**Seeking Advice on How to Get Puppies Potty Trained!!**

Hello B.,
I have two labs that my husband and I successfully "potty trained." A key thing that I learned was that if they have an accident in the house, it's our fault, not theirs...we didn't let them out. Also, constancy is key (the other post is correct).
What we did was go outside with them about every hour or hour and a half. We would stand in our yard and say "go pee" (you can pick whatever command you want, I always liked "hurry up"). We would repeat our command until they went pee, then they got a treat and a mini party (cheers, petting, lovin'...just like kids, make it a huge deal!). We just kept doing that until the time span was further apart and now they stand at the door to let me know they want out. I have a friend who trained their dog to ring a bell when they had to go out. I also think a crate is a great training tool, they normally wouldn't like to go where they sleep and/or eat.
Best of luck!
C.
PS. You should look into finding a good dog training and get the kids involved, there's a lot of responsibility in owning a pit bull with all those stereo types out there.

Hi B.,
We have a 4yr old min. schnauzer. Someone told me about kennel training, and it was the best thing ever. It took only 1 month. you have to be consistent and determined. It was a lot of work.
He stayed in the kennel(cage). they will not mess up their habitat, so the kennel stayed clean. Do not put any food in the kennel. (also, never leave food in their bowl to eat at their leisure)
this was my daily routine.
Morning: Take him out of kennel, feed him, take him outside to use the bathroom, "good boy", play around in the house a little then back in kennel.
Lunch Time: go home from work for lunch. Let him out of the kennel, take him outside to use the bathroom "good boy" back in kennel.
Evening: back home, take him out of kennel, feed him, take him outside to use the bathroom, "good boy". Let him play around in the house, but have to watch them constantly. If he soils the floor, scold him then take him back outside.
Bed Time: Back in kennel.
Morning, start all over again.
It was so exciting by the middle of December when he scratched at the door to go outside.
4 years later, I think he get's a kick out of who will let him out the door first and how many time will they open the door for him. he likes to go outside, just because :) :)
good luck

Oh, that sucks. Puppies are so much work. I had one house broken within 3-4 days and my last dog took a couple weeks. Have you been doing back flips each time they go outside? Have you been using treats? All training needs to be reinforced, so even do that once they're house broken every once in a while. You also have to take them out constantly. Even getting away with going potty in the house once can set you back. So, don't let them wander in and out of your house while you're gone. That just reinforces the idea they have that it's okay to go wherever. So, you need to have them in a place where you're gone that it's okay for them to go - or they need to learn to hold it. Crating can work well - usually, they don't like to go where they have to be. The baby is screaming, so I have to cut this short. I'd check out a dog lover's forum, too. I know there is one out there, but can't recall what it is. Good luck! Consistency, consistency is the key.

Hi again,
Wow, I was asleep when I wrote all of that above. I stand by it, but my writing skills were way off and hopefully it was clear enough. Here is the link to the forum I mentioned. I don't know what methods you have tried, but I imagine you can find more advice within this forum. Someone mentioned training their dog to use a bell. We did that - it was quite simple - and it worked wonderfully for us.

http://www.dogforums.com/

You need to crate train them! As of right now there is no order and control over their movement in the mornings and the more they go in the house the more they will. Once they mark a spot it is theirs and the habit becomes harder and harder to break.

You need to get a crate or pet taxi and put them in it every night and when you go to work. Like the post said below, they will not mess their domain. During the day if you are gone more than 9 hours you may have another issue on your hands but eventually their bladders will be large enough to handle a days worth of pee. The boys can still keep them in their room at night, but they need to understand that first thing in the morning they are responsible for taking them out of their crates and directly outside to go potty. If they can not handle this then the crates need to be moved to your room till they are trained and ready to move out of their crates.

Good luck!!

We trained our dog when she was a puppy in just a week. We took her out often (every 30 minutes in the beginning) on leash to "get busy". That is the command we would say. We celebrated with food rewards all her successes. Over the week, we continued to take her out frequently, just spacing it out little by little. We used a short lead instead of a crate (she had one, we just left it open so she could go in and out on her own) when we had to leave her alone, but while we were training we tried not to leave her alone at all (I even took a couple of days off of work in the beginning). Eventually I did have to go to work, but we left her outside in the am when it was cool, then I came home at lunch to play with her and bring her into the house so she didn't get too hot. Anytime we left she went on the short lead, and we had very few accidents. She is over five years old now, and still potty's on command, which is nice when you plan on taking car trips etc with your dog, you know they aren't going to have an accident in the house. Also, clean up any accidents with vinegar, if they smell any urine or poop, they are more likely to do it again in the house. Vinegar will get the smell out and they won't go there again. I also want to add, we used the short lead system at night until she was trained.

When we last had dogs, we got them when they were already over 1 year old, so I don't have first-hand advice. However, we had some other behavior issues with our dogs, and I found that the local SPCA had some great dog trainers who gave me advice that solved our problems. Check your local SPCA and see - they also have puppy school a lot of the time, so you can sign up for that too. When I got my dogs they had been show dogs so they would not sit on command, they'd jump all over people, etc. We had a lot of work to do and I can't say enough for the good people at SPCA for helping us out. I hope you can find a solution! Puppies are harder to potty train than toddlers, from what I've heard! =)