Problem with Potty Training

[Max & Ellie]

Max is ten weeks old and we have had him for 2 weeks.   He took to potty training very fast and had very little accidents.   He has learned to use the bell and does so often.  The issue we are now having is that when there is a lot going on in the house (kids getting home from school etc) he will sneak off and go pee pee somewhere.   Also I will take him out, he will go and as soon as we get in the house he will sneak off and go. 

 

Did anyone have similar issues?  Is it an attention issue?  I am home during the day and he has never had an accident when it is just the two of us in the house.  (he uses the bell)

 

Any advise would be great!!

[Tammy & Gracie]

Do not allow him free run in the house yet. I don't think I let Gracie alone till she was 6 or 8 months old. Keep him in the room you are in with baby gates or a tether to you. I know this sounds hard to deal with but as you already know he wants to go off by himself to do his business. If things are crazy in the house it may be a good time to kennel him till things are calmer.

[Lynne B]

I agree with Tammy&Gracie- keep him tethered to you or confined to a small area. Beck was never unattended off lead until he was perfectly housebroken at about 5 1/2 months. Until he was reliable about not going in the house I took him out every 30 minutes and he was crated all night.

[Max & Ellie]

Thanks for the advice. He is with me wherever I go during the day. When the kids get home and I am cooking dinner he is in the kitchen/greatroom (no way to close off becuase it is all open)

I suppose I should just put him in his crate until we are settled and done dinner... Just feel bad because the kids want to play with him when they get home...of course their attention span for watching him doesn't last while I am working in the kitchen.

I think I just need to re-teach myself becuase it has been 15 years since we have had a puppy. :) Thanks again.

[Michelle]

I agree with the others, keep him in a small, puppy proofed area(with no rugs). We were having the same problem, the puppies got very excited when they saw us in the morning or when the kids came home, so when we took them out they would go quicky & want to get back to the excitment. So instead of taking them out just once, we would wait 5 minutes & take them out again and that seemed to work for us. Good luck!

[Lisa {Zoe's Mom]]

Zoe did that for a bit. She would be god when my husband wasn't home and then when he would get back from being gone a couple days, she would puddle more than once. I blamed him! I got to thinking outside the box. Was there so much going on that I didn't see the gentle signs or did I hear it and then forget about it? So much going on at one time, expecially for a puppy, I realized it al added up.

So I decided to take Zoe out when my son got home from school. Take Zoe out as my husband came home and took every opportunity to show off all the new things she had learned with lots of praise and treats. As she got older, she got better. I think it is all in there transitioning of growing up and learning about crowds/excitement etc.

Keep the faith, your cutie will grow up and out of it. Just make sure you keep him in check. Zoe is a leg hugger. She is always by my side if I am standing in the kitchen or within site in the family room. Try and keep max with you too. It helps, kinda like a security blanket for him.

Hope I was of some help!

[Allyson, Peri & Taquito]

Ditto - until Peri was 5 months old, when we were home, she was confined to the den by a baby gate. We were usually in there anyway so it was no big deal. And when we moved around, we would let her follow us. The gate allowed us to actually sit down for a while without having to chase her around!

[Leslie J]

My house is very open and it is difficult to gate rooms (except for the kitchen), so we often tethered Cocoa to a sofa or chair near us unless someone was actively watching her. She was happy because she was near us- but also she didn't want to soil her personal "zone" so it worked well for us. We also made sure that she peed twice when she was outside, as the first time she didn't completely empty her bladder. We didn't stop gating her in the kitchen or tethering her until very recently (at six months). Now she is fine even when there is chaos in the house (and I have 3 young sons, so that is often!). Oh- and I still crate her when we are not home and at night, which she doesn't seem to mind at all.

[Azure & Muppet]

He's been given too much freedom, too soon. Use the methods suggested (tethering, gates, etc) to keep him limited to an area that is within sight and allows closer supervision.

[Camilla and Darwin]

I agree, you could use a 20 foot lead and attach it somewhere in the kitchen... then you could keep an eye on him.

[Max & Ellie]

Thanks to everyone for the advice. He doesn't like it but he hasn't had any accidents since we have been keeping him on a leash in the kitchen.