Training A Puppy

House training puppy impossible when they have free roam?

My puppy has had free roam since we got her 10 days ago. She's a little over 2 months old. I feel too bad to put her in a crate. She does well at night, mostly sleeping through the night on her bed. I put "wee wee pads" in the places she's gone to the bathroom in the house and reward her with a treat when she does her business outside. I can't seem to get her to get on a schedule though. She just goes sometimes every 2 hours in the house during the day. Do I really need to confine her? Can it be done without confinement? Is that all I've done wrong? I need to get her trained soon. Thank you in advance.
Thanks for all the answers so far! I wanted to add, I just wrote I need to do it soon because I go back to school in September.

I agree with the other comments... crate training isn't mean or punishing to puppy. Once puppy knows the crate is its safe place, it will become puppy's den. It also aids in housetraining immensely. The key to housetraining is consistency... for you. You have to be consistent... getting puppy outside every single time the urge strikes. If you fail, it's your error, not hers. Every time you fail, you delay her learning process.

Free roaming is OK, but it makes your job of housetraining *a lot* harder. I see it like trying to swim upriver against the current blindfolded at midnight trying to follow a fish. ;-) Not impossible but... to me, you're creating a situation with so many obstacles, you have a hard time clearing one, let alone all of them at the same time.

Going every 2 hours would be a dream! One of my dogs had to go out every 20 minutes. I let him roam in whatever room I was in and that's all. I moved him with me everywhere I went (I had baby gates throughout the house). Every time he paused in play, I'd scoop him up and take him outside to wee. (other prime-time potty breaks: immediately coming out of the crate; immediately following a meal or play time) As soon as he pottied, he got lots of praise and we came back into the house. This went on for several months. Gradually the time between his potty breaks extended and he started going to the door and looking at me - his signal he needed a potty break. That's why crate training is so helpful... when you can't watch puppy, the crate is puppy's crib.

Housetraining isn't hard, but it requires lots of patience, constant watching and consistency.

Good luck!

Puppy training for competition obedience


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