another potty training question ;)

[laylafaith]

HI everyone, I have a 5 month old girl... she's been with us since she was 14 weeks old. The whole potty training thing is driving me nuts... she's been doing okay... some days she has no accidents, others she has 3-4 per day... we take her out every hour.. she's home with my husband during the day. Her carpet of choice to pee on is of course my childrens bedroom floor. We've shampooed it and then started using natures miracle on it, to get the smell out (thinking she could still smell it so she'd go in there) well, the natures miracle is working because she hasn't peed on the floor but today... she got up on my youngest daughters bunk bed and peed on the bed and all the clothes that were up there. I'm so frustrated, I know that it's not her fault because she's just a puppy but I also want her to stop peeing in the house. I dont want it to smell, I'm afraid that it does smell and we are used to it now and can't smell it although we use EVERY cleaning product we can think of to get rid of the smell and stains. She's only crated at night, from like 10pm until 6pm in the morning, she has NEVER peed in her crate. The reason we started crating her is because when she was sleeping with us ..she'd get up in the middle of the night and pee numerous times on the floor in my daughters bedroom. I know that like i said its not her fault because she's still just a puppy..but how long can I expect this out of her? she's my first boxer... and every other dog I have had has been fairly easy to train and caught on real quick. We have bell trained her so she hits the bells to go outside..she's constantly hitting them whether it be to pee or to go out and play, but other times, she wont use the bells just go pee in the bedroom. I'm really sorry this is so long, I'm just so frustrated... but I want to do what ever I can to help her learn... so any tips or advice for other things we can do to help her learn that outside is the GOOD potty place, would be greatly appreciated!!! and stories too, of other dogs that still do this ... I want to make sure that she's not the only one, , the lady that we bought her from is a retired vet technician and said that since she was kennel raised she would be easier to potty train and that is NOT the case... PLeASE help me thanks..


boxer wiggles from layla

Jessika

 

[Maxwell's Ma]

Max had accidents up untill he was about 7 mos old. I just had to take him out all the time. I see you take yours out every hour. I tried that but didn't work. I had to take Max out every 20 mins or so. In fact, the best thing was I didn't pay as much attention to the time as to what Max was doing. He would start sniffing around, and going into circles. Those are some of the cues.

I also clipped his leash to my belt if I was cleaning or moving around the house cause that way I could watch him.

I really don't think they get it till around 7-8mos. Then all of a sudden your hard work, patience and being consistant will pay off. The crate training did work well with Max cause he never went in his crate. I made the crate just big enough for him to walk into and turn around in. He didn't like going in his bed and having to lay in it.

Let us know how it is going...

 

[laylafaith]

thanks jen, i think in another post that you wrote i read about the leash thing and thats what i did to her tonight, i made sure she was with me at all times and she's had no accidents at all.. sometimes i think she's just being stubborn. we cleaned the bed (where she peed) with natures miracle... washed all the bedding and the clothes that were on the bed (just a few things the girls had thrown there this morning) i also sprayed those with natures miracles and i am hoping she just doesnt do it again... i'm about to take her out though for her last potty before bed... so i just wanted to say thanks for answering and i hope that it in the next few months she finally gets it.. i'll probably jump and run around in circles yelling HORRAY!!! , i'm totally a dog person where my husband prefers cats..and i was worried about how he was going to react to her peeing everywhere and especially on the bed.. and tonight he was sitting with her on the floor and i said you really love her, and he said i know... i get sick of cleaning up pee though, and i said, well at least you love her (when we got her, he didnt want a dog-- i did, and he made sure i knew that she was my dog) but now she's just as much his dog and it pleases me... anyway enough of rambling for me, GOODNIGHT! and thank you.. i really do appreciate it.

 

[Maxwell's Ma]

You are so welcome. They really don't do the peeing in the bed on purpose. They just pee where ever they are. It doesn't really matter to them until they know where to go.

I forgot to tell you to have a party everytime she goes outside. My neighbors thought I was nuts but Max did learn. I would be out in the yard at 5am in my night gown. When Max would go out there I would make a big deal out of it. I would woop and be all happy. Give him a treat. He would do anything to get me to celebrate for him. This is really important cause it is better to reinforce what you want them to do.

My DH has fallen in love with Max too. It is so funny how they change. He always wanted another boxer but not at the time I took him to see Max. Now we both don't know what we would do without him.

Have a good nite. Let me know how your baby is doing.

 

[Sas'parilla]

You could try going back to the basics. If taking her out every hour isn't working and she's still using the bathroom in the house, then do what I do..and this usually lasts until they are about a year old. This is about the time that I've seen that they have "finally" got it.

You could take her out, then as a reward, let her play for however long. (Sas'parilla gets about 30-45 min), then she goes back to her kennel for a nap. When she wakes up, she goes back out, and the routine starts all over again.

It's sometimes frustrating and it's definately time consuming cause when she is out to play, I stop everything I am doing and I sit and watch her play with my other dogs or I get on the floor and play with her. It's sort of like having a newborn baby in the house. I use the time that she is napping (usually 40min -1 hr to do what I need to do around the house.

I have three other furbabies in the house and it's worked for them everytime. And I always crate them when I'm 1. gone from the house or 2. at night.

 

[GomersGirl5]

WOW! I guess I'm lucky. Maggie RARELY has accidents and when she does I can honestly say they are MY FAULT! She goes to the door now when she wants out and she is only 10 weeks. But the breeder had her paper trained before we got her (at 6 weeks). I still try to take her out every 2 hours if I can. She naps 2 to 3 times a day and she gets time outs when she doesn't play nice. But as soon as I let her out of time outs I take her outside and walk her. And DEFINITELY as soon as she wakes up from a nap! I've learned that is the MOST important time next to first thing in the morning. Also I don't give her water after 7pm. I let her drink as much as she wants during the day and if I see her walking around sniffing that's my cue to take her out. The longest she's been left alone was last Saturday for almost 6 hours.... She did SO good!! We had left in the bathroom (uncrated) and there were no accidents! She got treats for that one!! We just KNEW we'd come home to poop and pee everywhere, but it was dry as a bone. As soon as I put her down in the grass (I carry her out if it's been a while since she's been out) she took 2 steps and peed! Yay Maggie!!

Well, I'm rambling. Sorry. My best suggestion would be to continue what you're doing and maybe shut your daughter's door when you can so she can't go in there. Only other thing I could think of is not to leave water down for her. Give it to her only when she eats and then take her out within 30 mins to an hour afterward. Good luck and Keep us posted!!