When can I start to relax?

[Cammy Todd]

Hi everyone - This is more of a vent/looking for encouragement than anything else.

When can I start to relax a little with the potty training?  Izzy is 13 weeks.  She had gone two weeks without an accident so I thought it was safe to try and stretch her out to an hour between potty breaks.  At 1 hour and 2 minutes, she peed right in front of me in the kitchen.  I really don't think she gave me any warning.  I have been watching diligently for "her signs" and can honestly say I don't see any yet.  She literally just squats and pees.  (She does circle and sniff a lot before pooping so that has been easier to prevent accidents).  Some specific questions to go along with this . . .

1.  Do you give free access to water or do you closely monitor your puppy's water access?  She may have had more to drink than usual before this accident but to be honest I truly can't remember.

2.  At 12/13 weeks, how long could your puppy hold it outside of the crate?  Izzy goes all night 10/10:30 until 6:30/7:00 without needing a break (never has had an accident in her crate) and we have left her a couple of times for 3 hours during the day and lots of times for over 2 hours and she has done just fine.  I do realize that out of the crate is a different story but thought we could at least make it an hour.  Also, because of this, I really doubt she has a UTI or bladder infection. 

3.  How long did it take your puppy to catch on to the poochie bells?  I started these exactly two weeks ago and have been 100% consistent.  My husband is probably consistent 80% of the time (I know - need to get him to 100%).  We go to the door on leash I ask her to sit and ring the bells (it took probably 3-5 days of me ringing them or touching them to her nose).  I would say she rings them about 90% of the time.  But I have seen NO signs of her actually going to the door to ring them on her own.   She is tethered to the table with access to the back door when I'm working in the kitchen.  Otherwise, she is either being played with, tethered to me as I try to get some things done, on a walk, or in the crate. 

4.  Those of you who also have younger kids - how did you handle a babysitter?  We have a couple of events coming up soon where we need to be gone and hire a babysitter.  And, we desperately need a date night.  But, I really don't expect for a babysitter to be as hyper vigilant as I am about watching the puppy 100% of the time.  She needs to watch the kids too.  

 

I know I just need to be patient, but to be honest, I am worn out.  My parents came over last night with their dog and I just didn't feel like I could relax all afternoon/evening.  It was pouring rain so we would let the dogs play in a confined area, but then I felt like I needed to take Izzy out even more often because her last accident (2 weeks ago) was immediately after a hard play session. 

Thanks in advance for any advice you might have! 

Cammy

[SoSa]

I feel your pain, honestly. I have been there. We've tried the bells, but had to take them away because Ace would just play with them. Based on my experience, I would say you should soon be able to relax a bit. Just keep doing what you are doing. Just when we thought we had turned a corner with potty training and I would walk around in socks, I would step in a puddle. Like you, there were no signs with pee'ing, he would just do it. He doesn't lift his leg, so we couldn't tell when he had to pee. We would just hear it and yell, "NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!". He would stop and we'd take him right outside. He's been mostly accident free since maybe 16 weeks, I'm guessing. He's now six months old and we've had maybe one or two accidents in that time span. He now consistently knocks on the door when he needs to go out. While he is good with potty training now, to be honest, I am never 100% relaxed. Whenever he stands still in one place, I am looking at his private to make sure he is not peeing and when he knocks on the door, we waste no time getting him out. I probably could relax more, but I really do not want to give him any opportunity to have an accident. While I am still on alert, it is sooooooo much better now. Ace goes in his crate at 7:45am. He gets out at 9:20 am and sleeps until 12:30pm or later before he knocks to go out. So he can hold it a really long time.

Our issue is piddling, excitement pee. Whenever people come over or he sees people anywhere who give him attention, he will pee. It's so frustrating. I hate having company, because it's such a process to make sure he does not piddle in the house.

[Dexter Doodle]

With each day you are getting closer to being able to relax again with potty training and all else that goes along with having a puppy. I literally would ask my trainer when I would be able to relax again all the time. She finally gave me the answer that around 4 months you turn a corner and I agree that for me, she was right.

Dexter had his last accident when he was 12/13 weeks. He went 2 weeks without one. Then, I tried to stretch out the potty breaks a bit. We were playing and he was on his side and he just started squirting everywhere! I was so frustrated. Everyone warned me that it may be a uti, but my gut told me it wasn't. I went back to taking him out about every hour until he was about 18 weeks or so. I was so in need of a break that my husband planned to take me away for 2 nights for my birthday. Since Dex was so young, I left him with my trainer. She only took him out when she took out her other dogs and he had no accidents. After that we stretched it to 2-3 hours.

We didn't introduce the bells until about 13 weeks. He caught on in days, but I think that had to do with age. I honestly think he rang it out of wanting to go outside to play rather than potty in the beginning. Even when he was about 6 months I would make him go out and try if he went longer than 3 -4 hours.

I try not to give too much advice. Instead I tell my experience. I'm sure each puppy is different and you have to do what works for you. We are at 10 months now and life is back to normal. My husband always teases me about how I would say that I complicated my life and now Dexter is my little love and worry more about something happening to him than anything else. Training made all the difference for us. Dexter is completely off leash trained, has a solid recall, does really well with duration, etc and is the biggest lover. Right now he is downstairs pretty much on his own snoozing on the air conditioning vent because we just got in from doing yard work. What a huge difference a few months make. Hang in there, it will come soon!

[Jenny and Cooper]

I hope our Cooper is following the same footsteps as Dexter Doodle!  His mom is right though, I think things got easier for me when Cooper turned 4 months.  I was in your shoes, and if you go back to read Dexter Doodle's previous posts, you'll feel more at ease.  I  had pretty much the same questions you did and she had told me to read her old posts and I found a lot of good advices and comforting words there.

It WILL get easier.  I was there, wondering if I will ever get to relax and have my freedom back.  I used to long for his nap time, now I don't look at the clock every 5 minutes. lol Cooper is at 18 weeks now.  Once your doodle is potty trained you'll get to relax more. 

(1) Cooper gets water up until about 7:30 then we take it away.

(2) Sounds like Izzy is super close to being potty trained if she can hold it that long at night.  At 12/13 weeks, I think I was taking him out every hour to 1.5 hour.  We are now at about 2.5 hours unless he asks to go earlier. 

(3) We tried the bell, but he would ring it when he also wants to go out just to play.  We decided to forgo it and now he just sits at the door if he wants to go out to potty or play.  We can tell which one just by knowing when he last pottied.  We have his poo schedule down to the T, so I don't need to worry about pooing accident.  If he doesn't ask to go poo when we know it's his time, we just take him there and he'll do it.

(4) My boys are both 10  years old.  Can you drop your kids off at a relative's house for a date with hubby?  Just time your date around Izzy's nap time.  She'll probably nap for 2 hours, you can go to a restaurant close by.  Funny we have an event coming up this Thursday and it took me days to figure out what to do with Cooper.  We finally decided to just leave him to nap for 2.5 hours.  I'll tire him out before we leave.  He usually goes down every two hours but I'm going to extend it to 3 so he can be super tired when we leave him.  Is that something you can do if your event is three hours? 

I love rain, but now with a puppy I dread the rain because then I can't take him outside to play!  Plus he also gets all muddy and dirty afterwards lol

Good luck Cammy!  Hang in there!  I too, am waiting for the truly resting/relaxing days ahead!

[Nancy, Ned, Clancy, and Charlie]

I would keep taking the puppy out on the same schedule you have been doing until he really doesn't pee when you take him.  Then stretch it out.   If you have a human babysitter, crate the puppy while you are gone.  It is longer than the 3 hours you have left him. Have her take the puppy out (leashed) once.

[Chris & Abby]

It really will get easier., but I know how each day of puppyhood can sometimes seem like an eternity. Lots of patience is the key. I was really lucky, I guess because by about 14 weeks, Abby was completely housebroken and using the Poochie bells. Learning the bells took a couple of weeks. I work from home so I took her out at least every hour when she was very young. She learned a lot from our 14 year old Bedlington and they almost always went out together. The puppy would even ring the bells for the old dog. I leave water down all the time but found the puppy didn't drink much in the evening. She was usually sleeping by 8 PM.

[Cammy Todd]

Thanks everyone for the responses!  I think I just needed to hear that others have been in my shoes.   I think part of the "problem" is that Izzy will pretty much pee on command - whether that is 20 min after she last went or after 3 hours of being in the crate.  So, I haven't had too many opportunities to really get to know her "signs" if she has any.  I know that this will actually be a good thing down the road if I need her to empty her bladder before getting in the car for a longer ride, etc.  

Dexter Doodle, how much training have you done?  I know how very important it is.  Izzy and I have two more weeks of Puppy 1 class, then a week off and I will probably sign up for Puppy 2 class.  I found out last night that the trainer who teaches the class co-owns a boarding facility that has the largest outdoor play space in our city.  We can also pay a little extra and have someone do one-on-one play/training time with Izzy.  I think getting away for a couple nights with my husband and kids may be just what the doctor ordered toward the end of the summer. 

Today is Izzy's first day at doggy daycare.  I am a little nervous about her picking up some bad habits (I am a worrier), but know she will love it!

[Cammy Todd]

Wanted to give everyone an update - Izzy went to the vet today for another round of puppy shots and an exam.  Was talking to the vet a little about some things I've noticed in the past couple of days (including being a little more thirsty than usual and peeing multiple times in one trip especially in the morning).  The went ahead an ran the test and she has a UTI!  I feel horrible.  Poor baby has been holding it all night with a UTI!  Even though I didn't suspect it at first, my gut told me something wasn't right so I am glad that we checked.  Vet said we caught it pretty early which is good.  She also said it happens and there really isn't much to do to prevent them. 

[Nancy, Ned, Clancy, and Charlie]

So glad you ended up getting this caught.

[kristine & Auggie]

I have 2 doodles and the first puppy was housebroken at 3 months, but my second doodle  Lolly is  finally  housebroken and she is 6 months.  I thought she would never stop peeing in the house.  At her puppy class I mentioned to the instructor how frustrated I was and she gave me a couple of solutions.  I never got a chance to try them out because Lolly never peed  in the house after that conversation.  I guess Lolly was afraid the trainer would come to our house and deal with her lol; They are all so different.  She rings those potty bells to distraction but it usually means I just want to go outside and find a rock.