Slight venting session

[Leita Hagemann]

Our puppy Denali is 14 weeks. he is quick as a whip most of the time. He knows all of his basic commands and does them very well - especially with a treat in hand. He also can go potty on command - he does the sniff the ground circle circle squat right after I say the word. I take him out all the time - after naps, after meals, before and after playtime. However he still goes inside. And its not “I cant hold it” pee its “Im bored” or “ehh i sort of have to go” pee. We have never had a day without an accident. Three accidents a day is not uncommon. Five it typical. one is a great day. He seems to have no concept of inside is bad and outside is ok. He has never gone in his crate or the kitchen. He has gone in my bed (#1 and #2) while I was in it. That was a fun morning. He also doesnt stop when we clap. We can yell “Hey!” and clap and move towards him when he is peeing and he doesnt stop. he sometimes moves making a pee line in the carpet rather than a circle. Also scooping him up doesnt make him stop either he just continues to pee on you and all down your leg. He goes sometimes no more than 5 minutes after going outside and going outside. Sometimes when he pees inside its just drips - like he doesnt even have to go but hes trying to go. What am I doing wrong? I feel like we will have a 2 year old dog that still goes in the house... Ugh!!!! I am so at the end of my rope with house breaking. Up to two accidents today and we spent over 6 hours outside.....

[Lynda Kamrath]

I agree with others that he is still pretty young, but a vet check would be a good idea.  Do you have children?  I was told when my son was little that he would be trained before he went to kindergarten, but that sounded pretty awful to me.  He definitely was, but there were ups and downs in his potty training also.  My general rule with my dogs is no freedom in the house until they are totally house trained.  Then they can sleep anywhere they like.  They each had a baby playpen that was their home when they were in the house.  Hondo (my first doodle) even had one with a vibrator and music box.  I would put him in his playpen and turn on the vibrator and music and he was out.  He learned to pee and poop on command, and when I told him to go pee-pee he would squat and give me whatever he had available, maybe just a squirt or two.  You are right to take him out frequently, but you may need to distinguish between play time and potty time.  When I am training them, I carry them out (directly from the playpen) and put them down in the place I want them to eliminate.  Then they get their treat and "good boy" congratulations, and we go back inside.  Going out to play or for a walk is a different procedure.  When I grab a leash, they know it is play or walk time, not potty time.

About the house training.  Don't fret it.  Just try to ignore behaviors you don't want, and plan to get the carpets cleaned when he finally is totally trained.  The pet carpet cleaners help with the smell.  I just put down paper towels and then step on them to pick up the liquid and then spray and scrub a little.  Don't make a big deal out of it and definitely don't punish a puppy for doing what comes naturally to him.  Just encourage him to use the designated spot outside and reward him when he does.

[Debb, Lucy & Oscar]

Having recently gone through UTI's with both Lucy and Oscar, I strongly advise you to get Denali checked out by a vet. The fact that he's peeing multiple small amounts in the house is a red flag to me. Both of my doodles were already potty trained by the time they had UTI's so neither had accidents in the house, but they sure did go frequently outside and very small amounts at times. They both drank a lot of water, unusually so, which was another red flag.

If Denali checks out okay, then I'm with others here, that the accident spots need a thorough cleaning with an enzyme cleaner, like Nature's Miracle, and he also needs far less freedom than he's been getting. Oscar wasn't totally potty trained until 5 months, but up until then he'd go 3 weeks without an accident. We took him out A LOT, on leash, and tethered him to us when he was inside and out of his crate. He never did get the potty bells (Lucy figured them out in 5 days), and to this day he'll stand next to the back door and just stare at us to let us know he needs to go. He's a big dog for a Labradoodle and is almost 2 yrs old. Lately, he really only needs to go pee about 3-4x a day, which is really nice! It will get better and soon the 'potty training woes' will all be a distant memory!

[Michele Kiss]

How are you potty training? Does he get rewarded for going in the RIGHT place? That is key... 

[Susan, Coby & Chloe]

I can relate.  We went through what seemed like a long time with our now 7 m/o mini ALD and it was very frustrating - mostly for the poop variety than for peeing, although I just may have been more aware of the latter in the areas they were more visible! It boiled down to it being more of "our" issue than hers - we simply had been giving her too much freedom too soon and had to go back to confining her more and keeping much closer tabs on her. In our case, much as my husband did not like this option, it meant keeping her in her crate more. Once I felt we made headway with that, I confined her to the kitchen with gates - which she got out of and would increase the accidents. I then made sure to keep her leash on so we could grab hold of her easier and catch her -- both before escaping and "in the act". Plus we really enforced the use of poochie bells on the door that we consistently used and rang to take her out, in addition to offering rewards that tapered off and lots and lots of praise when she went outside. She's not much of a barker unless someone comes to the door so I gave up on her "asking". So far, so good.  Hang in there - be consistent and show him who's alpha!