potty training is NOT going well - help!

[Puppy Madness]

Ruby (med ALD)  is now 4 months old.  We've had her since she was 2 months old.  She still has a lot of accidents.  A friend of mine the other day... who has had a lot of dogs but gets most of them as rescues when they're a little older... said you should be able to potty train a dog in a week.  Ha.  

 

Here's what we have already tried:

1. crate:  she's in the crate at night, and during the day if we're all out.  This works well.  BUT I have to say, I find it really hard to keep her in her crate during the day if I'm home.

2. treats for peeing/pooping outside - yes, but we were never consistent with this (I don't always have treats in my pocket for immediate rewarding, esp. first thing in the morning).

3. taking her out after eating - yes.  Sometimes this works.  Sometimes she won't go right away and then I'll miss it when she actually does go.

4. Tethering her near her crate (or near me) to make her space smaller (vet's suggestion):  tried it once or twice but she whined a lot and pulled.  

5. using a bell to signal to go out - the bell turned into a nice toy for when she's hyper.  I took it away and might reintroduce it at some point.

6.  getting mean and yelling 'bad dog' or something like that when I catch her in the act - have tried that (and also just the 'no') but I actually often don't catch it until after she's done.

 

FYI, when she's not in the crate, she has access to the kitchen and family room... it's a fairly large space.  There's not a good way to make that space smaller (unless we got a pen).  

So I think what I need to do is get more strict and keep her in the crate unless I'm actually playing with her until she's better trained.  Any other ideas?  Should a 4 month old puppy definitely be totally (or almost totally) housebroken already?

 

thanks,

Anita

 

[K and Racey]

Hi Anita,

Sorry it's not going well with the potty training. My puppy is now 14 weeks old, and I would say she is 95% potty trained. When we are at home, she hasn't had any accidents in 3-4weeks, but when she is in a foreign place she doesnt know how to tell us she needs to go. She had 3 accidents this weekend, 2 at my in-laws house, and 1 at a friends.

I guess my question would be, how often are you taking her outside? Racey can hold it in her crate all night, but on the weekends, when we are home all day, I'd say she goes out every 30 mins to hour. When we first got her, she was 9 weeks, and we took her out ever 30 mins, except at night, we took her out every 2 hours. I know they should be able to hold it, which obviously Racey can because she holds it all night, and for 4 hours during the day. She goes out at 8, 12, 1, and 5 on weekdays, then about every 30 mins-1 hour in the evenings.

We never did treats for pottying. Everytime we were going to take her out, we would make her sit by the door, and then we would ring the bell. Everytime she went out, we went with her and told her "Hi-on" or "Hi-on poopie." She pretty much goes on command now, like before we get in the car. But we don't go out with her every 30 mins anymore. Especially since it is currently -3F here! I think sometimes she rings the bells just to get attention, and if she does, we put her outside, regardless of whether we think she needs to go, just so she knows the bells aren't going to get her a reward. We never really disciplined her for going inside the house. We would say a firm "no" and then put her outside and tell her to "hi-on" while the other one of us cleaned the pee. She never pooped in the house except for in her crate twice because my husband couldn't get home from work until after 1, so he was an hour late coming home for lunch (not her fault or his, sometimes these things happen). We didn't discipline her at all when she went in the crate.

I don't know if this helps at all, but at least you know where someone else is training wise.

[K and Racey]

BTW-Racey is a labradoodle; should be about 50 lbs, so I think that makes her "regular" not sure what the term is for her sizing. 

[Deb, Connor & Simon]

:-) she's a standard

[Gillian]

Potty training took us a while as well. By 6 months I'd say she was 99% trained... she has had 2 accidents in the last 2 months (She is now 8 months almost 9 months old!)

 

I would recommend talking to your vet again just to be sure there are no signs of UTIs. Maizey had one and it took us a couple days to realize it was just "accidents" she was having. Also, are you measuring how much water you give her? We realized that Maizey was drinking ridiculous amounts of water (like 5 times the amount she should have been) because she enjoyed looking at her reflection in the bottom of her water bowl (smart dood, no?). Also Maizey learned to use (and abuse) her bells really quickly. After 1-2 months of constantly ringing to play outside.. .she gave up on the novelty of it. I'd try the bells again. 

 

It sounds like you are doing everything right, so just keep with it and dont' get discouraged when she does have an accident. I feel like the potty training process is one step forward and two steps back.

[Sandra Griffith]

Try not to get too discouraged.  It can take time and that dreaded consistency (which is so hard when we have other parts of our lives to lead).

Here are some tips:

1) First thing in the morning take her out on lead to your chosen "potty spot" .  Tell her "go potty" or some other chosen cue.  Do not interact with her or in any way give her any attention.  She has three minutes to go.  When she goes praise her as soon as she finishes and/or give her a treat.  She now has 30 minutes of supervised free time.  If she does not go, bring her inside and place her in her crate and try again in 30 minutes.  Repeat every 30 minutes throughout the day.

2) Keep a record of when she goes (and what it is "pee" or "poo").  In your records, keep track of when, where, and what she was doing just prior to the incident.  Also keep track of when she eats.  If you are diligent about your records you should see a pattern emerge.

3) Puppies have to go more frequently when they are playing or active.  Just like us, they may be able to sleep all night but this does not mean that they can "hold it" while up. 

4) When she is not in her crate, tether her to yourself so that she is not "locked up" all the time.  This will help you to keep track of what she is doing, keep her out of trouble, but still allow her to be with you.

Hope this helps. 

 

[Jaime and Barley Barker]

Hi Anita,

 

Wow, I've never heard of anyone being able to housetrain their dog in only a week! I also do not think it would be normal to have a puppy completely housetrained at 4 months of age. Fabulous yes, normal no! Barley wasn't completely housetrained until he was 5 months old. My other goldendoodle, Daisy, was still having accidents up until 7 months of age. It took Daisy a little longer, but she hasn't peed in the house since then. (She's now four years old.)

When I was housetraining Barley, I took him out every one or two hours, even if he wasn't acting like he had to go. I kept him on his leash until he peed, and wouldn't let him play off-leash until he did so. When we were inside, I learned that Barley had to be in his crate if I couldn't watch him. I did tether him to me a lot. I think he may have been bratty at first, but he got used to it. I made sure that I could always keep an eye on him; I didn't want to set him up for failure. If he did have an accident, I said "No!" really loud and brought him outside right away. I don't think I ever really yelled at him. I once scared my older Daisy so badly by screaming at her (for chewing on furniture), she peed on the spot and shook out of fear. I felt so bad! A firm "no" is enough.

Anyway, just remember vigilance and consistency. Good luck, and don't worry. Dogs are individuals, and training will "click" at different times for them.

 

[Steve Drury]

Our 1st doodle was trained in a week as well. For both our girls we took them out at least once an hour - 24/7.

The 2nd doodle was much larger and more rambunctious. She took close to a month to be totally reliable. So it is very possible to do it. Our girls were reliable at 3 months.

However my reason for posting is to say that both girls had urinary tract infections between 4-6 months that caused accidents. After perfect control they each started occasionally peeing in the house---even after just coming in. For the 1st one it was very frustrating. We couldn't figure out the problem for a couple weeks. With the 2nd one we knew right away and took her to the vet immediately.

It could be worth a trip to the vet to make sure there isn't a health issue contributing to the problem.

[Carla, Lucca and Izzy]

All this advice is good, and no it's not normal to have a pup trained in a week. What I found with Izzy is the more space I gave her the more confused she became and would have accidents. I had gates up everywhere so she was contained in a smaller area and she did well. Now, she pretty much has the run of the house. Lucca, my 2 year old wasn't truly housebroken until around 5 months. LOTS of Natures Miracle was used:)

I would suggest to either get a pen or one of those long gates or fences. I'm sure she wants to be with the family, just figure out how to contain her more and expend as she gets better. I agree with you with the tethering. My dogs would have hated it too.

My rule was out after eating, playing and sleeping, which usually worked out to about every 1/2 hour until their bladder matures and she can hold it longer. Does she hold it all night?

It will work out. I had Lucca who took longer and now Izzy who at 4 months hasn't had an accident in at least 3 weeks. They are all different and mature at different rates.....just like our human pups:)

[Carla, Lucca and Izzy]

I agree with taking her out on a leash. Also, don't let her chase you. Stay in one spot close to her potty area and tell her "go potty" or whatever your words are. If Izzy is too hyper I kind of block her way with my body and don't let her move outside the potty area until  she goes. Sometimes it's her will against yours:) These doodles are pretty smart and can be stubborn....believe me, I have one of them:) If she nips at your pants...when Lucca was little I sprayed bitter apple on my leg if he was getting too nippy. It worked.

[Pinky T]

Great advice from everyone!  I would definitely put her on a leash before you go out.  I would ring the bell and say your word or phrase for potty before you take her outside.  Do not let her chase you or play!  If she gets crazy, take up the slack in the leash and say the potty phrase again.  Also it is important for you to be patient.  If the dog doesn't put in a serious effort to start sniffing, you need to encourage it without playing with her.  

 

Also I would recommend putting her in the crate if you can't watch her.  If we give our puppy freedom in the house, someone has to watch her so we can look for the signs.

 

I hope this helps.

[Livia Free]

Didn't read the previous replies but I just learned that the smaller the dog, the longer it takes to potty train. At 4 months, you dog is not ready to be potty trained just yet. If a 4-month-old puppy is having no accidents it is NOT because they are potty trained but because the owner is being proactive and takes the dog out often.

 

I just learned (from a trainer) that smaller dog can take up to 18 months to fully potty train. The easiest to potty train are german shepherds I was told.

 

So all this, just to say, please don't feel too bad. Your puppy is normal and WILL eventually potty train :)

 

Our puppy is 4 months old. She will sometimes go a week or even more with no accidents and then, she will have 2 accidents in one day. The definition of "potty trained" is a dog that has not had ANY accidents in 2 (yeas, two!) months! and that usually doesn't happen until the pup is about 6 months.

 

Best of luck! We want to try the bell thing too and I think our pup is ready as she goes and stands by the front door if she needs to pee. And yes, she has peed by the front door numerous times ;-) Just don't tell that to out guests...

 

Livia + Misha (4 months old)

[Livia Free]

Oh yeah, and you totally need to put her on a  leash when it's business time. If she's crazy, take her in but don't scold her, just matter of fact, in we go, since no business got done. But take her out again in 5 minutes or so so that she doesn't have time to pee inside.