How to Potty Train a Parson Russell Terrier

Hello Liezel, When you take pup outside are you letting pup into a fence alone or taking pup out on leash with you? If you are letting pup outside alone, I would take pup on leash, walk pup around slowly for 10-15 minutes to encourage sniffing and the urge to go potty, tell pup to "Go Potty" then give three small treats or pieces of kibble, one at a time, and praise pup if they go potty. I would do this for the next three months or until pup has been completely accident free for at least two to three months. If pup won't go potty when you take them outside like I explained above, then when you bring pup back inside either crate pup or tether them to yourself with a hands free leash for the next hour. At the end of the hour or if pup starts asking to go back outside sooner, take pup back outside, repeating the walking, "Go Potty" and rewards if pup finally goes potty then. Repeat the cycle of taking pup potty supervised, crating or tethering pup to yourself for an hour if they don't go potty, and taking pup back outside each hour, every hour until pup finally goes potty again. If pup is going potty outside but then having an accident right away when you bring them back inside, despite fully going potty outside, the issue might be excited or submissive peeing rather than a lack of understanding about potty training, often working on keeping pup calm, keeping a drag leash on pup when you supervise so you can pick that up to lead pup instead of touch pup during times of pup being in trouble or overly excited, and ignoring pup when you first get home or guests first arrive, can help pup learn to manage their own nervousness or excitement. Many puppies will improve in that area with age if you can just minimize how often it happens through managing interactions and environment more. If pup is having frequent accidents immediately and it's not happening due to submissive or excited peeing, I recommend a trip to your vet to see if their is a medical cause for incontinence. I am not a vet so I would defer to your vet about anything to do with pup's physiology. Best of luck training, Caitlin Crittenden

Feb. 28, 2022

Hello Maddison, It sounds like pup isn't going potty on a pad while in the pen. You have a few different options here. Option 1: Teach pup to go potty outside. As soon as you let pup out, immediately take pup outside. If pup doesn't go potty there, return to pen, then try again in 30-60 minutes. Only giving pup freedom after you have seen them go potty. When you do take pup potty, tell pup Go Potty, and give a treat and praise right after pup goes potty if they go. If you want to teach pup to only use the bathroom outside, I recommend using the crate inside instead of the pen, to ensure pup never goes in the pen inside also. Otherwise you are teaching inside on the pad and outside also by taking pup outside and using the pen. Option 2. Watch pup carefully. Every time you see pup go potty in the pen, praise pup and give a treat, only letting pup out of the pen right after they have got potty in on the pad, so pup's bladder is empty while free. This will need to happen on average for 3 months before pup will be motivated not to have an accident while out of the pen. Option 3. When you let pup out of the pen, tether pup to yourself with a hands free leash and keep an eye on pup's signals of needing to go, like sniffing, circling, whining, pulling away, or squatting. If pup acts like they need to go potty, immediately hurry pup back over to the pee pad, and praise and reward if pup goes on the pad. Check out the Crate Training method for more details on option 1, if you go solely to outside potty training. Crate Training method: https://wagwalking.com/training/train-a-german-shepherd-puppy-to-poop-outside Check out the Exercise Pen method I have linked below for more details on option 2. https://wagwalking.com/training/litter-box-train-a-chihuahua-puppy Check out the tethering method for more details on option 3. The difference between that method and what I told you is that you would take pup to the pee pad instead of outside like the method mentions, unless you decide you want to teach pup to go potty outside. Tethering method: https://wagwalking.com/training/train-a-german-shepherd-puppy-to-poop-outside If pup seems to be avoiding going on the pee pads in general, some dogs associate pee pads with other fabric like carpet or rugs and will avoid them. You can try using a disposable real grass pad instead in that case. www.freshpatch.com (also on amazon) www.porchpotty.com https://www.amazon.com/DoggieLawn-Disposable-Dog-Potty-Medium/dp/B00761ZXQW Best of luck training, Caitlin Crittenden

June 15, 2021