House breaking in the winter

DH and I have been talking about getting a puppy soon, however we were curious about training in the winter. It is so cold out and think it would be hard to train the pup bc they might not want to be out in the cold for so long ( us either!) haha, but has anyone had difficulty with this? I know this might be silly, but we were seriously wondering..

Re: House breaking in the winter

We got our pup in January and could not train him outside. He was only 10 weeks and would literally start shivering after being out for a few seconds so he wasn't hardy enough yet for the cold weather. We trained him with wee-wee pads for the winter and switched him to outside in the spring. I'm sure training took longer than most as a result, but it really wasn't as difficult to transition him as we thought it would be. If it is possible, I would recommend waiting until the spring but if you can't wait I'm sure you'll be able to work it out as we did.

Re: House breaking in the winter

We just got our bernie at the end of Dec, and both my goldens we had gotten in the winter as well. As long as you have a fenced in yard I don't think it is any harder than doing it in the nicer weather. The first couple of days we had to throw on a jacket to go out with them, but other than that it has been easy. Now I just leave a pair of uggs to slip on quick and a heavy blanket by the door in case I have to go out with him. I will say we have it a little easier because the golden is training the bernie what to do and where to go outside.

One of our goldens was gotten during a really tough winter and he learned how to pee on the snow... he got very upset when it was gone. I also have dogs that love the outdoors, I am not sure if this would apply to every breed. Today we had to beg them to come in with treats because we felt they were out too long, they just love discovering the backyard.

Re: House breaking in the winter

the first weekend we had hershey, there was a HUGE snow storm -- so imagine house training him with 2 feet of snow!

he was really good about it AFTER we shoveled a walkway for him haha -- that was the only hiccup we had when house training him in the winter... i've heard many people have issues with this though!

Re: House breaking in the winter

We just got our puppy, Daisy, New Years weekend and have been training her to go outside since about 4 days after...She was only 12 weeks, but, I think she hates being out in the cold, so she goes really quick and then runs right back in! So, I think it helped us a little, cause she doesn't sit and waste time

This is my first dog, so I really don't have any other experience, but it really hasn't been that bad. Besides me freezing too, sometimes at 4:30 am

Good luck if you do decide to get one!

Re: House breaking in the winter

as soon as buddy was up to date with his shots we took him out to start house breaking. I found using a crate made it easier to house break him cause in the morning I would open the crate and run outside with him so he could do his business

Re: House breaking in the winter

We did it. We bought him a little jacket & he was fine. When it snowed he cleared a path!

Re: House breaking in the winter

We got our dog in the middle of January...I honestly don't think dogs feel the cold in that way...she was trained within a couple of weeks :)

Message edited 2/2/2010 4:15:41 PM.

Re: House breaking in the winter

thanks! awww pup is adorable!

Re: House breaking in the winter

we got our puppy in the middle of the blizzard back in DEC...he was finally house broken and then we moved into our new house...its not as bad as it was, but its annoying, its like restarting all over again

it was very hard to train him in the snow, he refused to pee in the snow!