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Housebreaking woes

1K views 13 replies 7 participants last post by  intent2smile 
#1 ·
Stella has very stubborn when it comes to house training. Every time I think she's there, she'll go three steps back.

It seems like she has to go pee every hour. The other day, I left her to go take a shower, and when I got out, I saw a big pee puddle by the back door. That last time I had taken her out was probably a 2-3 hours before.

I suspected a UTI, but when she's in her crate, she can hold it without a problem. She can also make it through the night.

I hate having to leave her in her crate while away. I would like to let her free in "her room" instead. I was able to do this for a while, but then she starting having accidents again.

So maybe I'm doing things wrong. She is my first dog, after all. Is there anything I can do to prevent peeing while I'm at school? I do my best to let her out at lunch. But when she's not crated, is 4 hours between too long of a wait? How often do you take your dogs out?
 
#2 ·
How old is she?
The general rule of thumb for puppies is one hour for every month of age. So a 3 month old puppy can hold its needs for 3 hours. A 4 month, for 4 hours. etc.
If it's an adult dog we're talking about, they can hold it in for much longer. Now, I may just have an amazing dog, but the longest Chloe has gone is 17 hours. I was sick in bed with the flu, and couldn't move. Generally, I let Chloe out 3 times per day. Once, as soon as I get up in the morning. Second one is at around 4pm-5pm, and the last one is at around 11pm before I go to bed.
 
#4 ·
A constant and I do mean constant eye in a restricted area (until reliable) is key to success. Once they start getting away with it they get craftier on continuing to do so. If you can't have an eye on her place her in her area. Learn her prepotty habits ~ she'll let you know when she has to go and get her outside to her spot.

We started going outside every 20 minutes and gradually extended the times. I fed on schedule so that helped with Number 2 ~ Number 1 though... even when you start day one is hard to predict, just know it happens often.
And I say this because you really do need to start at square one ~ just like you brought her home for the first day. I would also make sure if you haven't done so you get an enzyme cleaner and thoroughly clean each are there has been an accident. The areas not thoroughly cleaned just hypnotize her to come back and go again.

I honestly think by reading its just a training issue. If you think it could be medical have your vet look at her, but more times than not it's just a matter of the dog not having an understanding of what is expected ~ luckily you have the ability to show her ~ it just takes a 110% effort by everyone in her life. Consistency will get her there.
 
#6 ·
Thanks for the advice. :) Though my biggest problem is that I will think she's reliable, but then she'll go back a few steps. Like she'll go a month or so without having any problems, but then she'll have on incident, which leads to another, etc. When will I know that she's ready to be out and about?

And I definitely need to go get an enzyme cleaner. Any specific products you'd recommend? Thanks so much!
 
#7 ·
Products ~ I use Nature's Miracle here for anything animal or human related for that fact. I am not sure if there are better or cheaper products out there as it's like Dawn Dish Soap / Tide / Charmin Blue ~ a house staple we are happy with and don't look for a replacement. Whatever product you select try and be as thorough as you can be, which will be a pain in the tookus ~ but its really worth the effort. Probably wouldn't hurt to deep clean the rugs if you can. I put the enzyme cleaner right in the steamer about once a year just because we have animals and alot of foot traffic I like to get everything out. If you can't spot clean and then steam clean ~ just do the best spot cleaning you are able to do (don't use ammonia or bleach) ~ it really needs to be a product that specifically breaks down enzymes.

Restart like this if you can & other will have good ideas too:
Each time you take her out ~ have a catch phrase "Outside go Potty" / "Potty" / "Let's TCB" something she associates with going outside and doing her business. At first it will seem pointless ~ with diligence you will soon notice she understands and makes the connection.

When I can't keep my eyes or someone else's eyes on ours 100% she goes in her X-pen (they have them frequently on Craigslist for very good prices) with a shower curtain down so if an accident or sickness would happen the floors are not a victim. I have a couple shower curtains (at Lowes, practically given away because a fork truck ran over the package and left tire tracks). If an accident happens remove, wash (I use natures miracle with Tide), do not put in the dryer just hang to dry ~ they dry in a jiffy and replace with the fresh one I have on stand by.

We honestly started at every 20 minutes outside & big praise when she did something. I didn't treat her with food for it ~ some do ~ but I did go happily ballistic and sang songs the whole 9 yards. Wake up ~ go potty / after meal ~ go potty / after play time ~ go potty / after a nap ~ go potty / before bed ~ go potty. At first you are outside more than in :) but honest to Pete we have never failed with that method. Even animals we took in because they were impossible to train ~ they were able to be potty trained regardless how old they were. As you learn her signals and she catches on you won't be out near as much. Even at this point with ours ~ she is going on 7 months old and she does not potty in the house ~ we still stick with the above because it takes awhile to set in and become reliable.

You will be able to restart her & she will get it. She just hasn't figured out what you expect of her.

If you catch her in the act in the house and with this method other than when you have her in her spot because you can't keep 100% eyes on her ~ you should see this every time, Interrupt her (No! Potty Outside (be stern)and take her immediately outside. When she finishes ~ love her up.

Clean the area she dribbled on & make a note to self keep all eyes on her all the time when she has free run.

If you find a "treasure" after the fact or wet area ~ don't fuss at her ~ it wasn't her it was because the person keeping their eyes on her took their eyes off of her and allowed her to go potty in the house. After the fact scolding won't help anything ~ she'll just get sneakier.

Hope this helps. Keep us posted. First dogs are really when you just start to learn what methods work for how you are ~ frustrating but fun once you get passed this major hurdle & you'll be on cloud 9 ~ so proud and enjoy her so much more once you start working with her, instead of feeling like she just isn't getting it. She will get it :)
 
#9 ·
I have been struggling with house training Paco. He does well for a while and then seems to have a problem. I have been doing everything that I have read: scheduled feeding, limited access to the house, frequent trips outside and rewards, cleaning when he does have an accident... everything I've read. I added something of my own that seems to be helping.

I made a chart. I made 7 columns for the week and a row for every hour and a half. If there is no "incident" he gets a plus. If we have an accident he gets a minus. This has accomplished a couple of things. It helps me remember to take him every hour and a half. It also helps me see that we are succeeding more than we are failing!

I am very anal about things, I know, but this has helped so much. When Paco had an accident I got so discouraged and thought we were making no progress. Now I have concrete evidence that we are making progress. It is very encouraging!

BTW, we have had two perfect days in a row!! Today he asked to go out twice!! LOL
 
#10 ·
I think the main issue is that people assume their dog is house trained before they actually are. My puppy did not have a single peeing accident in the house from age 16 weeks to 6 months. Did that mean that she was totally house-trained at 18 weeks? Heck NO! When I finally gave her access to the full house at 6 months she had 2 accidents and it was back to square one for a while. Now at 10 months I think I can finally say she is house-trained fully. I know working from mostly home and mostly my computer gave me a little advantage when it came to the supervision aspect and that made it much easier for us to be accident free for so long, so don;t be worried about a few along the way, but try to be consistent.

If your adult dog has proved to be unreliable I think you should probably observe the protocol of restrictions to a small area and full supervision when not for at least a month after there are no accidents. I like the idea of a chart- then you can actually see you are going somewhere. Good idea Suzn.
 
#11 ·
I agree. I am home all day too so I think it is a huge blessing when it comes to training him. We have had some set backs. His neutering messed him up some and then I was feeding him beef which gave him diarrhea. That added to the complications of housebreaking but I am encouraged just to have a plan.

I feel like if it takes 6 months to get him completely housebroken that still means for the next 15 years I will have a wonderful companion that I can trust not to soil my carpet and will not even remember this blip on the radar! LOL
 
#12 ·
I'll have to try the chart... thanks, Suzn! :)

Ah, that's one thing I definitely did. She was accident free for a month so I thought she was good to go. Ha, definitely not! I know I need to be more consistent too. But I wish she would let me know when she had to go out. She's very subtle about it.

I'll keep it up. :) Hopefully she'll get the hang of it soon!
 
#13 ·
I wish she would let me know when she had to go out. !
I know what you mean. Paco will stand and stare at me. The problem is that is also how he tells me he wants to eat and he wants to get up in my chair!! Just wish I could tell which one he means each time he stares.

I thought I was so good at training that this would not be an issue. I think that has a lot to do with my attitude. I felt I should be more successful.

Paco learns so many tricks so quickly that I thought Potty training would be a cinch. I looked at it as a personal failure!

The good news is that he is worth it!! ;)
 
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