Housebreaking Problem

[CynthiaWebster]

My puppy just goes to the one door when she wants out and we can't always see her.  She doesn't bark or make a noise (just once in a while she will whine softly - she is not a barker).  If we don't see or hear her, then she will go in the house - not as often as before - we even have days with no accidents.  We bought one of those enclosed tent like playpens for her bed and we leave her in it when we leave the house.  She loves it and goes in and out of it all the time so we leave it open for her, but she will pee in there also.  I was told that dogs don't pee where they sleep, but she does.  I don't want to keep her out of there, but I feel like I have to because I don't want her peeing in there or in the house for that matter.  I trained her on a schedule - taking her out every hour or so and rewarded her when she went outside and all and still reward her for going outside, but here it is several months later and we are still having some issues.  What do you suggest?  How can we get her to come to us and alert us when she has to go out? 

 

[Adrienne]

Hi Cynthia,

Is your pup spayed? What breed is your puppy?

Some pups take longer to potty train, although at 8 months we would expect them to be able to hold it for several hours. 

In order to encourage dogs not to pee where they sleep, we need to make sure the place where the dog is confined inculcates her "denning instinct. " Often this is accomplished by using a crate that is snug large enough for the dog to be able to stand, walk around and lie down, but snug enough that the dog doesn't feel comfortable peeing or pooping on one side and sleeping comfortably the opposite.

Now, with larger confinement option such as a play pen, we may have too big an area to inculcate this instinct (especially if your dog is on the smaller size), which is why crates are often the preferred enclosure for the purpose of potty training and teaching a dog to hold it, whereas, a play pen or exercise pen is often used when we must leave the home for longer times and need to encourage dogs to sleep in one side and pee or poop on the opposite side by placing some pee pads there. So you may have more luck with a crate if she's accustomed to that or installing a doggy door if she'll use that, but if she tends to get in trouble in the yard, this may not be a good option for now unless you fence off an area of the yard just for pottying with nothing else there than dirt. 

Something though doesn't add up. When you are taking her out every hour is she going? Are  you going out with her to ensure she goes? This is very important for potty training dogs to go potty outside as we need to be there to reinforce outdoor elimination.  If she doesn't potty when let out,  that means you'll have to crate her or or keep an eagle eye on her in a small area near the door until she gives signs she needs potty so you can take her out promptly until she goes. Then, you can relax until she's due for the next outing. If you take her out and she doesn't go and you let her have the full run of the house, it is natural for her to want to potty at some point and if we're not there, she'll just go. 

Now, we can encourage dogs to communicate better with us a need to go potty.  For example, the moment you notice her going towards the door, you can act excited  saying in an upbeat tone of voice something along the lines of: "Wanna go out? Yes? Wanna go out? Let's go outside!" Your dog should act excited in response wagging her tail happily and sort of herding you to take her out. Soon, repetition after repetition your dog should learn to come to you and get act a little excited, pacing and acting a bit anxious to communicate her need to go outside.

She is also old enough to hold it to go the door and ring a bell, but you will need to be able to get to her very quickly the moment you hear the bell ringing to let her out. Also, there's a risk that dogs may start ringing the bell just for the fun of spending time in the yard.  If that's something you may want to give a try, let me know and I'll post more details. 

 

 

[CynthiaWebster]

Yes she is spay.  We aren't sure of the breed she is a rescue and they couldn't find the "parents".  She looks like she has some lab in her.  The vet says she is now full grown and she is right around 30 +/- lbs.   This is her at 12 weeks - the day we got her.  She is mostly house broken, but we are still just having accidents once in a while.  Yes, we go out with her because our backyard isn't fenced yet.  The fence company has us on the schedule, but it looks like it will be January or February before they can install the fence.  She usually does go, if she doesn't, I will bring her back in for 15 minutes and then take her out again.  We don't have to take her out every hour now, she is able to hold it longer, I was just talking about when we were first housebreaking her.  She doesn't pee in her sleep - she will just go in her bed and pee.Amazon.com _ EliteField 2-Door Soft Pet Playpen, Exercise Pen, Multiple Sizes and Colors Available for Dogs, Cats and Other Pets (42_ x 42_ x 24_H, Beige+Green) _ Pet Supplies.htmlAmazon.com _ EliteField 2-Door Soft Pet Playpen, Exercise Pen, Multiple Sizes and Colors Available for Dogs, Cats and Other Pets (42_ x 42_ x 24_H, Beige+Green) _ Pet Supplies.html I will try getting more excited with her when I see that she does need to go out and see if we can get her to come to "us" when she needs to go out.  I tried to upload a picture of her, but I'm not sure if that worked.  I don't know if you will be able to open the link. 

[Adrienne]

Thanks for the details, they are helpful! I got the picture of her, she's a cutie!

It sounds like you are doing many things right, like going out with her, praising and rewarding when she goes outdoors, taking her back if she won't go in 15 minutes, and then again until she goes. Other things that come to mind is cleaning all accidents on the floor or bedding with an odor neutralizer such as Nature's Miracle to make sure to not leave any residual odors which encourage further elimination because those places to a dog smell like "bathroom." 

I am familiar with the play pen you are using as I have purchased several of those in the past. I am not sure what size you have, but it likely it isn't snug enough to encourage the denning instinct (the instinct to not pee where the dog sleeps and therefore what triggers the ability to hold it since the dog cannot move to a farther area so to avoid the sleeping area). So if the play pen allows it, most likely, when she has the urge, she'll get up from where she's sleeping and just move to the other side of the crate to pee. 

If this peeing occurs often when she is left alone, it may be worthy of recording her behavior when you are out and then watching it. From this recording we may deduce what may be happening as there may be other forms of peeing at play.

For example, if she is acting distressed when left alone, pacing and panting and peeing, it could be her peeing is due to some form of underlying anxiety (such as separation anxiety or fear of noises or confinement). If she peed before being enclosed in it (and therefore is "empty" when you leave), and then she pees towards the time you are about to return, it could be she is being enclosed  for longer than she can hold it. If she pees the moment you enter the home, she may be engaging in excitement urination. 

Hopefully, by acknowledging her and acting excited about it, will encourage her to seek you out. I used this with a dog last month, and this small dog learned to pace back and forth and then if I wasn't paying attention she would jump on the couch and circle around me to get me to accompany her outside. Sometimes, after the dog develops a sign that grabs our attention, but we want something a little more substantial, it may help to pretend to ignore the subtle behavior in hopes that the dog starts thinking "OK,this is not working, I need to find a better way to get her to take me out" and when the dog does something more significant.(like bark) we can promptly reinforce that with our excited "Wanna go out?" as we accompany her promptly to the door.

[RichardJasinski]

Where in the course does it cover house breaking?

[Adrienne]

Greetings, 

Welcome to the forums.

You'll find the potty training section for puppies in the main archive (link below). Look for potty training section under the puppy category, and there is also an inappropriate elimination section for general issues. 

https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/archive/

Of course, feel free to ask here is you have any specific question. 

Best,

Adrienne