Housebreaking

we used the crate & bells on the door system. I refuse to use puppy pads... I do not want a dog who is trained to "go" just in one spot in my house! We have neighbors who are battling this issue with their dog....they've had him 8 months now! They both work, he's cooped up in the utility room all day. He goes on the pad, on the floor around the pad, AND NOT outside.....because that's what he's been trained to do. Sooo sad.

I think my dogs were trained with a month or so....& it all depended on the human in charge. There were very few accidents when I was in charge, not so with the men in our home.

At 12 weeks, I think your dog is too young to house break. You can work in that direction. I think it is the skill of the teacher and the intelligence of the animal that makes the difference in how long it takes to house break a dog.

My last two dogs were house broken in a couple of weeks, but they were 9 months to a year old.

Good luck to you and yours.

You don't say what method you are using. Is this potty training or more about obedience?

Crate/Kennel training is the best and fastest way to house break any dog. Especially in dealing with chewing furniture, getting into trash, potty accidents, and associating with little kids and strangers.

I won't go into the details, but there are plenty of books and web sites that explain how to properly do this. You can find books at places like Petco and Petsmart. Your vet might be able to direct you to resources too.

If the other issues are more obedience related, such as jumping on people, nipping, pulling or tugging on a leash, etc. Then I recommend hiring a trainer or signing up for obedience classes. They're invaluable and they are investment in the safety of your pet and everyone in the house. A dog that learns to listen is a dog that rarely finds itself in trouble. Also, For tugging on the leash there are also special "leads" designed to discourage jumping, that you can buy at any of the big pet stores or from your vet. These help alot.

If you can't afford to do either, then I suggest training your dog with a "clicker." There are many books and videos on this method, and it's widely used by those who have show dogs.

The last resort in training is using a "collar." Most people don't know what they're doing when using these to train and they wind up with an angry dog.
I only suggest this in cases of a very hard to train dog (which is rare) or if you plan to raise a hunting dog, where safety for the owner and dog is at stake and there is a bonafide need to use one.

If you do feel you need to go this route, get training. The reputible collar companies ALL have extensive training for the owner to go through before ever using the thing on the dog. Avoid the cheap collars from stores like Target and Walmart. They are cruel and painful to the dog as there is no setting or controls...just full on, non-stop shocking. The worst offenders being those cheap anti-bark collars. They are so sound sensitive they go off with ambient sound so the dog gets constantly shocked whether they're barking or not if there is a nearby sound. Tweeping birds, chattering children, the TV, you name it, the dog is getting shocked. Cruel.

The good collars are very expensive, but the cost is worth it since there is training and there are sensitive controls so the dog isn't in unnecessary pain.

I crate trained my dogs and used bells on the back door. I think it took about a week to house train them but we are also talking about Golden Retrievers so not exactly a stupid dog, ya know? They were around 10 weeks old when they were house trained.

Oh one was male the other female.

I have a female and it took me about a week. But I was home all day with her so I just took her outside every 1/2 hour or so that first week. I used a crate whenever I couldn't be immediately next to her or have a careful watchful eye on her. Although she did still have an occasional accident (potty) until she was about 5 months old. She didn't have any poop accidents after the first week.

Just a few short weeks. We have a German Shepherd.
What method of training are you using? Not the piddle pads I hope....
Do you give a command word when you take him outside?