As soon as I got Walter home, the very second we got out of the car I put him down in the yard where I wanted his potty place to be and he peed immediately. Then I put him on a schedule where I religously put him in the potty place as soon as he woke up from a nap, about 15-20 minutes after eating, and before we went to bed. I also kept an eagle eye on him almost consistently for the first week or so (not hard because he was so cute)... he stayed on a dog bed in my office when I was working and the instant he started sniffing at anything I picked him up and took him to the potty place... a couple times I was running with him and he started to dribble before I got there. Sniffing means he is looking for a place to go! Make no bones about it, he is not doing anything else!
As far as pooing, puppies go pretty consistently about a half hour after eating. They have really tiny bladders so you can count on this. No matter what I was doing we went outside at that time. Whever I heard a tiny whine I take him to potty place. I figured he had a belly ache just like a baby might and usually he would go number two. The few times he did poo in the house was my fault. I ignored the whining or was not paying attention. I swear to you... Walter has never ever ever peed in my house. But to be honest, when he was a puppy whenever I brought him to visit another house he almost instantly peed out of nerves. So embarrassing. When I realized he did that I had him meet my friends outside of their homes! He would wiggle in delight but pee.
But for the first few weeks, I never left this dog alone at all and my big priority was to get him housebroken asap. You may not have that option if you have to leave for work or something. Walter went with me on errands and whenever I let him out of the car he would pee. So he also loves riding in the truck because he did it so much.
When I got Walter he was a little under 6 weeks old... pretty young. So I think I became his mom pretty quick and he was pretty moldable. I have made plenty of mistake, though, like letting him sleep on my bed and now he is 120 pounds and still does that. I don't know too much about puppy pads, but I would think that is still encouraging the dogs to pee in the house. Good luck!  |
My lab mix was pee trained in one day at about 6 weeks old, only a few poo accidents- sm - Deb
