2. I go out with Lara and reward her very well for doing her potty outside. This is very important because it teaches her that potty outside = a lot of attention, games, treats, and more. I make sure to reinforce her potty outside behavior *every time*, so that she starts to associate the behavior with something really good. This will motivate her to go outside because pottying inside gets her no rewards, and she just gets taken outside.

3. In potty training, I have found that consistency is very important. I take Lara outside when I think she needs to go, and reward her well. If she goes to the door and indicates that she needs to go, I also go outside with her and reward her well. If she makes a mistake, I always no-mark and take her outside anyway. She gets rewarded if she continues to go outside. If she does not, then we just come back in and there are no rewards.

Another technique that some trainers suggest for potty training young puppies is to tether the puppy to us. In this way, the puppy is right there with us all of the time and we can quickly interrupt and take her outside if necessary. I have not tried this with any of my dogs though, and I am not sure how well it will work with an older puppy.

I have a 6 month old Siberian husky – Xena, and I am having a really difficult time potty training her. She can go 7 hours overnight without peeing in her crate but during the day when I am home and she is not in the crate she is constantly peeing all over the place. I live in an apartment building but have a huge concrete balcony. When the weather is nice I leave the door open at all times so that she can go outside on her own to relieve herself. This has reduced the number of accidents she has in the apartment. I, like other people that also mentioned it, have noticed that I can walk xena outside only to come home and have her pee in the house 5 minutes later. When we are home we actively supervise her at all times. When she has an accident she usually doesnt present any warning that she is going to pee. She just squats quickly and pees fast – not enough time for me to interrupt her and bring her outside. She has not pooped in the house but she does on the balcony – its not a habit i want to get into but its better than her going in the house. In addition, we live un nyc and xena pees and poops on concrete. She has never walked over to grass to eliminate. I was looking into the artificial grass area but im not sure she would use it. In addition, She just got over having a uti so I know that it is not a medical issue anymore. Please help!

My guess is that Shiba pup does not like going on the artificial grass system. Does he go onto the artificial grass on his own to explore? One possible test is to bring the potty system inside to see if he will go on it. Some dogs don’t like the surface, some don’t like the smell, there may not be enough room to circle, etc.

When he was at his breeder’s place, did he potty inside the house or outside? On regular grass or some other surface?

I try to bring my puppy out when she is most likely to go (e.g. when she first wakes up, or after very rigorous play). In this way, she will very likely potty when I take her out, which means I can reward her really well and reinforce the behavior.

I also try to minimize mistakes inside. As soon as she shows any potty signals (going into the corner or circling) I take her out right away. If I miss the signals and she starts to go, then I no-mark, interrupt her, and take her outside. She will usually continue when I take her out, so I can reward her well and further reinforce the behavior.

In this way, she learns that -
Potty outside = Lots of attention, treats, and a fun game,
Potty inside = Get interrupted and taken outside.

When Lara was young, I put her puppy enclosure in the tv room, so that she can always see and be with people. Using a puppy enclosure in the beginning also helped, because then I had more time to train her to get used to her crate.

Once we made good progress with crate training, I also tethered her for brief periods of time to her crate (only under supervision and only with a flat collar or harness). This was a useful intermediate step for us, because it gave her a bit more freedom, and got her used to calming down and resting around her crate area.

Here is a bit more from the San Francisco SPCA on crate training.
http://www.sfspca.org/sites/default/files/crating_0.pdf

I just got a 7 week old male shiba inu, I know that patience is needed but I am confused as to what I am doing wrong. I live in a condo and I have a very good sized balcony that I have one of the grass potty systems on. I will sit outside with him for up to 30 minutes and he will not go potty and then as soo as I let him insdie he will go to the bathroom on the carpet. Any suggestiong, I think he might not like the sounds outside since we live on a busy street. I need help please!

Thank you
NIcole

The only way I know of to effectively potty train a puppy is through supervision.

With my puppy Lara, I am there to prevent mistakes and to quickly no-mark and take her to her potty spot when she makes a mistake inside the house. I reward her for going in her potty spot very very well, so that she learns -
Going in her potty spot = Attention, rewards, play, and more,
Going inside = No-mark, get interrupted, get taken outside.

For a puppy to learn, we need to be there to teach her what to do, and what not to do. Here is a bit more on how dogs learn.

When Shania was young, she had to go through leg surgery, so we kept her in an enclosure during the healing process. During that time, we trained her to go on puppy pads. I changed the pads as soon as she goes on it, and I am also there to supervise and train her not to play-bite on the pads. Puppy pads can be very helpful for situations where we are unable to go outside quickly or easily. However, supervision is still necessary.

Some alternate possibilities for supervision-
1. Hire a pet sitter.
2. Get a friend, neighbor, or relative to drop by and help.
3. Take some time off to train our puppy.

Some people may also use dog-daycare, but that is only appropriate *after* our puppy is fully vaccinated. In a daycare, or other public kennel, our dog will be exposed to many other dogs, some of whom may be sick or contagious. Some daycare places may keep only puppies together, and check for vaccination records; but personally, it is not something that I would take a chance with.

Some people may suggest using a plastic potty system that cannot be shredded. However, my Shiba is very particular about his potty ritual and he will not go on plastic potty systems. He is also a strong chewer, and has chewed up plastic objects before, which can be a health risk.

When Sephy was a puppy, he was very energetic, mischievous, and full of curiosity. He needed a lot of structured activity, a consistent set of rules, training, and a lot of supervision.

I was always told that dogs don’t like to be in their own “mess” or go to the bathroom where they sleep.

In general, I think that is true. However, some puppies (especially pet store puppies or puppy mill puppies) are kept by their breeders in cages for long periods of time in their youth. As a result they have no other choice but to eliminate where they eat and sleep. After a while, they get used to it and think it is what they are supposed to do.

Since there is already a potty association with the crate, one possibility is to use a puppy enclosure/pen instead. I make sure the enclosure is safe, put puppy pads in the enclosure, and teach my puppy to go on the pads (if need be) when she is in there. When she is outside, I am always there to supervise, take her outside, and reward her very well for doing the right thing.