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Permalink Reply by Sam Tsang on June 13, 2012 at 9:37am

Hi Samantha, no, time out is not effective or useful at all, it is not the dog's fault when he has an accident, it is always the owner's fault. Read and re-read the FAQ, Tonka has 5-8 mo to go until fully trained.

Instead of scolding him "no, bad boy", i would skip that and go directly to ring the bell and continue there. You don't want to associate scolding (negative experience) with accident, because he will learn to hide from you, go potty to avoid being scold at. Read and re-read the FAQ, good luck!

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Permalink Reply by Juno on June 13, 2012 at 10:00am

I second what Sam said. When Juno has accidents..whether he showed signs or told me at all, i don't yell at him. Although i do get mad and I know he sense it. I just pick him up right away and bring him outside to his potty area then i come in and clean up the mess then bring him back in. Usually he no longer needs to go when he's put outside but at least he knows that that's supposed to be the spot & not inside. And anytime they have an accident..it's our fault/owners fault as Sam mentioned.

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Permalink Reply by Anna Morelli on June 13, 2012 at 7:29pm

No scolding, as Sam says.  There are no "accidents", pups are learning and you need to learn their needs and signals and teach them what your preference is (i.e. I'm happy when you go outside) until they have created this preference themselves. A treat when they do their business outside fosters that.  Interrupting a pup if you see him going in the house, by picking him up quickly and taking him outside, as Juno's owner  does, is good and helps convey the message. Don't use ammonia based products to clean, as this smells like urine to the dog.   A mild water/white vinegar mix will do a good job, is cheap and environmentally safe.

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Permalink Reply by Beth on June 13, 2012 at 11:17pm

I would not scold a puppy who is learning house-breaking (that would be any dog under a year old).  I will say one firm "no" to a fully house-broken dog who is pottying in an inappropriate place.    So for instance, if we have our dog in a pet store and they go to potty where other dogs have gone, I will correct with a "no" so they realize that is not a good spot.  

I agree with Sam.  I always consider any potty mistakes during housebreaking to be my fault for not getting puppy out in time!   

Funny story:   when Jack was 8 months old, he was pretty reliably house-broken.  Until we brought in the Christmas tree (a live one).  He wandered over, sniffed it, then lifted his leg and peed it.   I said "What are you doing?" in a somewhat surprised tone and he looked at me like I was crazy, as if to say "I'm peeing on a tree like I always do, what does it look like I'm doing?"

That's the last time he pottyed inside which is how I remember that he was housebroken at 8 months.

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Permalink Reply by Bev Levy on June 14, 2012 at 7:52am

I also say no scolding or time outs for pottying in the house. Puppies are just learning what is acceptable and don't need negatives at this time. This is a good time to go outside and say a command (ex. go potty) when the puppy goes it will really help later when you need her to go potty in bad weather. It really takes a year or a little more for true reliability in potty training but that is still much faster than a human baby. Usually by 6 months you will see real progress. I am not above muttering to myself while cleaning an accident but not scolding the puppy. Sort of like "I can not believe I was not paying attention when you did this...  agh!"

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