Potty training hell - Help

[Moe]

I just got a second dog a month ago. Our first pup was so easy to train. Lola, our new pup was 16 weeks when we got her. We have a fenced yard. I've been crate training her. I also have bells on the door. I take her paw and ring the bell before we go out but so far she has never rang the bells herself.  I take her out the second she gets out of the crate, after meals, after play or a nap. I've been bringing Lola out every 1/2 hour to the potty spot. She will stay there, sniff around and after 10 minutes or so go back to the steps leading into the house. Sometimes she pees or poops on the top step, sometimes she waits until she is back in the house to eliminate. It is so frustrating. I'm cleaning the spots with an enzyme cleaner.  I'm bringing her out every half hour! If she does go outside I've been using a clicker and treating her. I've caught her a few times in the house and have yelled "NO". Sometimes she will pee outside and within 5 minutes pee again in the house. She will also randomly pee in her crate. I'm trying to get her on a schedule but everything seems so hapahzard. I'm so frustrated. I feel like we did everything right and nothing is working. It has been a month and Lola is still having at least 2-3 accidents every day.

My neighbor said it is so easy to train a second dog because they just copy the first dog. It seem this is not the case for us. I'm at my whits end. Any suggestions?

[Leslie, Yogi & Maci Bear]

I guess I'd look at this from the standpoint of how long you have been training her versus how old she is. Perhaps her not being started on potty training earlier helped reinforce going wherever she chose. I would not worry about it though. She WILL get it, four weeks is not that long to potty train.
Also if it matters, our trainer said if you catch them to not holler and make a big deal, otherwise they will learn to hide and do it next time.

Good luck and enjoy your puppy :-)

[Rosemary (Ro) and Enzo]

Frustrating for sure! First...leash her in the backyard. This way she is not running back to the door. And stay with her until she goes. She may also be a double pee'er. In other words, a dog who does not empty her bladder on the first go around. Enzo did this as a puppy and once I figured this out, she was less likely to go back in the house and pee.
Next...are you cleaning with an enzyme solution? If not, you may not be smelling anything, but she may be going back and marking the spot in the house...possibly even where your first dog went, as a pup. Nature's Miracle is probably the easiest one to find.
Patience....She'll get there! ;)

[Lucy & AnnaBelle's Mom]

All good advice here.  I agree with all these points (as well as all the others).  My only other comment would be if you are in fact doing all of these things already, have you had her checked for a UTI.  Seems like a lot of peeing to me.

[Moe]

I have not been leashing her in the yard. I can start trying this.

I have been using Nature's Miracle. I also have another enzyme cleaner.

[Tracey & Spike]

You've only had her a month. If she had no training ahead of time four weeks isn't a long time at all. You'll get there!!

What worked for me was the potty bells at the door and when in training mode I took Spike out on a leash. And stayed with him until he eliminated. And then I threw him a huge praise party full of treats pets and anything else I could think of.. I stopped short of busting out confetti. My neighbours stopped just short of having me committed I think...

I've also added a verbal cue of "hurry hurry". It sounds strange but it is helpful. Now that he's trained I can just let him out tell him to "hurry hurry" and he will literally squat on the spot.

Hang in there! She will get it! It already feels like those days were years ago for me when in fact it was just in March/April :)

[Moe]

I've been using the command 'go potty'. I have the potty bells, she seems to be taking a long time to figure them out. I've also been just leaving the back door open. She will pee in the house then walk outdoors to sniff around. ugh...

[Moe]

I forgot to mention, the new pup is not a doodle, she is a 7 lb dachshund mix from a shelter. She was in a cage for the first few months. I have read that small dogs are harder to train than larger dogs and über smart doodles. This is definitely the case.

[Nancy, Ned, Clancy, and Charlie]

Thanks for rescuing her!   Kudos to you!  Honestly, she is probably not as smart as some other dogs - like doodles, labs, etc.  so it takes more repetition  and for a longer time. Will she ever be able to reach the poochie bells? Also, if she was caged for a long time, she probably really is more familiar with inside pottying.  Our rescue was not at the shelter that long, but, because he was in an inside kennel - all cement, he needed a brush up on inside/outside and he was a house-trained adult dog.

[Minga & Malu & Costa]

One other thing you might try is to take her out, if she does not go outside after 10 minutes, bring her back into the crate. Try again in another 30 minutes. If she goes, then she can have free time in the house. 

Every 30 minutes also seems a lot, we do every hour during the day, but Costa is only 9 weeks. Small dogs do have smaller bladders, so they cannot hold it as long. But I wouldn't say they are harder to train. Maybe try at 45 minutes to hour intervals and see if she goes right away. If she has a fuller bladder, she may also eliminate all of it. But yes, UTI is something else to think about. 

The main thing would be she needs to GO each time before you let her out for free time in the house. So if she doesn't go, back to the crate. If she does go, lots of praise and some free play time in the house. I wouldn't leave the door open and expect her to go outside.

She does not know this is what she is supposed to be doing outside. Basically right now I would say you want to only go outside to potty then straight back in, until she gets it. Then she can have free time in the yard. 

[Jen, Lachlan, and Declan]

Definitely have her checked for a UTI, just to eliminate a variable (pun intended).

Things to be aware of, as she was already 16 weeks when you brought her home: First, if she's never had to learn to "hold it", she's never developed the muscle control that will allow her to hold it. Second, if she's been forced to go in the crate prior to you getting her, crate training may actually not work for potty training (at least in the short term) because that "don't pee where you sleep" imperative has been broken.

Four weeks is really not a long time in potty training, and she's really - in human terms - still in pull-ups anyway at 4 months. Patience, patience, patience until she makes the connection.

Declan came home with me at 18 weeks having lived outside most of his young life, but he has serious anxiety issues and is extremely rules-bound - which created a whole 'nother set of issues around potty training. At first it was "Oh! I pee outside! Okay, I can do that!" Great, except that he couldn't pee anywhere else and would hold it until he was miserable - at the park, for example. One day (and my bad, because I hadn't realized how badly his back teeth were floating) we had gone to class and then were walking around the park a bit before coming home. He suddenly let out this horrendous sob and fell over onto his side, urine flooding out of him. I just knelt and held his head and shoulders and told him he was amazing until he was done. Following that, we had a solid month or more of "Oh! So ... if I can pee there ... can I pee ... over here?" Sigh.

Lachlan, by contrast, was extremely easy. I got him at 9 weeks and he seemed to grasp the concept of bells and the yard very quickly. BUT! He had all the control of your average toddler until he was nearly 10 months old. It wasn't that he didn't "get" it but like all little boys he would forget and not notice that he needed to pee until it was literally too late.

I guess what I'm trying to say is - don't get frustrated. They all learn at their own pace, but they do learn. Just keep being patient, keep praising when she gets it right, keep cleaning with the enzyme cleaner, and understand that she really doesn't understand (nor, probably, have the physical control) yet.

[Moe]

Thanks for the encouragement! I'm sure being in a cage for several months is making things harder. I did have her checked for UTI at her last vet visit last Friday. She also had giardia when I got her. That is finally gone. I tried bringing her out on the leash yesterday. It didn't work out. She bit on the leash and got totally distracted.

So far this morning she peed in the correct area then pooped on the top step. But on a positive note she has not had an accident in the house. She has only had one accident in the crate in the last few days also.  A few days ago I put a pee pad on the top step because it is getting totally stained and the pavers are so porous I don't think any amount of enzyme cleaner is going to help. I think I'm just going to leave them there. People that use pee pads say you can eventually move them so I'm hoping that will work out.

I think the other problem is that I'm in such a hurry to get this done that I'm trying too many things at the same time. I left the clicker and treats outside near the potty spot so that they are handy. I think I just need to give it more time and encourage every success.

Thanks for all the ideas.

[Lori, Winnie, Bob and Indie]

Hang in there! Honestly, though, I'm not sure I would do the pee pad on the top step. I'm afraid she might get even more confused, and not realize that there is really only ONE place where she should eliminate. Maybe plan on replacing that top step? Possibly several times, if needed? :-)