potty training help!

D

DakotasMom

Forums Regular
Hi everyone

So I brought a 9 week old sheltie home not too long ago and she is now 4 months old. Potty training seemed to be very rough with her seeing as how her breeder kept them in an area that was half newspaper and half towels so at first she just went whenever she wanted to. now she seems to whine a little when she needs to go, but its not very loud and if you are not in hearing range she will just go where ever she wants, mostly where ever you wont see her, so she tends to run to other rooms, or down in the basement.

We give her treats and lots of praise whenever she goes out and goes potty but it doesnt seem to be enough. she also isnt emptying herself all the way either. she'll go a little outside and act like shes done, then come in and finish going like 20 minutes later. or when she is outside she seems to get distracted and stop going.

I know puppies have accidents but she has an accident at least once a week if not more often. This week especially has been very rough.

She wont go in her cage so shes aware of keeping her surroundings clean i think.

I dont know what else to do!! help :no:
 
Welcome to the forum!

You will get lots of potty training advice from our members here.

My only suggestion is if you feel you are doing everything right and your puppy just is isn't getting it, having way too many accidents or peeing more than you think she should, I would consider bringing her to the vet to get a urinalysis.

I had a lot of trouble housebreaking my puppy. I couldn't understand why she wasn't getting it. I know she knew what to do. I was taking her out after she drank / ate, whenever she woke up from a nap, after playing, pretty much every 1-3 hours, but she kept having accidents.
I finally brought her to the vet because she peed while she was in the middle of eating in her crate. Turned out she had a UTI. After that cleared up, she was much easier to housebreak.
 
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Welcome!

And I agree with Randi, if you feel that you are doing everything possible, she may have a UTI.

My other suggestion is to keep an eye on your puppy 100% of the time. Not 95%, not 99%, but 100%. If you already feel that you are taking her out on a regular basis, then I would keep a close eye on her. If she starts to pee in the house (you will see her because you are ALWAYS keeping an eye on her) say something loudly, clap your hands, etc...and run and grab her and take her out. When she finishes outside, throw a huge party for her and give her treats.

If you are unable to watch her, even for 1 minute, put her in her crate. I had great results using this method.
 
Thanks guys! also I forgot to add

She is getting spayed in a few weeks, will that change things for better or worse?

Also, I have been told that a puppy should have to relieve themsevles 20 minutes after they eat. is this really true? because Dakota doesnt have to go number 2 until maybe 2 hrs after she eats. It doesnt always seem to be on the same schedule everyday
 
also...

I'm not sure if my response posted, so i'll try again

thanks everyone!

I also forgot to add that she is getting spayed in a few weeks will that change anything for better or worse with her potty training?

it feels better to know that i'm not the only one who had problems.

Is it possible she could have a uti and i wouldnt know because she hasnt had an instance where she was in her cage eating and just peed like that?

and when she gets put in her cage any other time other than sleeping or eating, she just barks and whines to get back out.

She also ive been told that a puppy she would have to poop about 20 minutes after they eat. Dakota doesnt usually go until maybe 2 hrs after. its very sparatic, never on the same schedule. is this true? or is this okay and normal?
 
Yes, try crating her more often when you are not around to watch her 100%, ensure it is not an infection and you should see success soon.
 
thanks

how much play time do you think she should be getting if i keep her crated when i cant watch her 100% of the time because she is crated from 8-5 4 days a week because i have work and if i have her crated while im still trying to get stuff at home done i dont want her to feel neglected
 
Like someone mentioned earlier, watching them 100% of the time like a hawk is my best advice as well. You will be a little on edge and jumpy for a while but knowing that she's well pottytrained afterwards is the best feeling in the world...well it was for me lol. Try tethering her to you, as in putting her on a leash and hooking it to your belt loop so that you know she is within watching distance. Also, keeping her in a blocked area as in closing off the living room so she's only in the kitchen, or vice versa so that she's not able to run to the basement like you've mentioned. Increase the area as she gets better at giving you signals that she needs out. Good luck!
 
DakotasMom said:
and when she gets put in her cage any other time other than sleeping or eating, she just barks and whines to get back out.
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you will need to learn to ignore her (if you are sure that she doesn't need to go outside) or SHE will train YOU to come and let her out whenever SHE wants

DakotasMom said:
She also ive been told that a puppy she would have to poop about 20 minutes after they eat. Dakota doesnt usually go until maybe 2 hrs after. its very sparatic, never on the same schedule. is this true? or is this okay and normal?
Click to expand...

I would say this is a food-dependent thing. My first puppy (non-sheltie, early 90's) ate puppy chow- yes Purina Puppy Chow. He did go relatively quickly after finishing so the list of times to take the puppy out; as soon as they get up, after playing, after eating- was spot on for him.
Cranberry was a puppy last January- he was eating Taste of the Wild when I brought him home- did not go immediately after eating. It was more like a couple of hours- at first, I was a little concerned at first but everything seemed ok so I got over it.
 
new question

hi again everybody

thanks for all the advice. i ended up having to take her to the vet monday because she seemed to be sick.

turns out she had an intestinal virus. i was so worried about her because all she did was sleep yesterday. she just kept falling over and passing out. im really worried she doesnt have parvo. the doctor said she didnt test positive for it but if she started to get really tired and confused like then i should be worried. so of course i worried all day. hopefully today will be better

she seemed to be her happy little self this morning

any one experience this and know how to tell or what to watch for?

the doctor gave her some antibiotics and some new food to help. i'm hoping its just the medicine making her tired
 
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