Females vs. Males -Housetraining.

[brindlemom]

Question. Has anyone noticed that it is easier to housebreak a male than a female?

Why is is that...Nellie can hold it for 9 hours while she is crated, and 9 hours at night laying on our bed, but sometimes in the afternoon I'll have to take her out every hour or two. I know they dont like to soil in their area, so that explains the crate. And she is only 4 months old. She has only had a few accidents, she pooped one time right after I brought her in, when she did it outside also. But thats only happened once. All the other accidents are only pee, but again it doesnt happen to often.

Striker only went in the house maybe two or three times from the time we got him at 8 weeks old. Trained very quickly. Never a problem. He can hold it forever and not go in the house. He is eleven months old. Sometimes if we forget, he only gets out every 8 hours or more. He would let us know if he needed to go.

I think we're used to having a housetrained dog also, and she is still young.

Are males generally easier to housetrain, or was this just our luck?

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Cindy, Mommy of:
*Striker
12/25/99, brindle male, natural ears, docked tail, white "socks", chest, blaze.
*Nellie
7/27/00, flashy fawn female, natural ears, docked tail

 

[Tulsa-Dan]

From what my vet told me and what I've read in my research, girl dogs' bladders are slower to gain full muscular control than boys' bladders. Therefore, girls seem to be harder to housebreak. I'm sure your little girl knows by now that going in the house is unacceptable, but she probably can't help it. It takes about 6 to 7 months for their bladders to develop fully and for them to have full control.

Give your girl some more time. Take longer walks and let her pee and poop twice on a walk (at least 20 minute walk) and I think you'll find that you have fewer accidents in the house. Also, time and patience. Maggie is 6 months old and we have only the occasional accident. Like yesterday, she spent twice as much time running in the park as usual and she was so tired she slept most of the day afterwards. I didn't wake her up and when she did get up, she was so tired and had to go so badly, she didn't quite make it all the way outside and had to stop and relieve herself (pee) on the stair landing. She knew immediately she had done something she shouldn't have done, but the poor little thing was just so tired and had to go so badly, she couldn't hold it.

From what I've read, you can continue to have an occasional accident for up to a year with a puppy. I know I have to be extra vigilent with Maggie because her signals are so subtle that I sometimes miss it when she tells me she has to go outside. But both of us are getting much better and before yesterday, it had been about a month since the last accident.

Patience and persistence. Good luck.

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Dan from Brooklyn
Proud Pappa to Maggie Mae, Born 6/16/00
Flashy Fawn, docked tail, natural ears.
Pictures: http://www.d-batt.com/Maggie.html