no bark no howl

by kathy
(san antonio tx)

what i do

My puppy Katlin is 10 weeks old on thursday.

My question is will she ever back or howl? It's hard to tell when she needs out she just walks around.

I have heard her bark 2 times and that was during play.

She doesn't back at the doorbell, people in her back yard or etc., is this normal?

Also at night she sleeps with us , she does great but when she needs to pee she attacks our hair lol

She also was real good with housetrainning but she has peed on my roommate for no reason (she was just brought back in from potty time and she peed all over my pillow.

She just won't bark and if we say lets go potty she usually goes, but when we are upstairs she she finds spots and pees no warning!

please help

thank you

we love the site

kathy and katlin



Hi Kathy
Katlin is an absolute cutie, who could resist that look? I'm glad to hear you're enjoying my site and finding it helpful.

Overall, from what you say she's doing pretty well in most areas. At almost 10 weeks old she's still a tiny baby, and is still in the very early stages of learning what is expected of her. To give you an idea of the time frame for housetraining - if you're consistent with training her, you can expect her to be pretty reliable about only going outside by about 6 months of age. That would be a normal time frame.

This may surprise you, as many people think that a puppy will be housebroken in a couple of weeks - not so, except in rare instances. Think how long it takes a human child to be potty trained, well we're pretty much expecting the same thing from our puppies - it takes time!

I would really recommend crate training as it's the quickest and simplest way to house break a puppy. It helps to cut down on the kind of 'accidents' Katlin is having, and helps a pup to learn bladder/bowel control. You can read all about crate-training on my Crate Training page.

As for the barking, it's true some puppies bark when they want to go outside or to get your attention, but they're in the minority really. Puppies aren't generally very vocal, except in play, as you've noticed. Puppies of the guardian breeds may bark at strangers etc. while still puppies but that's also not a 'given' and really shouldn't be encouraged. Right now Katlin loves everyone and everything and sees no reason to bark, or howl.

She's a beagle, (I believe) so she will probably develop a howl as she gets older, but right now I would just be grateful she's pretty quiet. It's perfectly normal and nothing to worry about!

You can try to teach her to ring a bell when she needs to go out, by hanging a small bell on a rope from the door handle. Everytime you take her out to potty, go through that door and ring the bell while saying "Go potty outside" or something like that. She may pick this up herself and start doing it, or she may not. Most of my dogs don't really 'tell' me when they have to go. As puppies I just read the body language and anticipated their needs, as adults they've learned to 'hold it' until I pay attention, or there's an opportunity to go.

While Katlin is young, do make sure that you give her plenty of time to 'do her business' when you take her outside. Puppies often need to go more than once per trip, and they're easily distracted so stay with her, repeat her 'trigger phrase' and make sure she's finished before you bring her back in. Always supervise her when she's indoors and not crated so that you can whisk her outside if she needs to go.

Best of luck with Katlin. We send her a kiss!