    I leave her in our living room with a child gate (to confine her to the area) while I'm at work with neighbors dropping by every 2-3 hours to take her outside..  During the night I have her sleep in a create (in our room, any other place she cries all night, this is the only way we can get sleep!).

    When I am home during the evenings... I try and watch her like a hawk and take her outside the moment I see her sniff the floors, but even with this, she still doesn't seem to equate outside as the place to go yet and sometimes sneaks past me and goes somewhere in the house.

    So I'd like to know, am I house breaking her the right way?  Is there anything I can do to make this easier for her?

    Any help would be very much appreciated!

    Thanks,

    Stephen

    • Bronze

    (Sorry for the second post!, just trying to put it in the right area) 

    I have a rather young Alaskan Malamute puppy, only 7 weeks old (was already winged off her moms milk and on dry dog food when we got her).  My first priority with her has been to try and house train our puppy Allie.  We feed her once in the morning, once when I get home and a few hours later. 

    I leave her in our living room with a child gate (to confine her to the area) while I'm at work with neighbors dropping by every 2-3 hours to take her outside..  During the night I have her sleep in a create (in our room, any other place she cries all night, this is the only way we can get sleep!).

    When I am home during the evenings... I try and watch her like a hawk and take her outside the moment I see her sniff the floors, but even with this, she still doesn't seem to equate outside as the place to go yet and sometimes sneaks past me and goes somewhere in the house.

    So I'd like to know, am I house breaking her the right way?  Is there anything I can do to make this easier for her?

    Any help would be very much appreciated!

    Thanks,

    Stephen

    • Gold Top Dog
    Sounds right to me. That's pretty much what we did with Caleb when he was a puppy. Allie is still little, and it's hard for her to wait even the couple of seconds it takes you to get her out after she signals. She may not really get the hang of housetraining for weeks, even months. The only suggestion I can think of is something Caleb's breeder recommended- lilmit her water and take the bowl up in the evenings. What worked for us was to measure Caleb's water. At 8 weeks we started with 1 cup. For the most part, that amount lasted him all day. If needed, I'd give him a little more. We also picked his water bowl up at 8 every night. Gradually we increased the amount of water we gave him, and eventually the bowl was left down until 9PM. I think Caleb was about 10 months old when I stopped measuring his water and left the bowl down all night.
    • Gold Top Dog
    LOL I thought my brain was playing tricks on me when I saw this was un-answered. Here's the response I left with your other post: Sounds right to me. That's pretty much what we did with Caleb when he was a puppy. Allie is still little, and it's hard for her to wait even the couple of seconds it takes you to get her out after she signals. She may not really get the hang of housetraining for weeks, even months. The only suggestion I can think of is something Caleb's breeder recommended- lilmit her water and take the bowl up in the evenings. What worked for us was to measure Caleb's water. At 8 weeks we started with 1 cup. For the most part, that amount lasted him all day. If needed, I'd give him a little more. We also picked his water bowl up at 8 every night. Gradually we increased the amount of water we gave him, and eventually the bowl was left down until 9PM. I think Caleb was about 10 months old when I stopped measuring his water and left the bowl down all night.
    • Gold Top Dog

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    • Gold Top Dog

    Sounds right :)  This is a 7 week old puppy though, so while you can lay groundwork for housetraining, she doesn't really have the ability to hold her bladder and bowels. Over time it will click in if you continue as you're goingSmile

    • Gold Top Dog

    This is the correct starting point.   Regretably  I have a 7 month old who is trustworthy about 90% of the time. How ever he will start at 5:30 am if not out with in 10 minutes he will mess his crate. I have been trying to push him back a bit, his forever hom ewill not be happy getting up at that incilvilized hour , especially when the pup I bred for them who is now 9 yrs will happily wait till after 10:00 when it is time to go grab Starbucks and a muffin. 

    He was Litter box trained and yeck not something I will ever encourage or seek out again.  He is one nasty little bugger. My kids are pretty well house broken by 14 weeks with only one or two odd accidents...

    Give him time and remember the basic rules , If she drinks or eats she goes out side..... if she waked up she goes out side... if you have a rowdy play date she goes out side....     

    Good Luck !!

    Bonita of Bwana

    • Bronze

    Thanks for the assurance.  I was very worried I wasn't training her the correct way.

    Thanks again for the help,

    Stephen

    • Gold Top Dog

    sometimes a short little walk around the back yard will help stimulate pups to 'go'. lots of praise and treats when she does go outside.

    • Gold Top Dog

    we set a timer and take the pup out every hour on the hour around the clock, and as the pup gets older gradually increase time between outside visits. yeah you'll be tired and irritated but every inside accident you avert will cut weeks off the housebreaking. Waiting for "signals" is usually too late. Every time the pup potties outside we throw a party.

    • Gold Top Dog

    sounds about right to me, too. if the sneeking off in the house to pee is a problem you could leash her to you.

    the most important thing right now is to take her out as often as possible. the idea is to not give them a chance to go inside. of course accidents happen. and when they do you want to be sure to be there to correct the behaviour. dont scold! if your pup is less timid, a simple "uh-oh" and an immediate trip outside will do the trick. if the pup is very timid, simple scooping her up mid-pee and taking her outside immediately might be better...

    always praise when she goes outside! also: you might wanna cue a command for pottying outside.. i know it comes in handy for me Smile

    but yeah, you're doing good... it just takes time, and consistency. she'll do just fine...