# 5 Months & No Progress Potty Training



## jmohrfeld (Oct 17, 2012)

I have a 5 month old Cavalier King Charles Spaniel. We got her when she was 8 weeks and have been consistently working on potty training since day one and have had minimal progress. We are getting ready to move into our newly built home so I need to get this under control ASAP. 

The background: 
First I started with a firm NO and took her out when she had an accident inside and treats when she went outside. I took her out around every hour. That was getting us no where so I started holding her next to where she soiled and very firmly saying no and taking her outside and then putting her in her crate when we came back in. She was still pooping and peeing directly in front of us and barley ever in the same place. One day she even got on the couch and pooped right next to me. I now have put a bell on the door and make her ring it on the way out saying "go outside". Only a few times has she rang the bell on her own to go out. She is now going more privately in the same places in the house. As soon as she sees that I found where she soiled she runs to the door to go out. So, she understands its bad and the consequence but she still keeps doing it. I am taking her out every time she gets out of her crate and wakes up from a nap. Along with several other times during the day. 

Please help! What else can I do to get her to understand.


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## stooie&rocco (Sep 11, 2012)

Sorry to tag along here on your post, however I was just about to inquire about the same thing..
I have a Wire Fox Terrier that im having the same issue with, i had a little success with the trainig pads..
He does use them occasionally however not consistently... maybe once out of 10 times he pees its on a pad.
I even been using the extra potty trainig spray which is supposed to help the pup recognize where he needs to do his business and that isnt working either..


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## Hambonez (Mar 17, 2012)

The accidents are yours, not the puppy's. Puppies that young don't know they have to go, it's just "OH HEY I'M PEEING!! weird.." Your initial training was "getting you nowhere" because the puppy was not yet physically capable of controlling her bladder or bowels. Dogs develop bladder/bowel control at different times, but don't expect it before 6 months. When we got our pup at 8 wks old, we had to take him out every 20 minutes when he wasn't sleeping or crated or he'd go on the floor. When he was was up and active, he was never more than arm's reach away so he if started to go, we'd grab him quick and run him out the door. When he went outside it was party time with all kinds of happy praise and treats. Over time we were able to extend the time between trips outside, we introduced a bell, we said "Do you want to go out??" all happy every time we took him out, and over time he started responding to us asking (he gets up and will start to go towards the door if he has to go, if not he looks at you like you're crazy and goes back about his business).

If you're taking your dog out once an hour and she's going in between, then you aren't taking her out often enough. Try taking her out every 30 minutes, give a potty command (we use "hurry up!"), and then reward like crazy when she goes outside. If she's going in between 30 minute breaks, then take her out every 15. When she stops going every time you go out, extend it by 5-10 minutes at a time. 

Stop punishing your dog for your mistakes! Every time she's peed or pooped in the house, it is YOUR fault. If you want to punish someone, punish yourself. Dogs don't understand cause and effect the way we do. She doesn't understand that what she did is bad, she understands that you are upset, and so she's upset. By getting angry at her showing her the pee, then she's going to think pee on the floor is bad- she has NO IDEA how it got there. The hiding to go is a sign that she's learning that going in front of you is bad, and that can set things back even more because she needs to go outside with you to go, and if going in front of you is bad, she won't go outside either, and will come in and hide and pee. Additionally, a non-housebroken dog should not have the opportunity to hide, because she should never be more than arm's length away from you if she isn't crated. 

If spending that much time basically attached to your puppy and attending to its potty needs doesn't sound like fun, it's because it really isn't. Being patient and kind with your puppy while it learns will pay off in the end. It took us about three months of constant puppy minding, but our puppy was housebroken before he was 6 months old.


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## Hambonez (Mar 17, 2012)

stooie&rocco said:


> Sorry to tag along here on your post, however I was just about to inquire about the same thing..
> I have a Wire Fox Terrier that im having the same issue with, i had a little success with the trainig pads..
> He does use them occasionally however not consistently... maybe once out of 10 times he pees its on a pad.
> I even been using the extra potty trainig spray which is supposed to help the pup recognize where he needs to do his business and that isnt working either..


How old is your pup? Is there any reason you aren't taking the dog outside to go?


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## Erica914 (Sep 11, 2012)

I have a 4mo old puppy an he's done fairly well with his potty training. He has accidents...but they're not often. I've been told you can't expect them to be completely potty trained until a year old. 

What we did to first potty train was use potty pads. I'd place them in the kitchen or bathroom, so if they miss it's not a big deal to clean up. But you have to place them on it and tell him "go potty" You'll have to do this several times! And they will start to used them...then u can transition them to outside. BUT I assume you don't want to do that.

So what we did was crate him for 2-3 hours and then carry him outside and take him the same spot of grass and he would start to go out there. Some pups it takes a lil longer to get the hang of it, but they eventually do. Then we would reward him with a treat and give him about 20-30 mins of play time, and eventually he started to associate going potty outside with treats and play time. Then he'd get crated again for 2-3 hours..and we'd repeat the process through out the day. 

From what I've read about potty training puppies is that you crate them one hour/month..so if they're 2 months old crate them for 2 hours. I'd still maybe do 3 hours at he max for your dog b/c she is still having trouble with potty training. And when she's having play time have her only go b/t 2 rooms max. Blue used to pee in our living room all the time, so we stopped letting him out there, and only let him play in the bathroom or the bedroom. But as he got better we would let him out there a little at a time. So out of his 30 mins of play time we'd let him play out there for 5-7 mins. Now he can be in the living room and we only crate him maybe twice in the day if someone is here...of course he's crated if we leave LOL. Now he just plays out there or sleeps out there and if he has to go he sits by a door and I ask him "do u have to potty" and he barks and I take him out. I still make sure to take him out every few hours whether he sits by a door or not, just to make sure there's no chance of accidents. 

Another helpful hint is to take her out maybe an hour after she eats or drinks..then if she doesn't go..wait another hour, I'm sure she'll have to pee by then. Sometimes Blue will try to resist, but there are times were I know he has to go potty, and I tell him we aren't going inside until he goes potty. Sometimes when he wants to act up we're out there for 10 mins LOL.

If she still doesn't want to use the grass after that...u should take her to a different spot. That was my prob With Blue. He just needed to be in a different spot. If he doesn't go when I know he has to go and we've been out ther a long time...I'll crate him for another 10 mins..or until he decides he's ready to go potty lol.


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## doxiemommy (Dec 18, 2009)

OP, you mentioned that you "have been consistently working on potty training since day one." But, you are still allowing her to have accidents. That's the bottom line. A puppy shouldn't be allowed to have accidents. You should be watching them so closely that the instant you see them even LOOK like they need to pee, you rush them out. It's all about preventing accidents, at this point. The more you prevent accidents and rush them out, the more they are able to understand that outside is the right place, simply because they are not given the chance to go inside. It's like you only give them one choice.

Now, I know, that's harder than it sounds. It means, every second your puppy is awake and on the go, you should be within reach, so you can rush them out to pee at any point. It's kind of like the parent of a toddler learning to walk, you follow along to make sure they're ok.

Instead of limiting her freedom to roam, you (having good intentions) took her out once an hour, and you gave her a firm NO when she had an accident. The thing is, as I said, don't let it get to the point of having an accident. Watch her so you can PREVENT the accident before it happens. Then you did the showing her the pee thing. Well, that doesn't work, because any type of correction or praise has to be done within seconds of the action. And, even then, dogs don't think like we do. So, you think the dog will get this: oh, they showed me the pee and scolded me, it means don't pee in the house". But, what the dog actually gets is probably closer to "man, he really doesn't like pee. Hmmm. How am I going to get through life without peeing? I guess I could just hide it, or just do it..."
They don't make the same connections, is my point.

Anyhow, then you tried the bell. So, you have tried a few different things. That can be super confusing to a dog, who isn't really good at making generalizations. 

And, as others have said, it's just a physical thing that dogs don't develop full and complete control of their bladders till 6 months, give or take. 

I always like to say, potty training is more about what YOU do than what the puppy does. It's your job to get them out when they need to go until they have the full capacity to control it.


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## Canaqua (Sep 27, 2011)

Exactly what Doxiemommy says. We've got two dogs (15 years and 17months) and both have ROCK SOLID house training and have from a very young age. It took lots of effort, but very little elapsed time, to install the good house training. The upfront time and effort is well worth a lifetime of no accidents . We never trained them to ask to go out, but took them out on a schedule from day 1. At first it was every hour, or even more often, and at opportune times (after waking from a nap, after playing, after eating...). If puppy went outside...parade!! Singing, dancing, treats, big excitement, don't be afraid to look like a fool to your neighbors...puppy needs to know that peeing and pooping outside is the BEST THING EVER!. If puppy went inside, it was our fault, since we obviously weren't taking it outside frequently enough, so we ignored the accident, pretended it didn't happen. cleaned it up and adjusted the schedule accordingly.

We gradually increased the times between outside potty breaks, it is a bit of trial and error, better to err on the too often side, however, as any accident in the house reinforces going in the house. The dogs know the schedule and adhere to it, holding in between breaks, since they know when they'll get another chance. They never ask to go out under normal circumstances, because they dont' have to routinely. I didn't want them to be in the habit of asking, because what would happen if I wasn't home or wasn't available at some random time? They DO tell me they have to go out when they are sick and have loose stools, so not being trained to ask routinely has not prevented them from letting me know about emergencies, which are infrequent, as both dogs are healthy. 

They REALLY don't want to go in the house, not because they were ever punished for doing so, but because it's deeply ingrained in their little dog minds that going outside is awesome and a chance not to be missed .


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## jvee86 (Feb 23, 2012)

I agree with the above post 100% My last puppy only had 5-6 incidents in the house total...and he is almost a year now. Stick to a schedule and KNOW your puppy. If he just ate/drank a bunch....he might have to poop even though you were just outside unsuccessfully 20 minutes ago... Etc. If he had a fun romp of exercise... Take him out in case he worked something loose. ;-)

Keep on it and he won't know anything other than using the bathroom outside. I also would startle him with the shaking of the can or a loud noise when i caught him in the act to show my disapproval. But only when caught in the act.


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## jmohrfeld (Oct 17, 2012)

Thanks for the feedback. I started today taking her out and then play time and back to her pen. If she didn't go outside shes is back in her pen. My big issue is if shes not wore out enough for a nap and I put her in her pen she barks and barks and barks. She has learned "quite" but does't always work. It is also hard at night when our big dog is home and inside to keep her in when all she wants to do is play with him.


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## stooie&rocco (Sep 11, 2012)

Oh no dont get me wrong, he goes outide plenty, im just surprised he still hasnt learned tell us when he's ready.. Honestly i thought our 3 yr old shi tzu would help and aid in trainig but it hasnt. Our 3 yr old lets us know everytime he needs to go outside..


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## stooie&rocco (Sep 11, 2012)

Hambonez said:


> How old is your pup? Is there any reason you aren't taking the dog outside to go?


Oh no dont get me wrong, he goes outide plenty, im just surprised he still hasnt learned tell us when he's ready.. Honestly i thought our 3 yr old shi tzu would help and aid in trainig but it hasnt. Our 3 yr old lets us know everytime he needs to go outside..


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## doxiemommy (Dec 18, 2009)

stooie&rocco, not every dog, even adults, tell you when they need to go. Some do, some don't. You can train them to use a bell, if you want. But, out of my 3 adult dog, two don't let you know. Or, I should say their signs are so subtle that you could easily miss it. Like, Harper will stand in front of me. But, he also stands in front of me when he wants to play. Abby will stand in the middle of the kitchen. But, that's also where she goes to look for toys that have been tossed (for fetch) and didn't make it back to the living room. 
The other whines a bit, but that's it. 

As others have said, know your dog. Has it been hours since they peed? Don't wait for them to ask, just take them out.


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