I'm not dog training expert but we got out Berner at 8 weeks and she was mostly house trained in about a week or two. This is what we did.
* Put bells that she can hit or nudge to let you know when she needs to go outside. Keep bringing her outside in regular intervals but ring the bells yourself each time before you open the door. That will help her make the connection that bells=outside.
* for the first few days only give treats outside immediately after she goes potty. 1 for poop and 1 for pee.
* once the connection has been made that using the bathroom equals treats, phase out the outside treats and only give a treat once she comes inside. At this time you'll also want to gently make her hit the bells before opening the door to go out. I’d just lift her paw and tap them.
* eventually you can phase out the treats for coming inside.
It was tedious at first and she definitely played us for treats as much as she could but since maybe 10-12 weeks we've really only seen accidents out of excitement or from that sensitive Berner belly. Hopefully this helps you out because I know it can be frustrating.
Get her training treats too if you don't already have them. At first we started with some bigger treats and once she caught on to the game, that many treats backfired a smidge in the poops department.
Edited to pay the pup tax, our girl turns 1 on Thursday!
https://preview.redd.it/6fwyv2bt418d1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=e13c381f4c254019bb08abcedee09beb78e821d6
Thank you for the detailed response 😊 I love the bell idea. We didn’t do that with our previous dog but I’ve always been interested in it.
Do you happen to remember what training treats you used? The ones we’re using work sometimes but she’s just not very interested in them half the time
My brother and my dad used the bells with their dogs which is where I first heard of it and I was amazed at how well it worked. We have a cat that loves going outside on a leash and she even started hitting the bells when she realized the dog got to go outside by doing the same thing 😆
We started with the buddy bites training treats and we’ve also used the Amazon wag brand training treats. She was a big fan of both and neither seemed to mess with her belly too much.
I’d also recommend yak cheese bones to save your hands when she gets sharky. Someone on here recommended them to me and they were also game changers. Wish you the best of luck!
Oh my gosh you’re at 10 weeks, that’s all you can expect really, when they’re that young, I think it’s by accident that you catch it outside lol. It takes several months and they usually say six months before you have it 100% and that is right where mine fell. I would say the last few weeks or month leading up to six months she only had a few accidents inside but 100% was 6 months. She’s a cutie, enjoy!
6 months - that’s good to know 😊 our previous dog (different breed entirely) picked it up pretty quickly so it’s good to have a general idea to temper expectations. And thank you! She’s a cute little sweetheart 90% of the time, little monster 10% of the time
Put your seatbelt on for the shark phase lol! I’ve had other breeds in the past, and I joke that they trained themselves so I totally understand! Be really consistent and she’ll get it!
Agree with the other comment. Mine was 6 months old when they truly understood. They would always go poop outside but took a bit to get the peeing outside 100%.
Are you crate training? Make sure if you have a large crate that you portion it off while they are still small. Puppies don't want to pee where they sleep. Then, immediately when they wake up, take them out to potty. We also used a larger play pen to keep our puppy in a smaller area while working, cooking, etc. Lastly, we would carry him outside to the same spot when he was that little instead of relying on him to make it out himself.
Love the idea of high value treat for potty training. We’ve been using her standard training treats and she’s been slowly losing interest in them. I’ll try cheese 🙂
It really seemed to click with my girl at 16 weeks. I know people look down upon using pee pads, but that’s what I was using for when I wasn’t able to let her outside. I was taking her out every hour, but her pees were pretty inconsistent. One day she just started scratching at the door. I let her out and she peed. I gave her so much praise. Since then, she’s only had 1 accident, and that was a result of me not believing she needed out (this was the 4th consecutive time asking to go out, and only wanting to play in the yard). She’s 20 weeks now
Tighten up the training if you want a faster house breaking.
I personally remove bowls as soon as meal is over. I do not leave water down. At that age I feed 3-5x.
Anytime I give water there is a tight schedule involved as part of training and immediately go out to potty, high praise upon success.
Pee pads and baby gates are crucial. Removal of odors from error indoor is even more crucial.
My SDIT is 10 months now and fully housebroken.
Timeline was approximately 16 weeks age.
I utilize speak buttons.
My Berner was trained in 24 hours (My Great Pyrenees was a different story). I did much of what you're describing. I don't know if it was just him or the fact that I watched him like a hawk. Any hint he might need to go, out we went. I asked my husband to watch him while I quickly went to the bathroom I came out and he was pooping on the kitchen floor - I made a quick, loud reaction. He never did it again. We also used a bell. One funny story was that once I apparently did not move quickly enough for him, so he took it off the door knob and dropped it at my feet. We eventually took away the bell because he would use it just because he wanted to go outside. He was the best dog I've ever known. I loved him every moment- and never took him for granted. I'll miss him until my last breath.
Your description of sweet, goofy, and loveable is exactly what I loved about my Berner, Atlas. He was also very majestic-looking. A real head-turner. Enjoy your sweet Olive! I'm confident you will.
I'm not dog training expert but we got out Berner at 8 weeks and she was mostly house trained in about a week or two. This is what we did. * Put bells that she can hit or nudge to let you know when she needs to go outside. Keep bringing her outside in regular intervals but ring the bells yourself each time before you open the door. That will help her make the connection that bells=outside. * for the first few days only give treats outside immediately after she goes potty. 1 for poop and 1 for pee. * once the connection has been made that using the bathroom equals treats, phase out the outside treats and only give a treat once she comes inside. At this time you'll also want to gently make her hit the bells before opening the door to go out. I’d just lift her paw and tap them. * eventually you can phase out the treats for coming inside. It was tedious at first and she definitely played us for treats as much as she could but since maybe 10-12 weeks we've really only seen accidents out of excitement or from that sensitive Berner belly. Hopefully this helps you out because I know it can be frustrating. Get her training treats too if you don't already have them. At first we started with some bigger treats and once she caught on to the game, that many treats backfired a smidge in the poops department. Edited to pay the pup tax, our girl turns 1 on Thursday! https://preview.redd.it/6fwyv2bt418d1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=e13c381f4c254019bb08abcedee09beb78e821d6
Thank you for the detailed response 😊 I love the bell idea. We didn’t do that with our previous dog but I’ve always been interested in it. Do you happen to remember what training treats you used? The ones we’re using work sometimes but she’s just not very interested in them half the time
My brother and my dad used the bells with their dogs which is where I first heard of it and I was amazed at how well it worked. We have a cat that loves going outside on a leash and she even started hitting the bells when she realized the dog got to go outside by doing the same thing 😆 We started with the buddy bites training treats and we’ve also used the Amazon wag brand training treats. She was a big fan of both and neither seemed to mess with her belly too much. I’d also recommend yak cheese bones to save your hands when she gets sharky. Someone on here recommended them to me and they were also game changers. Wish you the best of luck!
"Sharky" 🤣 literally the best description I've ever heard
Oh my gosh you’re at 10 weeks, that’s all you can expect really, when they’re that young, I think it’s by accident that you catch it outside lol. It takes several months and they usually say six months before you have it 100% and that is right where mine fell. I would say the last few weeks or month leading up to six months she only had a few accidents inside but 100% was 6 months. She’s a cutie, enjoy!
6 months - that’s good to know 😊 our previous dog (different breed entirely) picked it up pretty quickly so it’s good to have a general idea to temper expectations. And thank you! She’s a cute little sweetheart 90% of the time, little monster 10% of the time
Put your seatbelt on for the shark phase lol! I’ve had other breeds in the past, and I joke that they trained themselves so I totally understand! Be really consistent and she’ll get it!
Agree with the other comment. Mine was 6 months old when they truly understood. They would always go poop outside but took a bit to get the peeing outside 100%.
Interesting! Olive has been really good pooping outside, the peeing not so much. Currently counting down the days til 6 months 😅
Are you crate training? Make sure if you have a large crate that you portion it off while they are still small. Puppies don't want to pee where they sleep. Then, immediately when they wake up, take them out to potty. We also used a larger play pen to keep our puppy in a smaller area while working, cooking, etc. Lastly, we would carry him outside to the same spot when he was that little instead of relying on him to make it out himself.
Pick a high value treat that she only gets when she goes potty. We picked cheese. Worked pretty well.
https://preview.redd.it/yk0upz7rg08d1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=9223e77ffc7f2fc0af969d9fb4f18e668679dabe
What a cutie!
Love the idea of high value treat for potty training. We’ve been using her standard training treats and she’s been slowly losing interest in them. I’ll try cheese 🙂
It really seemed to click with my girl at 16 weeks. I know people look down upon using pee pads, but that’s what I was using for when I wasn’t able to let her outside. I was taking her out every hour, but her pees were pretty inconsistent. One day she just started scratching at the door. I let her out and she peed. I gave her so much praise. Since then, she’s only had 1 accident, and that was a result of me not believing she needed out (this was the 4th consecutive time asking to go out, and only wanting to play in the yard). She’s 20 weeks now
Tighten up the training if you want a faster house breaking. I personally remove bowls as soon as meal is over. I do not leave water down. At that age I feed 3-5x. Anytime I give water there is a tight schedule involved as part of training and immediately go out to potty, high praise upon success. Pee pads and baby gates are crucial. Removal of odors from error indoor is even more crucial. My SDIT is 10 months now and fully housebroken. Timeline was approximately 16 weeks age. I utilize speak buttons.
Dogs don’t have the ability to hold it completely until 5-6 months. It’s not a developed muscle until then. Before then you’re creating good habits.
My Berner was trained in 24 hours (My Great Pyrenees was a different story). I did much of what you're describing. I don't know if it was just him or the fact that I watched him like a hawk. Any hint he might need to go, out we went. I asked my husband to watch him while I quickly went to the bathroom I came out and he was pooping on the kitchen floor - I made a quick, loud reaction. He never did it again. We also used a bell. One funny story was that once I apparently did not move quickly enough for him, so he took it off the door knob and dropped it at my feet. We eventually took away the bell because he would use it just because he wanted to go outside. He was the best dog I've ever known. I loved him every moment- and never took him for granted. I'll miss him until my last breath.
Your description of sweet, goofy, and loveable is exactly what I loved about my Berner, Atlas. He was also very majestic-looking. A real head-turner. Enjoy your sweet Olive! I'm confident you will.