POTTY TRAINING

REBELBABY

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May 24, 2013
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REBEL
My bulldog will be 18 weeks tomorrow and he still potties in the house we are gone most of the day to work and i have huge mess to clean up when i return, so im wondering how long it might take before he understands hes supposed to go outside i dont hit him or rub his nose in it but i know he can hold it for quite some time because he does it all night, is there something more i should be doing?
 

2BullyMama

I'm not OCD....now who moved my bulldog?
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At 18 wks... he can only hold it for about 5 hours. If you are gone longer than that, you will need to have someone come do a mid-day break
 

gracoliv

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Jan 3, 2012
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I am assuming he is "doing his business" before you leave for work in the morning ? Although I had a very regular schedule taking my dogs out, they did not stop having accidents in the house completely til age of 3. Not sure why as I was very attentive to them giving them lots of opportunity to go before I left, but they (not sure if both or just 1) started going in a particular spot. In may case it was on hardwood floor. I did suspect that not cleaning up the spot well enought that they could not smell it may have been a factor. I tried many enzyme etc.. cleaners. Eventually with a combination of a good routine (so they can count on when they can go out) & cleaning up really really well mine eventually got it.

One thing to note, if your pup has 'free range' of your house, he may not understand that a room he does not go into routinely (like maybe the dining room for example) is acually part of the house. Dogs typically deficate at the perimeter of their perceived world. That perceived world does not necessarly have to do with the outside walls of your house.
 

RachaelJ

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Mar 31, 2013
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Rambo
Establish your schedule. For example, if you work away from the home.

6am: Wake up & Potty
6:15: Breakfast
6:30: In the crate
6:45: Back outside and potty
7-12; Crate
12: Let out (if you live away from home, maybe a dog sitter can let your baby out)
1215: Eat
12:15-12:30 back in crate
12:30-12:45 Back outside and potty
1:-5: In the crate
5: Home and potty outside
5:15 Last meal
5:15-5:30: back in crate
5:30-5:45 Potty outside
5:45-6:00 Crate

Since you're home say after 6pm, go outside after this as much as possible, give plenty of praise when he poos and pees. Find a high reward treat...Meaty ones are the best. This will take consistency and effort on everyone who has access to Rebel. If there are accidents in the house, say no and take him outside and say go potty and then reward when he does what you want. Don't let him roam. If you need to tether him to you by a leash.

I can't stress enough CONSISTENCY.
 

Davidh

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He is still a baby, and it will be several months before he can hold it all day long. The fact that he is holding it at night is a good thing. Just be patient and give him time. They can only hold it about an hour per month of age. Also do not restrict water to him as some people think this will help with the potty training and it doesn't. It is very unhealthy for them. I would crate train him if you are not already, and that will help.
 
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REBELBABY

REBELBABY

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May 24, 2013
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REBEL
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  • #6
i do take him out before i leave for work and he is babygated in the kitchen during the day and always has fresh water, i do however let him roam when he goes outside to potty i didnt realize that made a difference with the potty training, its kinda funny you mentioned that becuase my husband and i have been talking about using a leash with him all the time because Rebel has a very bad habit of hiding from me when its time to come in the house, he sits in a huge bush we have outside our house because he knows its hard for me to get to him......little brat!
 

ajwhitt44

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May 3, 2012
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BREMBO
i do take him out before i leave for work and he is babygated in the kitchen during the day and always has fresh water, i do however let him roam when he goes outside to potty i didnt realize that made a difference with the potty training, its kinda funny you mentioned that becuase my husband and i have been talking about using a leash with him all the time because Rebel has a very bad habit of hiding from me when its time to come in the house, he sits in a huge bush we have outside our house because he knows its hard for me to get to him......little brat!

I'd be careful baby-gating him in the kitchen during the day until he's been potty-trained. If you crate him and don't leave him much room, he'll be less likely to pee or poop because by nature they don't like to be near it let alone sit in it. If you're crating him in the kitchen, he can basically poop in any corner he wants and doesn't have to be anywhere near it.....in a tight crate, there is NO PLACE for him to go so he'll be less likely to go.

Also, make sure you DO NOT yell at him for peeing/pooping in the house unless you CATCH HIM IN THE ACT.
Dogs have extremely short attention spans. Say Fido poops, then takes a step away and sighs. You don't notice that he pooped until he took that one step and sighed, and now you YELL at him for pooping. Guess what? You didn't just yell at him for pooping....you yelled at him for SIGHING!! Fido literally has no idea he's being scolded for pooping because he's already moved on from that thought process and onto another (sighing).

If a dog has an accident and you don't catch it in the act, scold yourself, not him/her. It's your fault, and your mess. The dog won't understand if you yell at him after it's already done.....This is why rubbing the dog's nose in it never helps...the dog doesn't think about the punishment in the same way we do...he doesn't 'get' that he's getting his nose rubbed in his own **** because he didn't **** outside....all he's thinking is, "WHY THE HELL AM I GETTING MY NOSE RUBBED IN MY OWN FECES!!?!? AAAHHHHHH I DON'T LIKE THIS!!!!!" ......it sounds funny and obvious, but it's also true.
 
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REBELBABY

REBELBABY

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May 24, 2013
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REBEL
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Ya i dont ever rub his nose in it or yell at him for it, i know i should crate him but i feel awful for leaving him in a little crate for the whole day
 

truffle shuffle

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Dec 23, 2012
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Chunk
perhaps consider a dogwalker, midday to walk and take care of 'business' lots do and Rebel can nap (or play with a safe toy) in his crate until you get home :)
 

RachaelJ

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Mar 31, 2013
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Atlanta, Georgia
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Rambo
Ya i dont ever rub his nose in it or yell at him for it, i know i should crate him but i feel awful for leaving him in a little crate for the whole day


Not to sound harsh, I say Bahhumbug to this. After housetraining a few ways, litter box, puppy pads, and ex pen, area blocked off, etc. CRATE TRAINING has been the only thing that worked. Don't feel bad. Feel good for your floors.
 

xsubsailor

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Jan 24, 2013
237
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West Virginia
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USA
Bulldog(s) Names
Pickle
You could always train him to use a litter box for those times you are away for long periods. Here is an image of Pickle's litter box in the left rear corner of the room. Its just a boot tray with some rabbit bedding, then I put a larger piece of spare linoleum floor for accidents outside the tray.

Just in case you were wondering, I came home to this scene where she learned to drag the chair up to the gate to get over it. The chair has been removed from the room and a large area rug was added for padding against the hardwood.
116.jpg
 

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