# TOUGH housebreaking this puppy... but fast learner for everything else!



## Supernovasky (Mar 10, 2012)

So we got a rescue dog... she's incredible, amazing. In 2 weeks, we've got her trained from where she was previously VERY scared of people, shy, hid from us in her crate, barked, scared of stairs and had to be carried up and down, running around on a leash like a fish on a hook...

To playing fetch, perfectly leash trained, pees and poos outside, loves both of us and other people, loves getting pets, runs up and down stairs, knows basic commands...

But for the life of us we can't get this puppy to pee outside only! She pees every time we go outside, so she knows that outside is associated with peeing. However, she pees inside too. Just randomly, very little warning, she'll just squat down in front of us and pee. We warn her NO, we clean with special spray to take out the smell, we even take her outside once every 2 hours now! This time, she pees outside... and we bring her up, and she pees AGAIN in less than an hour after we brought her outside.

What the heck do we do to fix this problem?


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## Supernovasky (Mar 10, 2012)

Also, we do crate her all day and she is fine and does not go in her crate. The thing is, we can't keep her in the crate 24/7.... and she gives no sign at all that she's about to go half of the time.


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## RegiaPutri (Mar 31, 2012)

you forgot to mention how old is your puppy.


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## Supernovasky (Mar 10, 2012)

5 months.

She literally just did it again. Twice in the last hour, small pee spots.

She IS spayed (got spayed 2 weeks ago).

I brought her out 2 hours ago... and 45 minutes later, she pees once. I type this, then about 20 minutes later, she does it agian.

She's got pooing outside down pat. But this is what it's been like every day.


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## RegiaPutri (Mar 31, 2012)

I read somehere on internet, different sites, that for some breed the downside of getting spayed/fixed is involuntary leakage of urine. It has something to do with her hormone. In this case, you should talk to your vet. 
Here is one of the sites I found --> http://dreambarks.com/incontinence.html 

Was she spayed before or after you got her? How long has she been with you? If she wasn't spayed when you got her and been doing this, I can only assume that she still can't hold her bladder when she scared and/or excited. Hopefully you don't let her roam free yet.


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## Supernovasky (Mar 10, 2012)

This makes me kind of sad to know that spaying can cause her to have incontinence. It was mandatory by the clinic, so she go tspayed 2 weeks ago. She's apparently always had a problem with peeing inside though. Her foster mom said that she would go inside although she was trying to work on housetraining. We let her roam free when she's NOT in her crate. We crate her for 7 hours a day (While we're at work), with a 1 hour break in the middle when I come back from lunch. Then, when we get home, we let her out. We live in a small 1 bedroom apartment so its not like she's running everywhere. It doesn't seem location based. She'll just stop, and pee. Its incredible the amount of pee she seems to have. Its as if she isn't completely emptying her bladder outside.


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## Supernovasky (Mar 10, 2012)

Also, as far as breed, she's a Rhodesian mix.


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## Niraya (Jun 30, 2011)

If she has spay incontinence she'd have had it while with the foster which is why the foster would likely assume that she has problems with going potty inside and trouble with being house broken. 

Puppies also don't have full control of their bladder/bowel movements until roughly 6 months old. You'll have to go back to taking her out more often most likely. If it's the incontinence then you can manage with medicine (I believe) and regulating water.


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## doxiemommy (Dec 18, 2009)

Supernovasky said:


> This makes me kind of sad to know that spaying can cause her to have incontinence. It was mandatory by the clinic, so she go tspayed 2 weeks ago. She's apparently always had a problem with peeing inside though. Her foster mom said that she would go inside although she was trying to work on housetraining*. We let her roam free when she's NOT in her crate.* We crate her for 7 hours a day (While we're at work), with a 1 hour break in the middle when I come back from lunch. Then, when we get home, we let her out. We live in a small 1 bedroom apartment so its not like she's running everywhere. It doesn't seem location based. She'll just stop, and pee. Its incredible the amount of pee she seems to have. Its as if she isn't completely emptying her bladder outside.


The part I bolded is where I think your problem is. She shouldn't be allowed to roam free if she's not potty trained. That DOESN'T mean she has to be crated, but she should be in your sight at ALL times when she isn't crated, IF you want to prevent accidents. You can't prevent them if you can't SEE them! 


So, if she is let out of the crate after you get home from work, you can use a baby gate across doorways to keep her in the same room with you to make it easier to keep her in your sight, OR you can use her leash to tether her to you. OR, just keep your eyes on her, and follow her around every time she moves, as if she was a human toddler crawling or learning to walk. Because, basically, that's what she is.

Very young puppies don't even get signals from their bodies that they have to pee, it just seems to happen. As the age, they get the signals, but they have to learn what it means, as the continue to age, they get the signals, know what it means, BUT, they still don't have the physical ability to hold it consistently.

It's like a toddler, sometimes they will come up and tell mama "I have to go potty" but, sometimes mama asks "do you have to go potty?" and the toddler says no, thinking they've got this, they're a big girl/boy, and then 30 seconds later they've peed their pants because they overestimated how long they could hold it. 

Anyway, put into the mix, this puppy has been in a foster, AND now is in your home, and is still only 5 months old; this means that any potty training she received has been disrupted, and really, puppies thrive in consistency of training. So, you're really starting over.

Prevention is key: supervise her at all times. Yes, it's a hassle and boring sometimes when you'd rather be doing something else, but, if you do it, potty training will usually go more quickly. When you can't supervise, crate or contain. And, take her out often.

Oh, and it IS common for puppies NOT to empty their bladders all the way outside. They are learning to use their muscles and control their bladders and it's just a physical thing at this age that they don't always empty completely.


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## LenaCara (May 11, 2011)

What really helped us was keeping Josie leashed to her kennel and making sure there was no leftover pee smell in her little area. We had rugs so we pulled them up. The kennel was in the living room close to the couches so she could cuddle whenever she wanted and do her own thing within sight at all times. When she was small enough we also picked her up to take her out so she didn’t get a chance to go the instant she left her small space. If she sees her leash range as an extension of her kennel she may not pee and after a couple of months you can try letting her off the leash.


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## PetLoo (Nov 16, 2011)

If an action is followed by praise or reward, after a period of time an animal will learn to repeat this action. This simple theory applies in training your pet

Training a puppy to go loo is as simple as applying basic toilet training principles

•	Place your pet where you want them to go at toilet time. Puppies usually relieve themselves after a sleep, after they eat and after a play session. Younger puppies may need to urinate as frequently as every 30 mins.
•	Keep your pet at that spot until it relieves itself
•	Praise your pet when it does so.

Repetition of this action will eventuate in an animal trained to use the designated spot or even a product like The Pet Loo. thepetloo.com 

Training an older dog may take a little more time and patience but if you invest the time, you will reap the rewards. Some dogs may instantly get it from the word go while others may need a little extra help. 

Their are also products on the market such as "Skip to my Loo" which attract them and mimic urine and can help you and your pet identify that appropriate spot.

Check out: http://www.thepetloo.com/products/skip-to-my-loo/


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## Hambonez (Mar 17, 2012)

If you're taking her out every 2 hours and she's going in between, you aren't taking her out enough. Granted we got our puppy much younger (8 wks, from a shelter), but for a while we had to take him out every 20-30 minutes to avoid accidents. Still now at 4 months old if we're "active" in the house (playing, etc...) then he needs to go out every hour. If we're more passive inside (sleeping, chewing toys) then he can go every 2-3 hours. He also goes out immediately after waking up, any time we get him out of his expen (morning, lunch time, after work), and whenever we're having a bonkers play session indoors he needs to go out more frequently.


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