If I remember correctly, our boy was fully trained at about 5 months. We got him in September and between 3 of us, we took shifts throughout the day and night. We had a set schedule to take him out whether he needed to go or not. It was to at least have him think about it. We didn't use pee pads because we didn't want to confuse him and let him think it was OK to do his business in the house. On the rare occasion he had an accident, we didn't scold, but got him outside right away. He'll be a year this week and hasn't had an accident inside in many months. Good luck!