General Chat

Hi All - we are thinking of getting a puppy (have had dogs before but always older, re-homes). Roughly how long would basic house-training take, and at what age would puppy classes be a good idea. I assume the classes are mainly for dog socialisation rather than formal training. Any readers' experiences welcome! x

most puppy are clean by 4 months
and classes usually start round about 4 to 6 months

good luck

House training can take up to couple of weeks, don't use them puppy mats pet shops sell as puppy does not know whats what, take puppy out about 20mins after feeding and once it does something make sure you reward it i have taught mine to wee on command and dirty by using words like good wee wee and so on saves you standing in pouring rain waiting on dog to go.

Please make sure you see pups parents and don't take pup before its 8 weeks as last 2 weeks with mum is when she trains them.

I wish you well with your new puppy they can be so much fun.

GG

House training largely demands on the puppy really BUT with the right signals it shouldn't take any more than about a week really.

For housetraining I would cover the whole kitchen floor (or whatever room contains your back door) in about 4 layers of newspaper......and then......when the puppy goes to the loo on it you make a major fuss and praise and reward ......THEN instead of removing the soiled paper.....take off the first couple of layers only......the scent would be on the bottom couple still......and then move THAT piece of paper nearer the back door. **eventually the puppy learns to stand by the back door ready to go out when they need to go**

With poo.......use loo roll to pick it up but treat it the same as before....leave a tiny scent piece for the puppy to look for next time he / she goes and move closer to the back door.

At the same time as this you take the puppy outside every hour on the hour where possible........and praise and over praise when they do it outside.

This system has always worked spot on for my dogs and with the poodle she only wee'd in the house once and we had her at 11 wks of age.

Once the pup has had his/her full vaccinations they're ready to go to classes.....some are aimed more at socialisation some more at actual training.........I would go to the ones more aimed at socialisation at first then once the pup is happy and confident move on to the more serious training one.

Good luck !!! Keep us posted xx

Hello Shelia ,
We have three dogs ( all from pups ) . Personally I have no idea about puppy classes but I'm sure other folk will have some idea . As regards getting house trained , it depends on several things I suppose . Being very observant helps a great deal . As soon as pup wakes up after a snooze you take him / her outside . We always combined this with saying " be clean "........now if I open the door and say " go and be clean " they go out and do their business .
Personally , I wouldn't get sucked into buying " puppy training " wee mat things , newspaper works just as well ( on a floor that easy to mop ) .
It really doesn't take very long in scale of the dogs life , it just takes persistence .
I wish you all the best .........puppy breath is the greatest .....lol

LOL

methinks puppy training classes are more for training the new owners!!!

Bob

Amanda makes a good point......you get to know your pup and when they are bum up head down sniffing it is usually a signal that they're looking for somewhere to *go* if you can grab them and take them outside at that point they'll soon get the hang of what's required of them.

I was always told that puppys WANT to please they just need to be given the right signals to do the right thing. BUT you're talking a foreign language to them at the beginning. LOADS of praise is always the way forward and a firm *NO* when they get it wrong is usually enough to point them in the right direction xx

Of course it is for the owners Bob lol.Been there and done it and it is exhausting .I always had to come home for a drink lol.

Thanks everyone - hopefully our new 'arrival' will be with us sometime in February. Our peace will be shattered, lol, but at least they grow up quicker than children ;-)))

Sheila
I too was concerned about house training a pup but think we've mastered it. Never had a pup before but Daisy is now 12 weeks old and performing outside after 2 weeks of intense watching her signals. She has been used to newspapers on the kitchen floor as others have suggested here but where we can we let her outside and reward her once she has performed. I too wondered about socialising her but she has already been invited to a puppy party at the Vets next weekend so will take it from there. The cold weather has prevented us from taking her out for many walks but she is a small lhasa apso.
Good luck in Feb.

Di
Edit - don't know why but my user name has changed back to an old one. Was Gemqueen