# Potty Training



## cherylostate (May 21, 2014)

I'm getting very frustrated with potty training! Dash will be 11 weeks old in a few days, and I know that's still very young, but he seems to be going backwards. We'd had 3-4 days with no accidents, but now these past few days we've had several each day. He keeps his crate dry at night and when in there for 4-5 hours a couple afternoons a week. He occasionally will ask to go out and will pee right away. So those are all good things, I know. But, then suddenly, he'll start peeing minutes after he's come inside. He's always supervised, if we aren't where we can watch him he's in his crate. We are always watching for signs, and we aren't noticing any. He'll just squat and go with no warning. (Occasionally, he will give clues, but when he does that, we whisk him outside and then there's no accident.) It's getting very stressful because *certain* family members are blaming *other* family members and those *other* family members are doing the best they can. The accidents are always pee, never poop. Any idea when I can start expecting things to get better? Today was a very long day.


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## Lexi&Beemer (May 5, 2013)

Sounds like Dash is doing great. He's pretty young. And let the "certain" family member know that the "other" family member is doing a great job. He has a dry crate. He is starting to show signs. Frankly, I thought the same thing, but my two were at like 13 weeks. Also let "certain" family members know that vigilance is hard and if the "certain" family member wants to take a turn keeping an eagle eye to let "other" family member some rest time so "other" family member can stay sharp with the eagle eye, that would probably be great too. 

All kidding aside (though the content was not kidding, vigilance is hard) I felt like you did as we seemed to make progress and then we'd take a step or two back all of a sudden. Well what I discovered my dad who was supposedly watching for two of the days I had to work, wasn't watching so much as letting them out of their crates to roam the floor. He still wasn't great at watching them, but what I learned is that they learned faster each time. The other thing that helps is poochie bells. I still have them hanging on my door even though I have a doggie door they use and my two use it to get my attention. Finally, let everyone know that accidents aren't mistakes but opportunities to learn (not mine but from a good friend who really helped me through). They get it. And rather than three days, it will be a week. And then suddenly an accident. It feels like scratch, but it's not. But you go back to basics and suddenly it's a month, then an accident. Again, it's not scratch, it'll be adolescence.  

I finally figured out that I was able to cope by setting small goals 
- one hour of no accidents - yeah! 
- four hours of no accidents - yeah!
- rang the bell just because - yeah!
- rang the bell and wanted to go outside - yeah!
- one day of no accidents - yeah!
- rang the bell to go pee - yeah!
And those yeahs were for me, not the dog. Celebrate your dog. You are doing great. Invest in the battery operated enzyme spray bottle (it's going to save your finger). And post pictures!!!!


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## RuthMill (Jun 30, 2012)

What is the reaction when he does pee inside out of interest? If everyone fusses and gets annoyed/frustrated, he will know this and sense it. At this age any attention is good attention for him and if he gets a reaction he probably thinks this is a good thing. He is too young to be exclusively accident free, he still needs to go outside every 40 minutes while he's awake. If he's peering as soon as he comes back inside, he hadn't been outside long enough to fully empty his bladder. 

If he pees inside, do not react, tell your family they mustn't react at all. This is part and parcel of having a puppy. Don't say anything to him and simply transport him back outside and put him where he was supposed to pee. Make sure you are getting rid of the pee in the house fully, you need an enzyme spray or vinegar/bicarbonate/detergent mix.


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## Marzi (Sep 17, 2012)

Little pup - he is still a baby. Some get it quicker than others...
Tell other people that pup may take up to six to nine months to be utterly reliable in the house. Loads get it a whole lot quicker (4-5) months, but take the pressure off the pup and you and let them know piddles happen.

If your pup is fed dry food he will be drinking more and therefore peeing more.

Make sure you praise him when he pees outside, but as others have said ignore indoor accidents.

Take a deep breath, promise yourself a treat - you are a good puppy owner.


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## Cat 53 (Aug 26, 2012)

It can be very frustrating. Phoebe is 8 months almost and today we had a pee and a poop in the house! Sigh. For young puppies I found that putting them on the lead in the garden ensured that they performed rather than being distracted. My regime went something like. Wake up out to toilet, play, out to toilet. Sleep, out to toilet, this endless cycle continued for weeks, but slowly the gaps between toileting gets longer and one day you realise it's been a week! Stay strong. I think it helps to realise that puppies are like babies, it takes us humans years to be clean and dry. It only takes puppies a few months.


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## Cat 53 (Aug 26, 2012)

Oh yes, and go out for the day and leave 'someone' in charge for a bit. There's nothing like the full on experience.....bet you get a phone call begging you to come home!


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## Lottierachel (Mar 3, 2013)

You just have to ride it out and stay consistent! Tilly was at least 20 weeks before she went days without an accident.

There are times when you forget to take them outside, times when you remember and then they pee as soon as you come inside..... But think about adult dogs - they are all toilet trained, right? They all get there eventually, even if you slip up a few times. 

I like cat53's advice about letting 'someone' look after puppy and see what life is really like!


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## DB1 (Jan 20, 2012)

The previous posts have said it all really, we are their teachers and they can sometimes take a while to learn, I used to take Dudley outside hundreds of times a day and I remember him being about 14 weeks and me thinking 'he is just not getting it' as he didn't seem to go to the door at all, then all of a sudden he did and probably by 16 weeks he was trained, I think I read somewhere to not let them see you cleaning up where they went, (not sure if this makes them think 'oh she likes doing that does she, right i'll help her out then....'!).


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## cherylostate (May 21, 2014)

Thanks everyone.

That *someone* will be on duty all day tomorrow so we'll see how it goes. It's totally wrong that I'm sort of hoping for lots of accidents.

So far today, he's been good. No accidents yet. 

He gets lots and lots of praise when he goes outside. Most of the time when he pees in the house there's lots of commotion as everyone generally freaks out trying to get his attention so that he will stop. The first few days this would cause him to stop but now he just keeps going. There were a few accidents yesterday where I just scooped him up and took him out without saying anything, only because I was the only one around. I will work on my helpers, encouraging them not to make a big deal about it.

I'm going to looking into those poochie bells. Can anyone that used them describe their experience?

It's funny, because I was worried about biting, but that hasn't been an issue at all. He occasionally will chew on your clothes when you hold him, but we always have a toy nearby to shove in his face and he's doing pretty well.

He's such a sweet baby, so cuddly and loving, it's hard to stay mad too long about the mischief he gets into.


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## lizzye (Jun 27, 2014)

*Bells*

My puppy is 15 weeks and we started using the bells this week. The door that we go out is not in sight of the living area so he could go to the door and no one ever know. He is learning how to ring them, and I give him praise for ringing them. I have had friends who have had a lot of success with bells.

My daughter read that you should not use sleigh bell type bells because their nails could get caught in the openings.


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## cherylostate (May 21, 2014)

Well, no accidents since I first posted this. We'll see how much longer this lasts. He is definitely keeping us on our toes.


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