Potty Scheduling

[daisyandduke]

I need some advise. I have 2 Boxer pups (6 months) that I am trying to get on a potty schedule. What is best schedule to have them in to go potty? They are being crate trained right now and they love their crate. They were going in a specific area and pad in the house, but I would like to start transitioning them to going outside. I have heard that some dogs are scheduled to go once in the morning and once at night. How do I get them to get on this schedule? And how do I get them to tell me they have to go? I am not opposed to having them go 3 times per day, but the peeing is at odd times. I am apprehensive about having them be crated and holding it for long periods of time.

They have water access all the time and I feed them 2xs per day. I crate them for a few hours during the day but let them out to play. When I let them out of their crate, they pee at the designated area (which is ok) but I am trying to train them away from doing that.

Any advice on how to get them on a schedule? How long should my boxers be able to "hold it"? How long should I have them crated during the day until they are potty trained?

Sorry, so many questions. Just wanna be a good puppy mommy and alleviate unnecessary frustration!

Thanks for your help and looking forward to your advice!

 

[CoraBoxer]

Thats the thing about pads, you have to teach them the same thing twice. With Cora who we had from 8 weeks old, we had her pee before being crated (say around 7am), then she was let out around 1-2pm and then at 4pm after work. Every day. As she got older it was once at 7am, and then again at 4pm. (started this when noticed she didn't really want to go at the mid point) Other than her sometimes leaking (hormone def) we never had issues. How did I schedule this? well... I had to be at work so there wasn't much choice (talking 6months+ here). I let her out and waited for her to pee. I locked her. I came home and let her out again to pee. She adjusted to the routine, I didn't have too many steps to follow. She didn't pee in her crate. Mind you, she doesn't have water access while crated. This could be a problem. I had Cora use doggy bells to signal needing to go out to pee by about 10-11 weeks old. Every time she was let out to pee (not play or walk) I had her paw hit the bells and i'd say 'lets go pee pee'. Thats about it.

Kahner, he's a rescue I adopted at 2.5 years old. I'm in a smaller house now so I don't need the bells as much, but he sits at the front door when he needs to go. He's done this since I got him. He's good about going pee before being crated at 7am, and holds it till about 3:30pm when I get home and let him out. But he's older. You'll probably want a pee break mid way through the day. Also Kahner is much less random with the peeing than Cora (boy vs girl thing?). He rarely calls to go pee, he does his thing while on walk and doesn't bother in between. Cora sometimes wants out a bunch of times.

I'm not sure if its better idea to move the pads closer to the door until they outside or if its better to just get rid of them right away and start retraining as if they were tiny puppies 8 weeks old, and do the thinking for them at first. I'd probably go with the second option because there will come a time when the pads disappear and even if they disappear from outside dogs will probably be confused at first. Unless they figure out they like the grass better even with the pads there.

Do they always go on your pads? Or do they pee on the grass outside when they are outside?

 

[KingGeorge]

We got George when he was 8 weeks and he had to go Avery 90 min or so if we didn't take him out and he was on the floor he would pee so in a way he trained us into take him out every 90 min or so. Since we have just been expanding that time Nd now he knows kwhenwe wake up at 6 he goes. And once again before I leave for work at 10. Then he has a walk mid day with a walker and when my girlfriend comes home. He knows when we go to brush our teeth that it's potty time as well so he just heads that way.

I think they key is make them go she u want them to go. And they will adapt to when you want his schedule to be.

 

[FuFuBear]

Potty schedule

I had Cora use doggy bells to signal needing to go out to pee by about 10-11 weeks old. Every time she was let out to pee (not play or walk) I had her paw hit the bells and i'd say 'lets go pee pee'.

Where did you hang the bells? In his crate or the door? I hang mine at the door to our fenced backyard, he will every now and then ring the bell when he wants to drink water because I leave a water bowl outside for him so sometimes he will pee while he’s out and I only give him water inside the house on his scheduled feedings. I pretty much have the same schedule. Although, I have a dilemma at night time, Fufu Bear is now almost 10 weeks old.

6:00 am – I take him potty he always pees then poops.
6:05 am – I feed him then take him outside again to do his business and play with him sometimes he will poop again sometimes not.
6:30 am – I get ready for work I take him with me in the bathroom.
6:45 am - After I get ready I take him outside again so he can run around and play while I get my son ready inside the house.
7:30 am – I put him in his crate then I go to work.
12:05 noon – I go home for lunch and let him out to potty/play, every now and then he’ll have a pee pee accident but never poops in his crate.
12:15 pm - I put his water and food bowl down while I eat my lunch, sometimes he’ll eat sometimes he won’t. He will run around the house and play or chase my cat.
12:35 pm – I let him out again to potty/play
12:50 pm – I put him back in his crate with a biscuit treat if he didn’t eat lunch
5:00 pm – I take him out to potty/play
6:00 pm – Feed him then shortly after take him outside again to potty/play
6:30 pm to 8:30 – During this period he is in and out of the house. He’ll chase his ball outside or we’ll play tug with his rope toy. He’ll chase my cat or my 3 year old son.

NOW THIS IS WHERE MY DILEMMA ARISES…
8:30 to 9:30 pm - he flops on the floor/carpet in the living room or bedroom to sleep after play time while we watch tv or spend family time. I would then put him in his crate.
Between 9:30 – 10:30 – he wakes up fussing so I take him outside to potty, then he wants to play…at this time I am exhausted and ready for bed.
10:30 pm – I put him back in his crate then he starts fussing and crying causing my husband and son to wake up. Sometimes I let him fuss for 15 minutes until he gets quiet then he will sleep through the night until about 4AM which is great because husband gets up for work at 4:00 AM so he lets him out and leaves him outside until I get up at 6 AM.

But this past 3 days between 10:30 – 11:30 he fusses and cries so loud it is frustrating me and my husband due to lack of sleep and disturbs our sleep so we have been putting him outside on our covered back porch and let him stay there all night. He has a cot outside that he sleeps on. He will fuss some but he also likes to sleep in his outside cot after daytime play. But then in the morning he makes 3-5 puddles of poop and 2-3 puddles of pee on the concrete patio. We need our sleep, but is it a bad idea to leave him outside in our covered porch all night? My concern is the potty/ house break. I feel like he won’t learn to control his poop/pee if he sleeps outside at night. He does good during the day.

 

[LILYLARUE]

My suggestion would be this: Take him out ON LEASH to a specific spot to go potty and use the command "go potty". This will help in several ways: 1. He doesn't get any reward (ie. playtime) until he goes potty. 2. It teaches him that THIS AREA IS POTTY AREA. 3. Will help later when you need a quick potty time so you can be on your way to whatever you have to rush off to. 4. Allows you to make sure they have completely eliminated and not just released enough to decrease bladder pressure. 5. Can check for worms, blood, discharge or other symptoms of illness.

Puppies have an extremely short attention span. They WILL get distracted by their own thoughts or other stimulus that can cause them to forget what they were doing - like stop mid-pee to chase a fly and then forget to finish. Don't expect any schedule or consistant eliminations til about 3-4 months. Expect accidents. Often times accidents are just lack of awareness on the human's part.

Keeping on a set feeding schedule will help you to learn their poop breaks. Some need to eliminate right after a meal, some hours later, some even directly before next meal time. Consistant meal times will help you to figure out their poop times.

WATER SHOULD ALWAYS BE AVAILABLE TO DOGS! Even PUPPIES!!! Never withhold water. Put your bowl back inside where it is accessible to the pups. After every large drink, take puppy out - on leash! It's a great potty training reinforcement tool. You don't only drink when you eat, neither do dogs. And pups can become dehydrated quickly without notice.

Pups should be taken out to eliminate:
After a play session
After a meal
After naps

Before guests arrive
Before bedtime
Before Meals

I know this can be frustrating. But, it will get easier if you use common sense. Anytime the pup goes out to potty, he should be on leash until he goes. Use playtime as the reward for pottying. Set meal times. Watch for signalling like sniffing the floor or pacing at the door or around the door. Some pups will even come to you and stare at you. LOL Two of mine do. Teach the bell to be used for potty requesting - again, without the water bowl outside to confuse the issue.

 

[daisyandduke]

Do they always go on your pads? Or do they pee on the grass outside when they are outside?

They pee on the grass when I take them outside

 

[daisyandduke]

WATER SHOULD ALWAYS BE AVAILABLE TO DOGS! Even PUPPIES!!! Never withhold water. Put your bowl back inside where it is accessible to the pups. After every large drink, take puppy out - on leash! It's a great potty training reinforcement tool. You don't only drink when you eat, neither do dogs. And pups can become dehydrated quickly without notice.

Yes, water is always available to my pups, even when they are crated, I have a water dispenser hanging in the crate.

My pups survived Parvo so I always make sure that they are hydrated and they get water when they need it. I am a little paranoid since we had to treat them for parvo at home!

 

[daisyandduke]

Thats the thing about pads, you have to teach them the same thing twice. With Cora who we had from 8 weeks old, we had her pee before being crated (say around 7am), then she was let out around 1-2pm and then at 4pm after work. Every day. As she got older it was once at 7am, and then again at 4pm. (started this when noticed she didn't really want to go at the mid point) Other than her sometimes leaking (hormone def) we never had issues. How did I schedule this? well... I had to be at work so there wasn't much choice (talking 6months+ here). I let her out and waited for her to pee. I locked her. I came home and let her out again to pee. She adjusted to the routine, I didn't have too many steps to follow. She didn't pee in her crate. Mind you, she doesn't have water access while crated. This could be a problem. I had Cora use doggy bells to signal needing to go out to pee by about 10-11 weeks old. Every time she was let out to pee (not play or walk) I had her paw hit the bells and i'd say 'lets go pee pee'. Thats about it.

Kahner, he's a rescue I adopted at 2.5 years old. I'm in a smaller house now so I don't need the bells as much, but he sits at the front door when he needs to go. He's done this since I got him. He's good about going pee before being crated at 7am, and holds it till about 3:30pm when I get home and let him out. But he's older. You'll probably want a pee break mid way through the day. Also Kahner is much less random with the peeing than Cora (boy vs girl thing?). He rarely calls to go pee, he does his thing while on walk and doesn't bother in between. Cora sometimes wants out a bunch of times.

I'm not sure if its better idea to move the pads closer to the door until they outside or if its better to just get rid of them right away and start retraining as if they were tiny puppies 8 weeks old, and do the thinking for them at first. I'd probably go with the second option because there will come a time when the pads disappear and even if they disappear from outside dogs will probably be confused at first. Unless they figure out they like the grass better even with the pads there.

Do they always go on your pads? Or do they pee on the grass outside when they are outside?

Thanks for sharing. Yeah, I now it is like having to potty train them a 2nd time after they got used to the pads. Unfortunately, when we got them at 6 weeks old, they came down with Parvo and survived, the vet cautioned us not to take them outside since their immune system was shot....so we had to potty train them to go on the pads inside the house. Now that they are ok to go outside...it is like starting over. But I think we have a pretty good routine going, but it takes double the effort, because even if I remove the pads, they are going in the place where the pads would have been....

 

[whitmickey]

Potty Schedule pattern

I have found that every 2-4 hours is a good time to take a puppy out. My boxer was very good at letting us know, but now we have a new puppy who is a mixed breed, and that is her schedule. If you can get them on a schedule, it is almost as if they clock it, and know "okay, I'm going outside soon." Our puppy is 6 months now, and wakes us up, or lets us know it is 2-4 hours since her last potty break. There are occasions where they need to go out more because of upset stomachs, or too much water. This is rare though. I cut off water supply around 9 because we are in bed shortly after, and it works like a charm! With more than one puppy at a time, it is hard because they set examples for each other...Good luck!