# Nearly there with House training, but......



## PrincessLeia (Oct 6, 2017)

......our lovely pup hasn’t grasped how to let us know when she wants to go. An added complication is that we live in a three storey townhouse and our living room is on the middle floor. We’ve put poochie bells on the ground floor back door but she never gets down that far before she needs to go. So, currently she runs to the living room door and we take her downstairs. That’s if we a. notice and b. If we are quick enough. If we are distracted, on the phone or in the kitchen we might miss the signal and then it’s too late. I would be grateful for advice as she’s so close to cracking it! We have previously put the bells on the living room door, which she loved. She played a lovely game of ringing the bells to get the humans jumping up and down.....just for fun!!


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## 2ndhandgal (Aug 29, 2011)

How old is she? 

It sounds like with the distance between backdoor and where you often are more effort is needed for now by the humans to make sure you continue to take her out frequently while she continues to develop bladder control and is able to wait for longer. At the moment it is down to you to take her out and notice her signs if she does want to go out I am afraid.


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## PrincessLeia (Oct 6, 2017)

She’s 17 weeks old. Yeah I think you’re right we need to be more vigilant. She’s so close to getting it. She now goes when we say the word ‘wee’, but we just need to watch her every move and make sure we notice her signals. Love her to bits, she’s such a character. Thanks.


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## 2ndhandgal (Aug 29, 2011)

Ah - just a baby then so yes can often slip slightly now as you get less vigilant so just stay on top of it and as she gets older she will have more control and be able to wait longer. (Thinking about it I am not sure Molly has been out at all today since our walk this morning  )


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## LuckyCockapoo (May 29, 2017)

I took the approach of regular toilet breaks so he never told me he needed to go, he just had plenty chances. At 9-12 weeks this was every hour during the day. Then it grew to more like 3 hours. By 6 months he could hold it a long time. 

Maybe try regular breaks and a routine?


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## Miss Evie (Dec 11, 2017)

We do regular breaks for our 3 month old. Usually every 2 hours, but she goes longer if sleeping in the crate and shorter is she is out playing. I never realized toilet training would be so hard! My poochie bells are coming today, so hopefully that will help. Evie goes through the night without going, we did that right from day 1 as instructed by her breeder.


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## beckymnd (Oct 17, 2017)

Bells bells bells! I can't recommend doorbells enough  They have worked an absolute miracle with Dexter overnight & it's insanely cute to watch him go ring the bells, then come back to us to check we're coming to the door!

Pop them back on the living room door (Perhaps get a couple of sets for downstairs too), and be SUPER consistent with taking her outside every time she rings them. You may have to reverse engineer how she's been trained a little if she's using them as a toy. Go back to basics perhaps. 
It's also helps to have a specific area outside where pup will go toilet (we've setup a play pen outside which is his toiletting area). During training Dexter would ring the bells as a toy, & it was such a pain in the butt getting up so often, but every time he did, he got picked up, taken outside to his pen, & we'd wait until he went to the toilet (sometimes wouldn't - but hang on in there for 5 or so mins). Rinse & repeat every time the bells are rung & he soon gathered that ringing them wasn't for fun at all, but just to go to the toilet.

He now solely rings them when he needs to go out to toilet & walks himself straight into the pen each time


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