# Nine month old pup still having accidents



## jellyben (Jan 13, 2012)

Our cockapoo is still having several poop accidents a week. She knows to go to the back door and scratch to go out, but despite my being around she will scurry off to a bedroom and poop. I know that we are the ones who need training, so how should we proceed? Should we go back to crate training? This seems excessive since she does have some control. Maybe confine her to one room? Our hope was that she would use the yard during the day with a long walk in the evening but she seems to need more supervision and guidance. I just don't get why she will scratch at the door to go out 4 times a day and then randomly decide to poop in my son's room! I am OK with a crate training boot camp if that will be the most effective, I just have gotten used to cuddling up with her when I want to !

I appreciate any feedback you can provide. Just when we think things are under control she will go in the house 3 straight days.


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## DustyCrockett (Sep 24, 2011)

She doesn't need to be crated, if you can just shut off the bedrooms. She's already figured out that the rest of the house isn't a toilet. Deny her access to the rooms she goes to.


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## jellyben (Jan 13, 2012)

Thanks for your reply. I should have said that she has also gone on the rug in the family room(which we can pull up temporarily) and also the wood floor in the living room, although her preferred place is my son's room. Reading this, I see she has too much room to roam!


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## DustyCrockett (Sep 24, 2011)

jellyben said:


> Thanks for your reply. I should have said that she has also gone on the rug in the family room(which we can pull up temporarily) and also the wood floor in the living room, although her preferred place is my son's room. Reading this, I see she has too much room to roam!


Yeah, at 9 months you hope they'll be done. If she's not particular about where she goes in the house, then reducing her to one room isn't going to help unless you are in there watching her. No matter how much space she has to roam in, she's not going to learn that the floor isn't a toilet as long as she's given the opportunity to use it.

She only has to be in the crate when you aren't available to watch her. Crate training won't cut into your cuddling time -- it will only cut into her alone time.


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## doxiemommy (Dec 18, 2009)

jellyben said:


> Our cockapoo is still having several poop accidents a week. She knows to go to the back door and scratch to go out, but despite my being around she will scurry off to a bedroom and poop. I know that we are the ones who need training, so how should we proceed? Should we go back to crate training? This seems excessive since she does have some control. Maybe confine her to one room? *Our hope was that she would use the yard during the day with a long walk in the evening but she seems to need more supervision and guidance. *I just don't get why she will scratch at the door to go out 4 times a day and then randomly decide to poop in my son's room! I am OK with a crate training boot camp if that will be the most effective, I just have gotten used to cuddling up with her when I want to !
> 
> I appreciate any feedback you can provide. Just when we think things are under control she will go in the house 3 straight days.


I think you have the answer in the section of your post that I bolded. She needs more supervision and guidance. You need to keep your eyes on her more. Don't give her the freedom to sneak off anywhere where she can poop.

One of my dogs is a dachshund-chihuahua mix. She was abandoned, poor girl, as a young puppy. Anyway, she was our toughest to potty train. She generally gets the point. BUT, if given the freedom, she may just find it's just as easy to poop in the bedroom where she's playing rather than come let us know. So, even up to a year old plus, we had to be watching her super closely. 

You're right, crating seems excessive. Just watch her closely. Also, if you have her on a feeding schedule, you can estimate when she's going to need to poop (about 15-45 minutes after eating, depending on the dog), so you can supervise during that time range, and then, maybe loosen up a bit.


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## LenaCara (May 11, 2011)

I ran into this same issue and we just went into praising overdrive with high value treats when she used the potty outside. Around that time we cut out treats for anything else so they would be more special. We also started taking her out when we thought she should have to go and not letting her back in until she had gone. Our major issue was rain though so it was easy to tell when she was about to cheat and run upstairs instead of letting her dainty paws get wet. Now that she is 10 months old, she runs out and goes super fast anytime it's wet and doesn't try to hide it somewhere in the house because we stayed on top of it.


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