How do you go about potty training a pitbull puppy?

@trigel (20)
United States
August 3, 2010 11:54am CST
We just got a 2 month old pitbull puppy. We have had him for about a week now. At first she was doing really good waiting to go outside when we took her out to got potty. But the past two days she has been peeing on the carpet right in front of us. It is really frustrating because she was doing so good and now she is having so many accidents. I wish she would just let us know when she had to go. How long until she will start telling us she has to go out? I know she is still really little and potty training takes some time, I was just wondering if there was something that i can do to make it happen faster.
2 people like this
5 responses
@kristinad (185)
• United States
3 Aug 10
i would let her out more often doing the day and you have to teach her what you wont her to do to tell you that she has to go out we have x mas bells on the door knob she when my dog has to go out he hits them with his noise but we had to teach him that we tought him every time he hit the bell and went out we would give him a dog cookie and we used to make it a big deal when he did it and then after a while he just started doing all by him self and then we were done
• United States
3 Aug 10
I forgot, this is another good idea, when they do what they should, give them a treat..Then as time goes on, slowly start weaning them off and just praising them. I know some people feel weird doing this, but when you praise them in a high pitch voice, they respond positively to you. So when you give them the treat, remember the praise, because in the long run, that is what they are after, your approval and when you praise them like they are the best dog in the whole world, you will have a loyal and well behaved dog..:)
1 person likes this
• United States
3 Aug 10
i would only reward her when she actually goes to the bathroom out side not to just hang out out there
2 people like this
@trigel (20)
• United States
3 Aug 10
thats a good idea ... i bet if i rewarded her everytime she went outside she would eventualwly get the hang of it. I mean we take her out alot but most of the time she will just go lay out in the yard by our feet lol
2 people like this
@carmelanirel (20942)
• United States
3 Aug 10
Well I assume training a pitbull puppy is no different than training any dog. The best way to train is crate training. I had trained a deaf dog this way, so training a hearing dog can learn too.. Despite what some think, a kennel or crate is not abusive and the dog can enjoy it as it is in their genetics to prefer an enclosed area. Here is a link I found that will help you: http://www.inch.com/~dogs/cratetraining.html I want to emphasis the collar tip they have about not putting a collar on them. This is especially important if you use a choke chain, because they can get "hooked" and can't move. If the collar is no a break away, remove it. Also, it says not to crate puppies under 9 weeks..This is because they do have small bladders, but since I was home all the time when my puppies were that small,I did crate them and let them out frequently. If you have any other questions, I'll be glad to help. My first dog was difficult since we didn't know about crate training, but all dogs afterwards did very well this way..
@trigel (20)
• United States
3 Aug 10
we just got her a crate and tried to use it last night and she seriously just cried for hours in it. is there a certain way to go about this?
2 people like this
• United States
3 Aug 10
Oh, I'm sorry, I forgot about that because the last puppies we got were sisters, they were able to keep each other company..We have had a couple dogs that whined and this is what we did, but someone may have something better. One of us would lie down next to the crate to keep the dog from feeling lonely. I can't remember how long it took, but it kept the dog from whining and soon they did get use to sleeping on their own. Another tip I have heard is if you can set a clock that ticks near the crate, because the puppy is used to hearing their moms heart beating, the clock may calm them enough to sleep. I also heard about a hot water bottle, (Not real hot, just warm enough to be comfortable) but I never wanted to do this,I was afraid the puppy would use it as a chew toy..Which brings me to this, make sure the puppy has a few safe toys in the crate with them...
1 person likes this
@trigel (20)
• United States
3 Aug 10
i will have to try some of that . i just always feel so bad when she crys so loud and for such a long time. Thank you for your advice :D
2 people like this
• Philippines
4 Aug 10
i used to have a pitbull pup her name was meow meow things you have to remember: pitbulls are strong willed so in order to make them follow instructions you have to establish that you are the alpha dog now on to the lessons of training your pup or any pup for that matter dogs are creatures of habit when it comes to eating and peeing or pooping once you establish that rhythm everything will be easy first: set a time for them to eat and follow it (this activity takes about 2 weeks to reinforce) next: make sure you are present everytime your pup is eating and don't put too much food, try giving them half the food first n the dish and then slowly take the dish away but not out of sight and put more food in it (this will establish trust with you and your dog and avoids the growling when someone comes near them when they eat) after they've finished everything, take them immediately to a designated poop/piss place and stay with them till they finish their business reward your dog for a job well done after pissing/pooping repeat this cycle everyday for 2 weeks good luck and don't let the cute puppy dog eyes defeat you
@inu1711 (5285)
• Romania
4 Aug 10
I won't suggest you other potty training method than crate training. It worked well for Binne, and I recommend it to everyone. I just want to tell you that accidents might happen until your puppy is five months or older. He will learn quickly what he has to do outside, but when playing inside, he might forget and pee on the carpet. Some puppies are so excited to play that they can't restrain themselves. Not all dogs are the same, most dogs will never pee inside after they have learned to pee outside. I hope your puppy is one of those dogs. Binne had accidents until she was five months and a week old. It was so frustrating, we went outside, she peed and fifteen minutes after that, she peed on the carpet while playing . She just couldn't restrain herself. How to let me know she had to go, if she couldn't realize that either? So you can't do anything to hurry the process, just be patient and keep it up with the schedule (sleep - pee, play - pee, eat - pee, drink - pee)
1 person likes this
• United States
11 Aug 10
Your best bet is to take her outside more often if she has started going inside the house. Be sure when she does go in the house that you take her outside right away once she's done. This helps associate peeing with outside in her head (this is how we trained our American bulldog-only took a week to housetrain her). Also, when she does go inside, be sure you use a strong cleaner to disinfect and deodorize the urine stains. This is really important because if a dog smells where they've gone before, they are likely to go there again.