Hi my husband and I just purchased a purebred 8 week old german shepherd puppy. We currently have a 6 year old spayed female german shepherd that is completely housetrained. We got her at 10 weeks of age and crate trained her, however, it has been so long since she was a puppy I have forgotten exactly how I did it. She is 100% reliabily housebroken. The puppy, however, is not. We are trying crate training with him, crating him when we cannot watch him or at night and take him outside frequently, he always goes when we take him outside (pee and poop) and we praise him and go "good potty". However, if we do not strictly watch him in the house, he will pee on the carpet in a heartbeat. My husband (which I am angry at right now) had him in our bedroom with our older shepherd and wasn't watching him and he urinated in our room, on the carpet, several times. I got VERY angry at my husband for it because I believe this is going to set our puppy back with housetraining. I guess my question is, how long does it take before puppies "get it"? Like I said, he will go when we take him outside and he holds in the crate but I know if we let him run around the house, he WILL urinate on the carpet hands down. I just feel lost and need some advice from a trainer or expert in this field. Thanks so much

Congrats on your new puppy.

I know how you feel, we just got a puppy and it's been a while since the last one was housebroken, it really is hard to remember how we got there sometimes.

You're puppy is still pretty young, most dogs cannot consistently "hold it" until they are around 4 months old. Yes, training now is important, but don't expect him to be really reliable yet.

It's a good idea to take him out very often, choose a word for potty like "make" or "potty" and then repeat that word until he does his business. When he does his business go nuts with praise, lots of pats and good boys, and a treat. If he has an accident in the house and you catch him in the act, clap your hands or make a loud nose to get him to stop, then immediately take him outside, say the word and wait until he potties, then praise again.

Don't make too big a deal when he has an accident, you want positive reinforcement, not negative punishment. It may take a while, but don't give up, he'll get there. :)

Once again, congrats, enjoy him, the grow up so fast. :)

Your older housetrained dog may be a very valuable tool in teaching the young pup. Puppies often learn well from watching their elders. I suggest taking them both out to do their thing at the same time whenever possible. Of the little one can watch the older one do her business outside, she may understand the connection faster. Also take some good quality pet stain remover and try to get rid of as many potty spots as you can find. They are flagged to the puppies nose as bathrooms.

I'm glad you mentioned that Silver, so true. Our border collie was trained very quickly, largely because of our older lab.

One thing to note. If you can't find a pet stain remover, vinegar and water is great. 1/2 and 1/2 but test it first to make sure it doesn't discolor your carpet.

I have been taking him out with our older shepherd, they go out at the same time and he will always go when I take him outside. Its just the peeing is so random. This is what I do, he is crated whenever we can't watch him (ex when we sleep, have chores, etc). When we take him out of the crate we immediately take him outside and praise him when he goes (which he always does). I guess I Just want to know if accidents are normal and about how long it can take. We have had him for two weeks and he is now 9 1/2 weeks old. Thanks everyone for the answers.

At 9 1/2 weeks old, accidents are very normal. Think of him as a newborn baby, they pee a lot more then a toddler, and don't have any bladder control. Thankfully you won't have to wait 2 years in order to train your puppy. ;)

Really, at 4 months of age I'm sure you'll see a huge difference. He's still young.