House training dilemma

[MsMarzable]

Hi everyone, I came back to this forum after some really nice individuals recommended me NOT to get two puppies/littermates at one time. I'm very grateful for this cause right now my hands are full with her!

Lady is a little star and so so cute but we are having a lot of difficulty house training. She has really improved but there is something we're stuck on. She's 4 months on tuesday.

Lady knows what I mean when I say 'do your toilets' and 6-7 out of 10 times she will. Usually on the same patch on our lawn. BUT she's developed a bad habit of trying to go inside when we are not looking or around a bed where we can't see as she knows its wrong. We have to have eyes on her the whole time. We close all the doors now, but my sis accidentally left a door unlatched and first chance she got she went in a pooped (she no longer wees she waits for that outside)
Further more she goes to bed between 10-11pm an my father lets her out between 4-5am and she NEVER does anything in the garage where she sleeps. She holds it in and waits.

WHY won't she do the same in the house especially when she KNOWS its wrong...? :O Everytime she leaves our room we follow her, sometimes when we take her out she gets so distracted by birds or smells and forgets she needs to go, then back inside, waits til our guard is down an then she poos.

Its very exhausting.. My rough collie got it in like a week or 2 max.

Any advice is appreciated

 

[Calliesmom]

one thing- if the dog doesn't see the house/bedrooms as his/her home, then it's fair game for a potty place.

so mostly resume potty training as take out for potty after eating, playing, when the pup wakes up. keep taking out until all business has been completed.

do you have a crate? puppy goes into crate when you can't watch....
leashing puppy to you while you work on things is another recommendation- that way the puppy never gets to sneak off and get into trouble.

My Jocu is around 6.5 months now and I only occasionally let him roam freely when I'm busy with other things - like maybe once a week.

 

[mcemily]

Yep, I heartily agree with Calliesmom. Lerwick was slow to pick up potty training, too. He'd do really well for a few weeks, and then suddenly he'd start having "accidents" inside. We got him at 8 weeks old, and for several weeks he lived pretty much exclusively in the kitchen, with short and well-supervised visits to the living/dining room for short play sessions. Gradually, we started letting him have access to more and more rooms of the house, by moving baby gates around. But, if we tried to move them too quickly, and give him access to too much new real estate at once, that's when he started having the "accidents" in the newly-opened areas. Those weren't part of his "den" yet, so were fair game for toilet spots.

One such make-shift potty spot persisted longer than all the others: the front foyer. I had not gradually given him access to this area, he gained access to it all at once as I moved the baby gate down the front hallway (we have a split level house, so the front door opens onto a landing, from which you can go up into the main level of the house, or down into the basement). Furthermore, we rarely (if ever) took him out through this door, since he always goes into the backyard via the patio door in the dining room. So, this front landing was just not a "good" part of the house as far as he was concerned. It was the perfect spot for pooping.

What I ended up doing to correct it was pretty simple. I started feeding him on the landing. I also blocked it off with baby gates one night, and made Lerwick sleep there. Then for the next couple of weeks, whenever we left the house to run errands, we would "crate" him on the landing with the baby gates, instead of putting him in his crate in our bedroom. He never pooped there again. He was about 9 months old at the time, incidentally. The only times since then he has pooped in the house were legitimate accidents, when he had his partial obstruction this January.

Like Calliesmom said, go back to the basic potty training. Take her out for a few minutes, I'd say 5 or 10 at the most, and if she doesn't do her business, back inside and into a crate (if possible). If you don't have a crate for her, then put her back in the garage where she sleeps. Try again in 15 minutes. Do not allow her to have any sort of freedom in the house until AFTER she has pottied outside.

I would recommend that, if possible, you restrict your pup to the kitchen following any accidents in the house. Leave her that way for a day or two, with only brief and well-supervised visits to other rooms. Then gradually start letting her have access to other parts of the house, room by room, week by week. And, if she tends to toilet in the same spots, try feeding her there. Set up her crate there and have her sleep there, etc. Dogs generally do not toilet and eat/sleep in the same area, so if you can make these spots into feeding or sleeping areas in her mind, she will be less likely to potty there.

If you haven't already done so, you'll also want to make sure that you have thoroughly cleaned these accident areas with a good enzyme cleaner (Bio Dog or Nature's Miracle make pretty good ones), which will remove any trace odors that she may still be picking up. Especially since you say she tends to go in the same spots outside, it seems she gravitates toward the residual scent of her previous leavings when she potties, so if she can detect any lingering scent in the house, to her that means she is free to soil that spot again.

Good luck! I know how frustrating it is when you've got a dog who doesn't "get it" right away... especially when previous dogs have picked it up quickly and seemingly without effort!

 

[coopersmom]

Interesting comments about not pooping in their "den". We've had Casey for nine days. He's nines weeks old. Potty training is hit & miss right now. One of his favorite spots inside is on the kitchen door inside mat. He gets his food bowl on this mat. Now when we see him heading towards a bedroom we sweep him up and rush him outside. If he hasn't pottied, we close him off with access to only den & kitchen. I am beginning to be able to tell his "walk" when he's about to do something, but then, last night after being taken outside to potty, he peed, then came back in and pooped on "his" rug. He's just a baby. I know he'll get there. Afterall, my Randy was still having occasional accidents inside at 15 months. And my Randy didn't turn out too badly!!

Kim

 

[Lunatic59]

Our boys will be 12 weeks old tomorrow and house training has been progressing as expected (we have stocked up on white vinegar and paper towels). I really don't expect accident-free behavior for several months, although between the two of them, it's been averaging one accident per day.

They do go to the door when they feel the urge, but we have to be ready to get there to let them out in time. Puppies and young dogs don't have the same control as an adult dog, so if they have to go, they'll only give you a short time to let them out to the approved potty, before they choose their own. Littermates can be especially challenging as you have to train them separately.

 

[melbell]

potty training is a LONNNNG process and just takes time and patience. my 5 month old is doing really well at it, but he still has 2-5 accidents per week esp when home with my parents as their 9 month is not potty trained yet. Sheltie see, Sheltie do. I do sometimes think pups go out of their way though.. he poo'd on my fiance's shorts that were on our spare bed

 

[Laddie's Mom]

potty training is a LONNNNG process and just takes time and patience. my 5 month old is doing really well at it, but he still has 2-5 accidents per week esp when home with my parents as their 9 month is not potty trained yet. Sheltie see, Sheltie do. I do sometimes think pups go out of their way though.. he poo'd on my fiance's shorts that were on our spare bed

LOL at pooing on your fiance's shorts. My Sheltie was very hard to house break, but we are now making some headway. He is a stubborn chap, and he really does not tell me all the time when he wants to go out, sometimes I see him by the door and let him out in our fenced yard, and then praise him lavishly, it is a slow process, but, with patience, he will get the idea.