Help Needed! Potty Training 5 Month Old Puppy

sunkissedpr1ncs

New member
Apr 3, 2013
296
6
Houston, TX
Country
USA
Bulldog(s) Names
Barkley and Pippen
Hi everyone, I'm new here and have lots of questions but wanted to start with this one :D

My husband and I got a bulldog puppy a few weeks ago and he is almost 5 months old. Neither of us have ever had a bulldog before and din't realize just how stubborn they are!! :p His name is Barkley and he is amazing at going to the bathroom outside. When we take him outside, he goes to the bathroom right away every single time. The problem is that he also goes to the bathroom all the time inside too! We will take him out and not even an hour later he will go pee on the carpet somewhere, it's getting so frustrating!

We live in an apt. complex on the 3rd floor so we can't just take him out every hour since it's a pain going up and down all the stairs. I know he can hold it longer than that, he usually will go the whole night in his crate without waking us up or having an accident. It just seems as if he still doesn't know he isn't supposed to go inside? We tell him "No" and rush him outside everytime we catch him going inside and give him a treat every time we take him outside and he goes, so I'm not sure what else to do at this point!

I know he's still young and has a lot to learn but it just doesn't seem to be clicking with him! Any help would be greatly appreciated! :)
 

Davidh

Head Pooper Scooper
Staff member
Mar 21, 2011
13,407
848
Katy, Texas
Country
USA
Bulldog(s) Names
BeBe, Hazel, Lucy Lu, JLO, Hillary, Henri, & Katie
Just keep doing what your doing and he will eventually get it. Just be patient. Rule of thumb is after they stop playing, they go out, when they wake up they go out, after eating they go out. In about a month or so he should have it down.
 

JAKEISGREAT

.................
Mar 25, 2011
14,802
1,155
Southern California
Bulldog(s) Names
Jake
First of all..:welcome: Nice to meet you all! I'm sure you will get some great tips..what has always worked the best is putting him on a leash and tethering him to you. Yes..INSIDE the house. What this does, is totally increase your awareness of the little signals he gives before going. You are right ..he can hold it a bit longer..but you should treat him like he is just learning about being housebroken. It's more of a refresher course..and because he is older after a week of "back to basics".. You should be able to gradually lengthen the time between his trips outside. When he isn't tethered to you..put him in his crate. Of course..lavish praise when he's successful and immediate correction if he starts to potty in the house.

So..for the first week or 10 days, he goes out every hour he is awake and after eating and playing. Then go to 3 hours..then 4.. Etc. watch him like a hawk..which of course won't be hard, because he will be with you at all times. If you can't watch him for a short period of time..take him out to potty..then in his crate until you can once again tether him to you.

It won't take long..a couple of weeks..but if you don't break his bad potty habits, it can be a longgggggggg time problem!

Good Luck..and glad you joined our family! :D
 

sweetpeasmom2008

Bully lovin' movie buff
Community Veteran
Jun 29, 2012
2,515
89
Utah
Bulldog(s) Names
Lola and Lucy
I agree on the leash thing! I never knew how good it worked tell I tried it on my Lola and it works like a charm! It not only stops them from running off and peeing it also lets you learn what signs they have if they need to potty. I highly recommend it!
 

rksuski

New member
Jul 2, 2012
62
2
Madison, Wi
Bulldog(s) Names
Guinness
Welcome! We put bells on our door and rang them every single time we took Guinness out. We were amazed how quickly he caught on. :2thumbs: We really are not sure after that how long it took us to catch on....Guinness joined our family mid may and loved to just lay out in our sunny front yard and knew when he rang the bell he would be rushed outside...happy to say we caught on as well....little stinker! Keep on keeping on....they are quick little learner and now he will go to the front door and patiently wait and if we aren't moving quick enough he gives them a little ring with his nose. Btw...I just used some bells I bought at a craft store that were a Christmas decoration and are now year round....good luck. :D
 

Ftse 100

Bully lov'in wonder from down under
Mar 25, 2012
6,731
421
Qld Australia
Country
Australia
Bulldog(s) Names
Ftse
Welcome! We put bells on our door and rang them every single time we took Guinness out. We were amazed how quickly he caught on. :2thumbs: We really are not sure after that how long it took us to catch on....Guinness joined our family mid may and loved to just lay out in our sunny front yard and knew when he rang the bell he would be rushed outside...happy to say we caught on as well....little stinker! Keep on keeping on....they are quick little learner and now he will go to the front door and patiently wait and if we aren't moving quick enough he gives them a little ring with his nose. Btw...I just used some bells I bought at a craft store that were a Christmas decoration and are now year round....good luck. :D

What a great idea with the bells, i just used to take Ftse out pretty much after play, after eating and after sleeping and I was pretty lucky with him he was so good from the beginning a few little accidents but I did buy the puppy pads but really he just chewed them up. give him time he will soon learn.
Also Welcome to you and Barkly.
 

Rural mystic

New member
Jan 1, 2013
1,600
105
North Florida
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United States
Bulldog(s) Names
Ace
All good advice you have received. I'm wondering does he poop and pee outside and then come inside and poop and/or pee inside within an hour? Cause sometimes Ace during the regular times that he usually pees and or poops will go outside and pee and I need to wait a bit longer until he poops as well. For an example first thing in the morning when I get him outside, and you would think he would be eager to go outside and do his business after 8 hours in the crate but he takes his sweet time getting out there but once outside he will pee. And then hang around a bit at times and if I went back in he would follow but if I wait a bit longer and linger outside with him he will eventually poop and is ready then to come inside and get breakfast. So I am wondering is he peeing and you bring him back in and then pooping inside? Ace doesn't do both back to back immediately an wondering if your pup is doing the same thing. Maybe he is coming back in before he finished his potty and so then potty's inside.
 

Rural mystic

New member
Jan 1, 2013
1,600
105
North Florida
Country
United States
Bulldog(s) Names
Ace
Welcome! We put bells on our door and rang them every single time we took Guinness out. We were amazed how quickly he caught on. :2thumbs: We really are not sure after that how long it took us to catch on....Guinness joined our family mid may and loved to just lay out in our sunny front yard and knew when he rang the bell he would be rushed outside...happy to say we caught on as well....little stinker! Keep on keeping on....they are quick little learner and now he will go to the front door and patiently wait and if we aren't moving quick enough he gives them a little ring with his nose. Btw...I just used some bells I bought at a craft store that were a Christmas decoration and are now year round....good luck. :D

That's a great idea. I have heard of bell training but not exactly in the way you describe and I wish I would have thought of that when housetraining Ace when he was being housebroken. I don't have a problem with him going inside now but on the very few times he has made a mistake it was when I was distracted and didn't notice him waiting by the door to go outside and missed the cue. If I would have know your technique it very well may have saved those few mistakes.
 
OP
sunkissedpr1ncs

sunkissedpr1ncs

New member
Apr 3, 2013
296
6
Houston, TX
Country
USA
Bulldog(s) Names
Barkley and Pippen
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Thanks so much for all the great tips!! I think I will have to start putting him on a leash while inside because we're pretty good about keeping an eye on him but it seems as if it's always that 2 seconds that we aren't is when he has an accident!

Since we are on the 3rd floor, we also have a potty patch on the balcony to take him out on here and there too. However, it seems to be hit or miss. Sometimse he will go out and use it just fine, other times when I know he has to go so bad, he will just lay there and chew on it!

Everytime we take him out, he does what he needs to and pretty fast. He will go pee 2 seconds after getting on the grass and then walk to the spot where he likes to poo and go if he needs to. I know that if he doesn't go poo outside that he probably doesn't have to go and he has only had a couple accidents where he's pooed inside, it's mainly just peeing that's the issue. He just seems to have a pee a lot! I really can't figure out when he has to go either, he just seems to stop whatever he is doing and half a second later he is peeing wherever he is. This morning I was getting ready for work and he was in the bathroom with me and trying to tug on the shower curtain then he just stops and starts peeing on the bathroom rug where he is standing! No sniffing or anything and this was less than an hour after I had taken him out after waking up, he hadn't eaten yet or anything.

It just seems like he still doesn't know he isn't supposed to go inside and just stops whatever he is doing to go, doesn't even try to hide it even though he gets scolded every time!
 

BarbaraDavis

New member
Apr 7, 2013
13
1
Corona, CA
Bulldog(s) Names
none of my own
Sounds like your pup doesn't know outside is the only acceptable place to go! Have you read "Way To Go" by Patricia McConnell. It's a great little book on housetraining, only about 60 pages and full of good information. It should help you get your potty problems on track pretty quickly!
 

bullmama

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Jan 28, 2010
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The Home of the Desert Sky Pack
As frequently as he is going I would also consider the possibility that he could have a bladder or urinary tract infection. When he pees, is it a little or a lot? Is it orange colored or watery and light yellow?


Sent from my iPhone 5 using Tapatalk :)
 

TubbysMom

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Jan 15, 2013
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Toronto, ON Canada
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Tubby
We had this problem with Tubby. We would take him out and he would squat to pee then we would go back in. Then 5 minutes of being back inside he'd pee on the carpet. So I started watching him when we were outside when he would be FAKE PEEING!!! Like squat look around then get up and go but he wasn't letting anything out! After I caught on to his scam I would keep him outside until I actually saw pee come out of him.

Now he is almost accident free and has starting going and sitting by the door when he needs to go.
 
OP
sunkissedpr1ncs

sunkissedpr1ncs

New member
Apr 3, 2013
296
6
Houston, TX
Country
USA
Bulldog(s) Names
Barkley and Pippen
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  • Thread starter
  • #13
As frequently as he is going I would also consider the possibility that he could have a bladder or urinary tract infection. When he pees, is it a little or a lot? Is it orange colored or watery and light yellow?


Sent from my iPhone 5 using Tapatalk :)

I considered that too but I'm not sure....He usually pees a lot when he goes outside, I'm not too sure of the color since it's always in the grass so I never get to really see it but I think yellow. He's so good all day while we're at work and hardly ever has an accident in his crate so I think it's crazy that he can hold it that long but then not hold it long at all when we're home!

He's gotten a little bit better, we've been trying to keep a closer eye on him more and take him out when it seems like he has to go (stopping playing with his toys and walking away, etc). But he still has an accident almost every day....Hopefully we will get there soon! :)
 

2BullyMama

I'm not OCD....now who moved my bulldog?
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Jul 28, 2011
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Gilbertsville, PA
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I considered that too but I'm not sure....He usually pees a lot when he goes outside, I'm not too sure of the color since it's always in the grass so I never get to really see it but I think yellow. He's so good all day while we're at work and hardly ever has an accident in his crate so I think it's crazy that he can hold it that long but then not hold it long at all when we're home!

He's gotten a little bit better, we've been trying to keep a closer eye on him more and take him out when it seems like he has to go (stopping playing with his toys and walking away, etc). But he still has an accident almost every day....Hopefully we will get there soon! :)

Good or bad... it took us 1 1/2 yrs to get our Frenchie to stop having accidents in the house
 

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