Not housebroken yet!!!!

[MishMe]

Our Truman is 5 months old now and still not housebroken!! I was reading some of the other posts and it seems like nobody else is having a problem with a dog this old!! I know he is still just a baby but I dont think we should be having this many accidents with him!! Maybe someone could offer some advice. We crate him at night, unless one of us falls asleep on the couch, but he never wakes at night and has an accident. He goes out first thing in the morning, after all meals, and basically whenever he looks at us funny (which, with his little face is all the time). I do think we need to offer a bit more praise when he goes outside, sometimes we forget, but he most often gets a really happy GOOD BOY when he goes and a bone when he comes inside!! But even when he pee's outside there are times when he has an accident in the house 20 mins. later!! We dont yell at him when he has an accident unless we catch him in the act. Am I over reacting?? Is it normal to still have accidents everyday with him at this age?? We really do watch him. He doesnt have the run of the whole house and we do keep him in the same room with us. Any ideas??

 

[Jan]

Accidents everyday at 5 months is not normal. He should be more reliably housetrained by now. A trip to the vet to rule out a urinary tract infection might be a good idea. Otherwise you may need to be more diligent in watching him and trying to catch him in the act 100 percent of the time. Keep him in the same room with you so that you can keep an eye on him. As soon as he gets a little restless, snifing at the floor etc., quickly take him outside. It is a always a good idea to go with him and make sure he goes a adequate amount. When Markus was a puppy I would take him for a walk and make sure that he would go at least twice before I would bring him back. In fact I still do that.

Good luck,

 

[chi]

5 mths is still very young...they really can't start controlling their bladder until about 6 mths then after that it's still 'iffy'
the puppy's bladder may not be matured quite enough yet...just be patient...my dogs are both adults and still have accidents sometimes...it happens

 

[Boo]

Originally posted by MishMe
I do think we need to offer a bit more praise when he goes outside, sometimes we forget, but he most often gets a really happy GOOD BOY when he goes and a bone when he comes inside

Remember one thing when it comes to praising your dog - he NEVER thinks you are an idiot, he loves it ALL! We used to praise Jasper and pat his head while he was STILL in the act of peeing! Maybe that's a little gross, but he got the idea pretty quick. There was no confusion over what he was being praised for.

Also, it's probably best to give him his reward OUTSIDE rather than when he comes inside. So he associates the good stuff with peeing OUTSIDE.

You also mentioned that he pees in the same place inside. Dogs noses are very sensitive and perhaps he can smell traces of his last accident even though you may have cleaned it well. A search or some other kind member may be able to give you a product name for something to get rid of any odour he may be detecting that you can't.

My puppy is just over 6 months, so I have just been through the whole house-training thing. He's not 100% reliable when we aren't home, but pretty much so when we are. He is the first dog I have successfully housetrained, and I have to say it wasn't as hard as I thought.

Of course listen to any advice from the more experienced members here, I just thought a success story from a relative newbie might be encouraging. Good luck.

Adele