Oh my gosh! I need help housebreaking

We just brought our Tri home about a week and a half ago. We call her Mrs. Beasley. I'm in love! I haven't felt this way since I was 17 lol. She is now 11 weeks old. She does sit and stay commands majority of the time now. Knows her name, and we are working on her walking right on my side. Of course I let her play lots! She is doing great. I use a vocal w/ a hand command. (and a treat of course) I use a somewhat firm voice, but not in a tone of scolding. I am fortunate to have 24 hours a day to spend with her & that's what I'm doing. I can't stop lovin' her up! She loves her "teddy bear". One problem. I live in a condo unit so it takes me a minute to get outside to the grass. That seems to be a bit of a challenge right now but think it will be fine in the long run. I have always said to her "Let's go outside & go potty". When we would reach the grass sometimes she goes right away and sometimes it takes a little longer.Once outside I always use the potty term for going to the bathroom. I think the last few days she is getting confused. As soon as I say "let's go outside", she sits and pees right away. On my carpet! lol I'm assuming I am not training her right or she is getting confused with my direction. I am fully expecting lots of accidents but am I doing something wrong? I have been reading so much about Cavaliers but need some help here. Thanks so much

You might try picking her up first, before you say "go out", so she doesn't have a chance to make a mistake. That's we we always do. As I'm carrying the pup, I say, "let's go out" and the dog's feet don't touch the ground until we are outdoors, and only then, like you, I say "go potty."

My suggestion, also. Pick her up and carry her outside then use your potty command once it's ok for her to go. At 11 weeks old, she is still a baby.

Good luck--- the puppy stage is so much fun!

Thanks. I do pick her up if I'm taking her directly from her crate area but I guess I should do it even if she's been playing on the floor. Whew, the potty training is a lot lot of work huh?

The problem as you have guessed, is that you have trained her to go on the words 'let's go out'. First, stop using that phrase right away! Also trainers would say don't carry a dog out to pee -- all that teaches the dog is that when it needs to go out, YOU carry her! Instead, when it is time for her to go out (which should be very regularly!) put a lead on her, ideally on a harness, NOT a collar, and *walk* her out to where you wish her to go. Have a very high value treat ready (eg a tiny cube of cheese or tiny bit of chicken) and have a word to indicate what you want her to do (you can have one for pees, one for poos, but do NOT make it a word you might use in another context -- eg 'let's go out', 'let's go', 'go on', 'do it' etc). When she starts to go (and you need to stay out, with her, until she does) then praise, quietly say the command word you have chosen, and the nanosecond she finishes, treat and praise again and bring her back in.

If you look in the Library section or check the links pinned at the top of the training section, you'll find lots of articles specifically on housetraining which should also help.

Also keep in mind her very very young age and be sure to keep your expectations of her in line with this. She still is only a baby and you can expect accidents (and also for her to regularly forget what you are currently teaching her). Accidents occur 1) because she is only just learning and 2) because we as owners fail to have either made clear yet what we want or fail to notice the pup/dog needs to go out in time for them to go where we wish them to go. Keep in mind too that every in-house mistake is one step backward and means a little bit longer for her to get the idea. Housetraining is one of the toughest training events for the owner, but strict attention, rewards, praise and 100% supervision 100% of the time means this difficult period ends much faster with success! Don't forget though that most dogs will not really be 100% reliable til about age one and will likely have the occasional accident so management is really key to the whole process -- eg never allowing the dog anywhere that you cannot accept an accident (and most people do make the mistake of assuming way too early -- say after a couple of weeks of reliability --that their dog is housetrained, give the dog free rein in the house, and find they do not have a housetrained dog within weeks...). Limiting access to rooms and close supervision generally for the first year is the best advice!

Agree with Karlin's advice and I might add that our cavalier was only house trained at a little over a year yet I still watch her to make sure that she needs to go out( sometimes she'll sit at door but not say anything). After training our golden this was a different experience.

Heather R