How To Potty Training A 4 Month Old Cockapoo?
September 3, 2009 by admin
Filed under Care & Training Q&As
I was told by the pet store owner to potty train our puppy we should keep her in the crate for 3 hours then let her out for 10 mins to use the wee wee pad. However Roxci thinks the wee wee pad is a chew toy and my daughters are not crazy about the idea of Roxci in the crate. He seems to be giving me bad advice — she has 2 more shots to get before she could go outside. Any suggestions?
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I am not sure I understand you potty training method, or why your puppy can’t potty outside at 4-months-old. If the pee pads are not working switch to a litter box method. The puppy is only supposed to be in the crate (or other method) when you are sleeping, or not watching the puppy. All other times you should be practicing being good in the house. Here are some tips, use what helps.
I use a crate* to potty train with, but only for potty training and then I break it down and store it. I put blankets and a small food and water dish in the crate. Dogs don’t potty where they eat and sleep. When they are first little, I only expect them to hold their potty for 4 hours, and then 6 hours, then 8 hours and so on. So when they are first little, I set a timer or alarm clock to wake myself up at night to take them *out. I only allow my puppy in the bedroom* or the living room, only one room at a time. They have to graduate to more space. If I allow them to have full run of the house, it will overwhelm them. I take them out the same door each time. I tie a dinner bell to the door handle. Do not use a jingle bell as they could get their toe caught in it. So when they are little, I ring the bell for them, and then open the door to go *outside to potty. When they get bigger, I take their paw and whack the bell and open the door to go potty. Eventually getting to the place where the puppy will ring the bell and let me know when they need to go potty. Dogs want to please you, so it is your job to let them know what behaviors please you and what doesn’t. So when my puppy goes potty, I give her a treat*, and clap, and make a fuss and praise her. So she learns that going potty outside makes me happy. If she has an accident, make a disgust sound like “tsst” and take her out right away. I never yell* or spank* my puppies. Take them out when they first wake up, after they eat or drink, before nap, finish romping, when their activities change, or when they are sniffing around. Some puppies go pee right away, but may not go poop until 10 minutes later, so wait for the poop. I have a little play time here, because sometimes I think they are done, and they are not. Puppies train at their own pace. While I may have a puppy that hasn’t had an accident in several weeks, I don’t let my guard down. I don’t expect my puppies to be “fully potty trained” until one-year-old. If they have a setback, shake it off, and start over. I only have my puppies in the crate when I am not watching them. When I am sleeping, cooking, ironing, doing chores, basically when I am not watching her. All other times, she is out of the crate practicing being a “big girl.” This is the time I train her how to behave in the house. So we are practicing “no barking”, ‘no biting”, “no jumping”, and “don’t eat the furniture.” I also have to practice “playing inside” so she doesn’t knock over things. You must keep the puppy in sight when they are little because they don’t know the difference between newspaper and carpet, and you don’t want them sneaking off and getting into trouble. Some puppies can sleep through the night around 3-months-old, but their bladder is grown around 6-months-old.
REVISIONS:
*I use a crate to train with. It is the method I prefer, compared to other methods I have tried. I noticed that if they are in the crate, while I am doing chores, they are o.k., because the crate allows them to see me and be re-assured. The crate can also be a comfort when stored in the basement for dogs who live in areas where thunderstorms and tornados are an issue. . However, use the method that works best for you…..a laundry basket, a cardboard box, a woof-woof house, child gates……whatever works for you.
*Outside, pee pad, litter box, whichever method you are using. When the puppy is first little, keep the pee pad, litter box near the food and water dish, so the puppy can eat and drink, and then go potty. You can move it away as they get older. The pee pad has a scent that smells and initiates potty. Sometimes a pee pad makes a sound that scares some puppies, so you might want to use a litter box if that happens. The pee pad allows a puppy to walk around, but a litter box keeps the puppy in one place.
*Bedrooms, I use the bedroom and living room for training, because it works for me. Choose rooms that work for you, but watch for rooms that are damp, or drafty. While my puppies sleep in the bedroom during training, once they are trained, I let them sleep where they want to. They don’t have to sleep in the bedroom forever.
*Treats. While I use treats for training, you don’t have to. I like Charlee Bears for training (a little cracker for a little mouth,) I use them for training, but once they are trained, I cut back on them.
*Some puppies will go potty in the same spot each time. Some puppies have to be told to go potty. A command like “go out” for pee, or “go finish” for poop, might work for you, keep saying “go finish” until the puppy poops. This is a good thing to train if you travel with your dogs. By using commands, the puppy won’t get confused when you are visiting someone, on vacation with you, or when you get to a new home. The command will tell them what you want them to do in an unfamiliar place. You might also want to use a leash method, so the puppy doesn’t sneak off, or for strange places.
*Yelling. It is not a good idea to “yell” or “spank” your puppy and then take them outside when they have an accident. They may get confused and think that going outside is punishment. While you want to correct them, if you are extreme, they may not want to go outside again. Shake it off, and resume your schedule. You have to keep it real. Puppies train at their own pace, but a puppy can only hold their potty for a few hours. A guide would be 1 hour for each month of age, plus 1 hour, so a three-month-old puppy should only be expected to hold their potty for 4 hours at most.
Source: These tips, tricks, and ideas were contributed from many brilliant minds. Thanks for your help!
I have a cockapoo as well and we use potty pads all we do is encourage him to go on the puppy pad and take him too it when we get him out of his create also do this after you have played with him and after feeding and after he has had a drink . I am not sure if your vet has told you this but if you have not had dogs in your back garden then you can let him out there aswell supervised of course and with a lead on ( this is also good for lead trainning them) our cockapoo has now learnt that he has to go potty outside or on his potty pad which we keep by the back door.
Any way I hope this helps cockapoos are very intelligent dogs so yours should pick this up quite quickly. Good Luck!!!
I think you should have started this much earlier – at 4 months you shouldn’t be training your puppy to wee on the pad you should be getting her to wee outside! I have just got a puppy and he is now 3.5 months old and he cries when he needs a wee so we open the door and take him out and he wees.
If you see her sniffing or circling it indicates they need to wee so take her outside immediately and keep saying ‘wee’ or ‘wee wee’. When she wees give her lots of praise and maybe atreat then take her inside again. If you keep repeating this process she should be holding her wee until she gets outside in no time! our pup does occasionally have accidents inside but its mostly because we dont take him out often enough. after a while your dog will recognise when you say ‘wee’ outside and should learn to go toilet on demand! (within reason).
As for the shot problem – it isnt! Your pup can go into your garden as long as there arent any other dogs which havent had the shots that regularly use your garden so you should be fine as long as she doesnt get out.
hope this helps! =D
Pet store owners are not a good source of information, or else they wouldn’t be selling puppies from puppy mills. Keeping her in the crate all day is not a good idea. You need to buy some books on dog training and learn how to potty train a puppy. She can go outside without all her shots, just don’t let her interact with other animals at the risk of infection.
I have a 10 week old puppy that I am crate training. Now that she has adjusted to her crate, she really likes it. She goes in on her own to sleep and play. I only put her in her crate at night to sleep, and if I leave the house. I’d never crate trained a dog before because I thought it seemed cruel and the dog would feel trapped, but my new puppy has proven me wrong.
As for potty training, I am not a fan of the wee wee pads. I think they’re more of a mess than a help. My dog chewed and shredded them, and usually pottied next to it rather than on it. So now she’s going outside. She’s still not perfect, but she knows when her feet are on grass, that’s where she supposed to potty.
Your dog is allowed to go outside before it gets all it’s shots. Just don’t let it come in contact with other dogs if you don’t know whether they’ve been vaccinated or not. I don’t know who told you your puppy can’t go outside, but that is false.
Even without her shots, it’s still fine to take her into the garden. Take her out and praise her when she goes outside. Or maybe you could stop her chewing on the pad and give her something else to chew on. She’s obviously bored if she is chewing on the pad.
ask a pet lover or pet shop people