toilet training - will this work/help?

Hi,

Monty is 5 months old in a weeks time and now knows that out in the back yard is the place to go to the toilet however still has the odd accident.

Most the accidents occur whilst he is alone for a few hours which I expect and understand. However sometimes when we are at home he will go to the backdoor and I'll follow him immediately to let him out but he still goes on the floor.

I know he is capable of holding because he holds on some occasions whilst we are at work.

What I am wondering is, is whether he would understand he needs to try and wait til I get home if I were to take the newspaper away?

Or am I expecting too much from him at just 5 months old?

Depends how long you are leaving him? But at 5 month old he should be able to be left a couple hours.

at 5 mths old most pups can hold their bladders for about 2-3hrs. But if he is going in the same place all the time just put some pads or paper down and gradually move it closer and closer to the door until one day you get it outside. i know he doesnt do it all the time. but he may just need a little time. what sort of breed is he? and also try praising him and giving him treats when he does it outside.

Thanks for all the comments so far. Monty is a boxer dog and is left for no more than 4 hours.

He knows to go outside and will always do so if the door is open but in this weather we can't leave it open whilst we're home. He gets loads of praise when he goes outside and today I gave him loads of fuss when he went out at lunch as he had held all morning.

Sometimes he leaves it too late and can't wait whilst we're opening the door and does it on the paper. I wondered if taking the paper away and it not bring there would help him to understand to try to wait.

He is getting much better but I'm concerned that because the paper is always there he will start to think it's acceptable to do his business in the kitchen.

Hi,

Why not try it? Or maybe take away half of the paper rather than all of it so it's still "training in progress" so to speak. At 5 months obviously he can hold for a while but if when you return he's desperate, you may find he has an accident whilst being excited to see you also. If the paper isn't there he may feel he's done something wrong.

So long as you ignore any accidents (in terms of the fact that they've happened) and praise him when he goes outside, he'll soon learn. If he goes to the back door anyway he already knows he should go to the toilet outside but if the need is there and so is the paper, why wait?

I'm lucky in that my youngest is house trained at 3 months as a result of watching the actions of the other dogs, not just me training him. Do you have any other dogs who he can learn from? The disadvantage though is that they all want to go to the toilet at differnet times!

Laura xx