1.5 years old...still not house broken. dont know what I am doing wrong...
Maggie is 1.5 years old and she still is having accidents in the house...all though I am beginning to think they are not accidents, she just does not let us know .
She eats once a day, in the early morning, between 7 and 830. She is walked before she eats, then again in the afternoon. We also take her out at night.
Occasionally if we are gone in the afternoon, she may pee in the kitchen, that isn't my worry so much.
My worry, is that she will poop or pee while we are in the house, without giving us any sign.
For example, tonight, just a few moments ago, my boyfriend and I were watching a movie and maggie was sitting on the couch with me. She just got up, went into the kitchen, and pooped.
I yelled, "Maggie, No! No!" but she continued anyways.
Why wouldnt she whine or wimper? bark? go to the door? I dont get it.
I didn.t believe my boyfreind when he said that she does that to him at least once or twice a week, hell be playing a game with friend in the other room and come out and there will be pee on the floor. I thought he was egnoring her, but apparently not.
Please help, last time I checked, and 1.5 yr old dog should not be doing this, I thought they should be able to hold their bladders for 8 hours?
She eats once a day, in the early morning, between 7 and 830. She is walked before she eats, then again in the afternoon. We also take her out at night.
Occasionally if we are gone in the afternoon, she may pee in the kitchen, that isn't my worry so much.
My worry, is that she will poop or pee while we are in the house, without giving us any sign.
For example, tonight, just a few moments ago, my boyfriend and I were watching a movie and maggie was sitting on the couch with me. She just got up, went into the kitchen, and pooped.
I yelled, "Maggie, No! No!" but she continued anyways.
Why wouldnt she whine or wimper? bark? go to the door? I dont get it.
I didn.t believe my boyfreind when he said that she does that to him at least once or twice a week, hell be playing a game with friend in the other room and come out and there will be pee on the floor. I thought he was egnoring her, but apparently not.
Please help, last time I checked, and 1.5 yr old dog should not be doing this, I thought they should be able to hold their bladders for 8 hours?
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Joanna Kimball on
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Well, it depends - can you hold yours? I am sure you can sometimes but by no means every day. Dogs are the same way; eight hours is a LONG time to have to go, every day of their lives.
Dogs who are routinely walked on a schedule don't necessarily ask to go out. They don't necessarily know that asking does anything. You need to train them to ask, by responding consistently to any effort that they make. If a dog comes up and looks at me intently, I take them out. If I do this starting in puppyhood, they will habituate to it and, if I don't respond quickly, will whine. Once they've made the switch to whining it's really easy to tell when they need to go.
It also depends on the dog's personality, no matter how much you train. My girl Bronte HATES to ask to go out; she thinks it's impolite. So I need to keep track of her and make sure I take her out every few hours, or she'll sidle off into a hallway and pee. It's not that she doesn't know; it's that she feels it's better to inconvenience herself (by peeing) than inconvenience me (by asking).
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Permalink Reply by Kristen Schaub on
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It seems like your corgi gas established the kitchen as an ok place to go- when you take her out always use the word pee and reward with treat that you can fade with just using the word. You can also use it every couple hours to ask if she has to pee.. We hung bells on the door knob that they hit when excited to go out- whenever they hit the bells they can go out to 'pee'.. Now they use the bells to alert us - and never misuse it...Gang in there- and I agree- 8 hours is probably too long-)
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Permalink Reply by breanna bellefontaine on
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thanks for the info. She never goes 8 hours...we usually walk her every 5 or 6. Some days, like weekends, every 4 (because I get bored.)
We did treat here for a very long time when she was learning. I guess we can start that up again.
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Permalink Reply by Sam Tsang on
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You can also hang a "bell" next to the door, ring it every time before you go out, very soon, they'll learn to ring the bell to get you open the door.
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Permalink Reply by Elaine on
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i like your bell idea and am going to start trying it as a signal. thanks
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Permalink Reply by Beth on
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When mine are alone and mostly napping while we are at work, they easily go 9 hours in between potty breaks (I say easily because when we come home, they want to play and run around and don't even go to the door to ask to go out til we get their leashes to walk them).
But if we are home, they go out in the morning, then around lunch, then for their evening walk, and then again at bedtime--- every 4 to 6 hours, on average.
Dogs have to learn a signal to ask to go out, and some pick it up easily while others do not. When I was a teenager we had a dog whose signal to go out was sitting quietly in front of the front door (even though she generally went out the back door). If you did not notice her within 5 minutes or so, she would go on the floor. She was a dog who, like many toy-sized dogs, was never 100% housebroken.
My female, Maddie, has been here for 6 months and has never once asked to go out, though she hasn't had any accidents either. Jack on the other hand will whine at the door and will do everything within his ability to hold it, even if he's sick. He will also bark at the door if he feels sick and thinks he needs to vomit--- handy, but I generally miss the signal. But he also barks at the door if he wants to play, or if he feels ignored, or if one of us is upstairs and he would rather we be downstairs. In other words, he barks at the door to get our attention and so it takes some effort to interpret what he's after.
She might be giving you a signal that's subtle so you don't notice. Or she may have never been clearly housebroken; some dogs learn it's preferable to go outside, but inside isn't so bad either.
I'd do a couple things:
1) I'd confine her to a smaller area, using gates or a leash in your hand, until you get the situation under better control. Use gates or leash to keep her always within eye-sight when she's loose. Remember, if you are leaving a leash on her, you shouldn't walk away for even a minute because she could tangle and choke herself. The key is to prevent her from having the opportunity to go inside.
2) I'd find a signal that works for YOU and then when she randomly gives the signal, take her out. If you want her to sit at the door, when she sits in front of the door take her out even if you know she likely does not have to go. You want her to associate the signal with going out.
3) I'd have a more frequent potty-break schedule, say every 3 to 4 hours, so that she has plenty of opportunity to go outside. Praise her when she does, like you would with a puppy.
4) Use an enzyme cleaner to thoroughly clean any areas where she has gone.
5) Make sure everyone else in the household is following the same guidelines.
6) Confine her when no one is home so she is more likely to hold it.
Other people might have other suggestions, of course. Good luck!
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thanks a bunch. We do use the same door, and its just my boyfriend and I and he definitely is on board with finding something consistent.
Do you know of any good cleaners? We have been using a vinegar based one...but I was down on the carpet the other day and even after vacuuming the heck out of it i could still smell urine. I gotta get it out of there!
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Good Cleaners? Hydrogen Peroxide, 96 cents a bottle from walmart. Always keep 6 at home :)
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Permalink Reply by Aber, Ragnar and Kelso on
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will peroxide break down the urine or feces smell/particles the same way those enzyme cleaners will? I've used white vinegar and laundry detergent with enzymes, but I still think there's stuff in the rug, so I was going to break down and buy the expensive Nature's Miracle stuff. But if peroxide will do the same thing, I'm all about it. Plus, I imagine it would take up any stains, too?
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Permalink Reply by Stephanie on
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In my experience, they can hold 8 hours when they're crated/or possibly when home alone, because they're sleeping - like us when we sleep at night. But when you're home and they're moving around, they have to go more often, like us during the day.
A couple of suggestions: do you always take her out the same door? If not, that would help, so she learns that that door is always the way out. Also, can you see the door from your relaxation spot? She might be going to the door, but you can't see her.
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Permalink Reply by Bev Levy on
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I agree with everyone. I take my dogs out every 4 hours (give or take a little) when I am home. If you don't teach them to tell you most will not figure that out on their own. You can teach her to speak and then have her speak at the door before you go out but while awake she will need regular potty breaks just like we do. Sparty will happily wait longer but Izzy and Misty always go so they are all different too. Sparty and Misty will just give me a stare but Izzy has to be watched because she will just go to the door and if no one sees her she will go. She is 2 1/2.
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Permalink Reply by Ashley and Copper on
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Coming from a person who takes pride in housebreaking my animals lol :), I think the best thing is positive feedback and COOKIES!!!! lol When I got Pooh, he was paper-trained. I had read about this and from what people had told me, it was supposed to be damn near impossible to break him. I had him completely house broken in 2 weeks. I would get up as early as I could stand in the morning and ask him "Do you gotta go outside, go potty?" This helps them associate the two. Then I would take him out of his crate and take him straight outside. As soon as he would go, I would get so excited! "Good BOYYYY!!!!", and then he would get excited. I would come in and give him a cookie right away. I normally took him and Cop out every two hours and then when they weren't having any accidents anymore I would push it off a little longer. Pooh would come give me the stare down and sing to me. I think the other secret to it is having a crate. You have to have the right size. If it's too big, they have room to have accidents. If it is the right size, most dogs won't go to the bathroom where they sleep. Crate her and watch her like a hawk. If she starts sniffing or she just wakes up, take her right outside and ask her if she has to go while your taking her.out. As soon as she goes, Get excited!!! lol I did the same thing for Cop and he lived the beginning of his life in a barn so he had no idea what was going on at first but he caught on quick and I can count how many times he had an accident. He only had 6 accidents EVER and he only ever pooped once in the house. Now he gives me the stare down in front of the door. He hasn't had to stay in his crate in 2 and a half months and I've had him for three. He doesn't chew anything that isn't his and never goes potty while I'm gone and he's out. He won't eat or drink while I'm gone because dogs know. I hope this helps. I think the best cleaners are bissell foaming carpet cleaner,urine-be-gone (this is what my ma uses) and something with oxi clean in it. I'll send you links as to what they look like. None of them are too pricey! Good luck!!!
This stuff is AWESOME!! The foaming cleaner
http://www.amazon.com/Bissell-Woolite-Foam-Carpet-Cleaner/dp/B000LN...
I heard this works well. Urine gone
http://www.walgreens.com/store/catalog/Cleaners/Stain-and-Odor-Elim...
And WE had new carpet and Pooh got sick and this stuff left no evidence that anything ever happened, which was good cuz it was in my dad's room at the time lol
http://www.drugstore.com/products/prod.asp?pid=89411&catid=1346...
Let me know how this helped! Have a good one!!
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