# Desperate and discouraged... potty training help, please!!



## tragictwist (Jan 4, 2012)

Hello,
I adopted my puppy about a month and a half ago. The shelter only told me his age was less than four months.
I immediately began crate training him. About a month after I got him, I realized he was no longer using the bathroom in his crate. He is in there for 7-8 hours a day and can hold it this entire time. After a couple of weeks, my puppy learned to go to our back door when he needed to use the bathroom. Once this started, his accidents were minimal. Around this time I also let him begin sleeping in the bed with me. He had a couple accidents, but only a couple.

About two weeks ago, I had quite a few people over at my house. Unfortunately amongst watching my guests, I had been letting my puppy run about and I did not pay enough attention to him. He had a good few accidents that night, and because it was my fault, I did not attempt to punish him in any way. 
However, ever since that night, he has had accidents on a daily basis again. Within the last week, he's even stopped going to the door when he needs to go. He just uses the bathroom wherever he wants to. Last night he even peed on my bed, not once, but TWICE, within ten hours of each other. He has NEVER done this.
My boyfriend's roommate also has a dog that is around 6-7 months old. He is crate trained, but not house trained in any way. He also has daily accidents. My puppy plays with him about two days a week. Could he be a bad influence somehow?

My friends have told me to rub his nose in his accidents. I have been doing this, but when I was researching online yesterday, I found most people said this method was mean and ineffective. I have since stopped.
I just don't know what to do. I don't understand why he appeared mostly house trained and has since reverted back to how he was the first week I had him.
I almost feel like I am a terrible dog owner (he is my first), and maybe I should give him to somebody who can train him better? But I don't want to do that at all.

Please help!


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## LoveCWCs (Oct 21, 2011)

When dogs use the bathroom, the emit phermones. Phermones are chemicals that dogs use to mark a territory. If the phermones are not completely removed from an area, the dog will continue to mark that area. 

If you all are using soap and water, you may be removing the mess, but not the residual phermones. I don't know what kind of cleaner to get because of the way I house trained my puppy. The only time she ever had an accident was when she was sick. But, they do make cleaners that remove phermones. 

The puppy probably smells that another dog has used the bathroom in the area and assumes its ok to go there. 

As for rubbing his face in it, yeah, never ever do that again. 

In your place, I'd just start from the very beginning and crate train again from scratch. If you can't directly supervise the dog, put it in its crate with a bone or a stuffed frozen Kong. Or, you could do what I did, and just leash your puppy to you the entire time you were home. That way, the puppy can't get into trouble and you have a chance to train and bond. 

You also probalby aren't recognizing the signals he's giving you telling you that he has to go potty. If a puppy starts sniffing and circling, that means they have to go. If they start going in the house and you catch them, just whisk them outside to finish their business. 

NEVER punish a puppy for a potty accident. It is YOUR FAULT if the puppy goes in the house. 

Remember you are dealing with the equivelant of a two year old person.


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## Amaryllis (Dec 28, 2011)

House training a puppy is time consuming and frustrating. That's why I don't do puppies.

It's very common for puppies to seem completely house trained and then revert to accidents everywhere. You have to restart training from scratch at that point. If you don't want your puppy peeing on your bed, don't let him on your bed for the time being. It's your fault if you continue to allow him on the bed.

Do NOT rub his nose in it. All this teaches the puppy is that urine/feces makes you angry and that you are mean when angry. He may start eating the feces to hide them from you.

Completely scrub your house, everywhere he's gone, everywhere you think he's gone, with a special cleaner from the pet store. Soap and water won't be enough. If he smells it anywhere, he'll think that means that place is okay to use as a bathroom.

Depending on the size of the dog, it could be a good long while before your puppy is completely reliable. I got Muggsy at 11 months. He was house trained, but he wasn't completely reliable with it until about 2 years of age. That has to do with the muscles and nerves in and around the bladder and how they grow and mature. There's nothing you can do about that but be patient and kind. And keep lots of cleaner handy.


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## libbenstein (Aug 23, 2010)

i know it is frustrating, had this happen to me a few times, but like it has been said just stick it out. when accident's happen just go back to the beginning.

NEVER USE AMMONIA BASED PRODUCTS TO CLEAN THE MESS. dog urine has ammonia in it so you are defeating the purpose. I use a vinegar and water mixture, and i wash their stuff in Vinegar and then do it another cycle in soap (AS HOT AS THE WATER CAN BE). 
Don't let him see you clean up the mess
don't make a big deal of the mess, just clean it up and go on...it is hard to do but if the dog has an accident it is your fault. again just start over.

one of my babies sometimes forgets his house training in his crate. If he has an accident we go back to the belly band for a few days, just as a reminder (works every time)

just be patient and don't give too much freedom. make him earn it.

You are not a bad puppy parent...keep the faith


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## doxiemommy (Dec 18, 2009)

Here's some general info about potty training: very young puppies (younger than yours) don't always get signals from their bodies that they need to go. As they grow and develop, they start getting signals, sometimes, but they don't know what it means. Then, further down the road, they start putting two and two together, gradually. BUT, puppies don't gain full physical control over their bladders til 6 months of age, give or take. So, if you don't get them out in time, they can still have accidents, as they are learning how long they can hold it. 

They're like toddlers, mama says "do you have to go potty?" and the toddler says "no", but 20 seconds later they pee their pants. 

Potty training is more about what you do than what your puppy does. The two keys are supervision/prevention and schedules. Your job is preventing accidents when you're home. That means keeping an eye on them, super closely. When you can't keep an eye on them, you can crate them. If you're watching them, you'll see the signs that they need to go, and you can rush them out, thereby preventing the accident. A good way to keep them in your sight is to use a leash to tether them to you.

Schedules is the other important factor. Puppies should go out after waking up (even from naps), after eating/drinking, after playing/exercising, and every couple hours besides that.

Of course, puppies may have to potty at other times besides that, until they get better control, that's why you watch them to prevent accidents.

Now, of course, this would be easily done if none of us had to work!  When you have to work, of course, a young puppy will have accidents when you're gone, because they can't help it.

Puppies also have setbacks, like when they are teething, or when they go through developmental stages called fear stages. Also, changes in routine and environment cause setbacks. It just means you have to watch more closely and go out on a schedule, and be more vigilant.


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## KaywinnitLee (Jan 1, 2012)

I adopted my rescue dog six months ago and at first, she was a total pain with housebreaking. She would go when I took her out and I would reward her, then she would come in and pee on the rug in her favorite spot. I would take her back out immediately but once she went on the rug, it became a habit, or so I thought. I was so frustrated by the complete lack of progress that I bought pee pads. I figured if she was going to go in the house, she might as well use the pads...and she did, as long as I put them on her favorite pee spot. Then, after about four months I had an idea that arose out of frustration...I took hot water and laundry detergent and scrubbed the heck out of the rug with a utility brush. It took all day but ever since then she has not had ONE accident! She just smelled her scent and thought she was supposed to go there. She has held it for eight hours without a problem and asks to go out. I'm not sure if the smell is the problem for your pup, but it's just a thought. Good luck!! 

PS- I think one other thing that helped was taking her to specific places outside to potty. She knew the purpose of going there and now she is trained to go only in certain areas. I think it helps cut down on confusion to pick a pee/poo spot outside and really reward them every time they go...my neighbors thought I was nuts with all my praises but it worked! Let us know if you make any progress


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## Abbylynn (Jul 7, 2011)

I also like the idea of having a certain area outside as the potty place. I live in the country in the woods but still have a yard. I have trained my dogs to go potty by saying to them " Potty in the woods " ... and my dogs will actually go inside of the woods to do their business ... which makes me a happy camper ... no poo in the yard!  They do pee in other parts of the yard though.


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