Accidents

[Shy]

Hi everyone! My puppy is 15 weeks now, she's had the vacume cleaner accident I posted about and then this morning she peed in the living room. I saw her sniffing and should of known, but thought there's no way she will pee. We have been home 2 weeks with her and take her out constantly. Sometimes she doesn't even pee. When do must puppies "get it" and you don't have to worry about accidents? I know this is expected at her age, but what about everyone else's pups? What was the average age for all of you? Also, in 2 weeks she will start doggie day care once a week. Will she regress from going there?

[Amy and Annabelle]

I do have one question about her doggie day care. She will only be 17 weeks when she starts. Is she already spayed, and if not, what does the daycare do to prevent unwanted pregnancies?

I have never had Annabelle in daycare, so I don't know about regression. She was pretty easy to train. The 2 or 3 times she had accidents after being trained, my clueless husband was "watching" her and didn't pay any attention to her signals. I brought her home at 10 weeks and started with the training right away. She slept in my room in a crate during the night. She did have a pee pad in her crate, but after the first week she didn't need them. I would say she was completely trained by 16 weeks with no accidents. She never did poo in the house,except for once or twice in her crate that first week, only pee.

But yes, sniffing is a good indicator that they are looking for a spot to go potty. When Annabelle was a little puppy and we were sitting on the couch watching tv, she would get up and stare me right in the face to tell me she had to go potty. It took a couple of times for me to get the message. She doesn't do it that way anymore, but it was kind of cute.

[Shy]

Thank you. It's been two weeks of hard work and just is such a set back I feel with the accident. She hasn't given us a sign that she needs to go out, except the sniffing which occurred today. We have been Having her sit by the door and scratch at it and tell her potty then take her out. We haven't had any crate accidents knock on wood. I know this will end, but so disappointed after the hard work. They keep the dogs separate from other ones that haven't been fixed and it is a requirement that they are fixed by 6 months at the daycare.

[Sam&Bella]

It took Bella about 2 weeks.  She was about eleven weeks when we got her. Of course sometimes she may have an accident when we are not paying attention and she is busting. She only pooped one time in the house and could not hold it(is was very soft  and she had worms)

 She started to sit at the front door all by herself. We were VERY lucky that she taught herself;) I know its very annoying when you take her out and she doesn't do anything. Try to say "Go Potty"  when she is going so she kind of knows what it means. For know, You might just have to stay out there until she goes pee. We had to do that a lot during those weeks just to make sure that she did not have an accident.  :)

I hope that helps!

[Shy]

Thank you, yes. Any advice is appreciated!! We will just have to keep being consistent and it will happen eventually.

[Lindsey Holt]

Our Jake is almost 6 months old and has been trained for 2 months. We have a set of door bells that he rings to go out.

It really helped him to learn how to let us know he needs to go out.

Every time we took him out for a couple of days we would ring the bell and then go out, he learned that ringing the bell gets him outside.

[Shy]

We will keep trying the bells, right now she wants to chew on them!!

[Lori, Winnie, Bob and Indie]

If I remember right, Winnie was between 4 and 5 months old when she was completely trained. Prior to that, she would go a week or 2 without an accident, and we would think that she was "getting it." Then she would have accident 2-3 days in a row, and sometimes twice in an evening. It was very frustrating! So, I would say that what you are experiencing is completely normal.

We took Winnie to doggy daycare when she was 4 months old, and I had the same concerns that you have.  Especially since the potty area at doggy daycare is cement and not grass. But, I really don't think she had any setbacks because of it. They take all of the dogs out to the potty area every 2-3 hours. So, in some ways I think it kinda helped her learn that she should "do what other dogs do." 

[Shy]

Great thank you so much!! I am looking forward to her going there to socialize her and because we work some long days a couple of days a week. That should tire her out. Glad to hear it's normal. I keep reading how quick other dogs were and my friends keep telling me it was so easy for them, I was getting concerned!! Because we got her st 12 weeks the breeder worked with her and it's been 16 days at out new home with 2 accidents.

[Adina P]

Theoretically, if you were to NEVER let her free in the house except after she peed outside, she should figure it out because she would ONLY get an opportunity to pee outside.  Not that that is always easy to do :/
So...
1.  10 minutes outside...if pees, then come inside and let her play for 15 minutes.  Then either go outside again or put her in a crate/expen.

2.  If no pee outside, then confined to crate or tethered to a small area until you try again. 

[Shy]

Thank you. We put her back in crate this morning when she wouldn't go. She's the ultimate poop and pee holder.

[Wendy and Myla]

We have found that if we let Myla run around (like fetching a ball), she will usually go potty right after.  It's what we do when we want her to go before going for a car ride.