Housebreaking Pitbull

**Daisy Jo's Mom** · 04-23-2006, 04:55 PM

I was just wondering if anyone else think it is majorly hard to housebreak a pitbull....
i have a chihuahua and she was no problem to housebreak....

is there any little secrets to house break a big dog...a stubborn dog....i have never done it before...

it is also different because daisy uses puppy pads inside...and we want our pitbull "Rambo" to go outside.....

any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!!!!

**Karen** · 04-23-2006, 05:09 PM

It's no different than any other dog - are you getting a puppy or an older dog?

The key, as always, is to be hyper attentive and consistent. Though if you have one dog who uses pee pads, he's gonna think that's an okay spot for him as well ...

**Daisy Jo's Mom** · 04-23-2006, 05:23 PM

it is a puppy......i wouldn't mind if he went on the pad....

**dab_20** · 04-27-2006, 08:41 PM

Originally Posted by Daisy Jo's Mom

it is a puppy......i wouldn't mind if he went on the pad....

Well it will take longer and it will most likely be harder to house break him if you pad train him. The fact that he's a bigger dog, too, can sometimes become a problem. You can go to www.google.com or yahoo and search potty training and there will be alot of great info on there. Good Luck!

**Jadapit** · 04-28-2006, 09:32 AM

Hi, I own a pit bull she wasn't hard to housebreak. I had her housebroken in a week. I got a paper from the Humane Society on how to housebreak a dog. It worked like a charm. This is what they said to do:

Take the dog out every couple of hours when he does go outside praise the heck out of him and give him some sort of treat. Try to take him to the same spot he goes each time. Take him out when you get up every morning and before you go to bed. Sometimes you have to walk around with them before they will go.

When you catch him going in the house tell him "stop" in a frim voice, take him outside. Put up his water about 2 hours before bed. Be sure to always praise him and give him that treat when he does go outside. He will be housebroke before you know it.

Good luck. Congrats on the pittie arent they a lot of fun?!?

**animal_rescue** · 04-28-2006, 07:46 PM

hmm in my experience pit bulls were one of the eastiests to housetrain, just do what Jadapit says.

**Jessika** · 04-28-2006, 07:52 PM

Definitely do not train him to go on the pad, or try not to. I would work on training him to go outside first and foremost. Its not hard - give LOTSSSSSS of positive reinforcement (praise, belly rubs, treats, get really excited!) when he potties outside, yet IGNORE him if he potties inside. I know it can be frustrating, but dogs repeat actions that get them the most attention (even negative attention!) so give them LOTS of attention for actions you want them to repeat, and little to NO attention for actions you do NOT wish for them to repeat.

Training any dog will be the same, in fact I've found its easier to housetrain larger dogs.

Just remember whne you take him outside, keep him on a leash or watch him. THE SECOND he goes potty, get REALLY excited, tell him "GOOD POTTY!" and giv lots of treats!

**Daisy Jo's Mom** · 05-01-2006, 11:42 PM

will do guys........

thanks for all the info....

**Jessika** · 05-02-2006, 12:19 AM

Good luck!

**Daisy Jo's Mom** · 05-12-2006, 01:09 AM

thanks for the luck and the advice.....it just doesn't seem like anything is working...
he still has accidents...but sometimes he will go to the door
he still bites when he plays (it hurts)
and he still barks whenever we leave the room

it is killing me!!

**bckrazy** · 05-12-2006, 01:16 PM

Is he crate-trained? He should be! It will help a lot with him sleeping through the night, and taking naps safely and without waking up and peeing right away.

It sounds like you need to tether! Keep him on a leash next to you at all times. Play with him, give him chewies, and do short training sessions as you would do normally. This will also help him get used to being leashed. Make sure you take him outside often! My recommendation is to start with every 30 minutes. It can seem like overkill, but you need to do everything you can to prevent accidents and encourage going outside. Take him outside 30 minutes-1 hour after drinking and eating. Make sure you exercise him off-leash in your backyard often. He should never be without supervision at this age... never. I know it's difficult, but it will get better after he has learned outside is the only place to go potty.

**Katy_M216** · 05-22-2006, 08:26 AM

My pittie's been really hard to housebreak.

The problem? She's horribly, MAJORLY whimpy when it comes to going outside in yucky weather. We had a fairly mild winter considering, but when the temps dropped and there was the slightest dusting on the ground, she'd run out, then look back at me like, "you're kidding...right?" and run back to the door. Same with even the lightest rainfall.