[Storms]

Hi everyone. I just got my 8.5 week old puppy from his breeder on Saturday, and he has been adjusting slowly to his new life here. We started potty and crate training right away from day one. He is being taken outside about once every other hour or so unless he's eaten or drank a lot.

He has thankfully not has any accidents in the house yet, but I'm wondering, are accidents necessary for him to learn where *not* to go? We've been praising him like crazy when he potties outside, and he seems to be catching on that outside is for potty (he goes relatively quickly once we step outside in the grass.) I just worry that he doesn't know that inside is potty-prohibited since he's only done so outside thus far.

 

[Jax08]

No. they are not "necessary". they will happen but please don't set it up to happen. Some puppies are just very clean and housebreak easily.

 

[kimbale]

Nope! Not necessary at all. My current 1 1/2 year old was a great pup to potty train. He had one accident inside and I didn't catch him, so he didn't even get corrected. He is wonderfully housebroken.

Consistency is far more important. I would take him to the same spot outside. We would go outside every 15-20 minutes while he was active inside and 15 minutes after a nap or eating/drinking. It was a bit excessive, but he caught on and has never had an accident other than that one time.

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[middleofnowhere]

No accidents required. And until pup #5 arrived I would have agreed that house training is easy. So if this is your first pup, you have four more to go before hitting "darned near impossible."

 

[Storms]

Thank you everyone for your help. Since I posted yesterday, he has had two accidents in the house (I think I jinxed it, lol.)

The first time was about 10 minutes before I planned to take him outside. He had a lot of water and wasn't able to hold it, which was my fault. I should've been better at keeping how much he drank in mind. The second time was unexpected and about half an hour after we took him outside. He pooped. I caught him mid-poop on the carpet, quickly picked him up and took him outside. He then finished his poop in the grass, around the same spot he usually potties. I praised him like crazy when he finished outside.

I'll try harder to be more consistent to minimize accidents and am hoping he catches on quickly.

 

[Dutchy]

Sounds like you're handling it like you're supposed to! Good luck!