housebreaking a puppy

i'm sure this has been brought up before but i went back a couple pages and couldn't find the specific info i was looking for.

i recently purchased a 3 month old beagle/pug puppy. i purchase a medium sized crate to keep him in while we are at work and to housebreak him. i have been putting towels in on the bottom of the crate but should i put newspaper there instead so its easier to clean up when he does his business?

at first we were leaving the food and water out for him all the time but now i realize it is better to just leave water out all the time and out him on a feeding schedule which should then get him on a bathroom schedule. we are now feeding him when my wife wakes up in the morning then when she gets home from work at 3:30 then once again around 6-7:00pm. after each feeding we will start taking hime out right after. does this sound like a solid plan.

also when we take him out most of the time he will not go. then when we bring him back in he will go and when we try to get him outside its already to late and he will not go then because he finished inside.

each time he does go outside we are giving him "good boy" praises and give him a half a treat each time he goes outside. we want to get to the point to where we can just leave him have free run of the house.

as i understand crate training the dog "should" not go to the bathroom where he sleeps but he does anyways. maybe because the crate is to big? should i get one of those travel crates until he gets bigger to go to the medium size wire crate? we are really just looking for some positive direction here.

another way i heard of potty training is "paper training" what are the pros and cons of this?

i know this is a long post but i am looking for some great responses from you pro's out there. this is starting to get frustrating i have only had the dog for 5 days today so i know it takes some time.

 

I don't like paper training because that teaches your dog to go in the house. Keep up with what you are doing. I would recommend taking your dog out more often and staying out longer. Eventually he have to go when he's outside and will start to go more quickly. It takes time, but you're heading in the right direction.

 

Hi,
Hopefully your pup's on his way to being housebroken by now...
If not, and he's still having "accidents" Be patient and consistent. Their bladders can't hold much until 12wks anyways. However, definitely put him in a smaller crate- if there's ANY extra room he will seek out a corner to use. Rarely, but sometimes there are some dogs that just "don't care" if they mess themselves. I had one, he was challenging but when he grew up he was great. It was time consuming and stinky. But I stuck with the program. There were a lot of 5am trips outside and lots of picking him up "midstream"- ANYTIME you hear him start to whimper or observe "restlessness" take him outside right away- always using the same door and even encourage him to acknowledge this door as he gets older- he'll then learn to GO TO THE DOOR or LOOK at the door when he has to go. It's subtle~ but it'll work out. I don't advocate paper training either- (plus they eat it)
The sooner they learn NOT to go in the house, the better. Don't even think of giving him run of the house for several mos. You want to limit his space and be sure he's not a chewer or has separation anxiety issues, etc...
He'll learn to love his crate- just leave the door open all the time, throw some treats in once and a while and praise him whenever he goes inside.
Good luck- that's an interesting breed mix! Is he a cutey?

 

i'm no expert, but i think you're feeding him too much, ie too often. we've always just fed our dog (schnauzer or scottie) once a day, at dinner time. a big cup a day. that's it. he's not overweight or skinny. just right. which says to me that it's appropriate.

and he probably needs to be out longer. do you not have a fenced-in yard? they're usually so excited to be outside & more interested in exploring than in "going" that, by the time you're taking him in, he's just begun to realize he's gotta go! if no fence, can you get a long chain so he can stay out longer?

and the last time you take him out needs to be the last thing you do before going to bed, like around 10pm or so. all night long is a long time to hold it!

and definitely use newspapers! you've been dealing with poopy & pee-soaked towels?? ew! think DISPOSABLE!!!

 

I can totally 100 percent feel the frusteration you are going through. I have a beagle and a shetland sheepdog and potty training was like night and day for them. The sheltie was a breeze all it took for him was a regular schedule got up at 6:00am he ate and then went out. He had very few accidents. Now the lil beagle was another story...I seriously started to think he was retarded it took so long for him to catch on. I was so frusterated and I tried everything including crate training. He used to do the same thing and go inside his crate which would make me so mad cuz you read that they aren't suposed to do that but he would and walk through it and lay in it, and I would be like what the ???? And he would do the thing with not going outside and then as soon as you bring him in he would go inside his crate. I found that is a lot harder potty training a dog when you, you have to go to work and can't spend the day workin on them. I was working in the begining and then took some time off, and that helped. Cuz i could spend more time watching him. I would put him out in the back after he ate and wouldn't let him back in until I physically saw him go. Which sometimes took forever! But eventually he did finally get the concept. The other thing that I felt was successful was installing a doggie door then I put up a kid gate blocking him off from the rest the house and leaving the crate open. When I would put him outside I always put him through the doggie door.
I think it also helped that my other child the potty training honor student would go out the doggie door and finally he would follow him out and go out side. But don't give up they are worth it but they can be a challenge for sure. Hang in there. Good Luck!

 

I have to laugh because our Beagle did the same exact thing. The crate by the way was not too big. It was like something snapped in her head one day and she started barking when she wanted out. The feeling was like when our kid started using the toilet woithout an accident.

Good luck and be patient. I found that when you take them out to use the potty don't let them play, Just focus them on using the potty and when they do give'm praise.