# House training problems



## Andi (Jan 22, 2012)

I'd really appreciate some advice. Charlotte is 5 months old and she's still not quite toilet trained. 

In our house we have the back door open when people are home, and the dogs are locked outside when people are out. She never goes to the toilet in my room, where she sleeps, when she is locked in overnight but other times, if she is around the house sometimes she goes to the toilet in the lounge-room corner or hallway. I'm really not sure what to do about it. Before, when I wasn't supervising her I would put her outside, like when I was out or in the shower, but then she would start barking. I read a barking book that was recommended to me on here and it suggested addressing the sort of base problem, and when I locked her out less she barked less so I stopped doing that. 

So now I don't know what to do. I can't supervise her 24/7 as I'm not home all the time, but I can't lock her out as she just barks and drives my flatmates insane. 

Charlotte seems to know that she has to go outside, she never goes to the toilet in front of anyone inside, only when people can't see her and mostly she goes outside to go to the toilet and then comes back, I have seen her do that many times. Sometimes she goes days, even weeks, without going inside and then sometimes she goes inside three times in a day. What can I do to train her out of this?


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## rikkia (Nov 5, 2011)

Hi Andi,

I would start from scratch with her. 

I would take her outside every hour and wait till she urinates, be sure to show this isn't a play outing and use key words such as 'go wee wee' as soon as you see her start to urinate. She will come to associate urinating with the cue and then you can use it to help speed the process of going to toilet up a little bit.

Where she has been inside the house you really want to apply, if you haven't already, a urine neutralizing disinfectant to ensure that any trace odour is gone from that spot. She will continually go back there if she can smell that its a good place to go toilet based on where she has been before.

Hope you crack the house training soon with her


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## fjm (Jun 4, 2010)

I agree with Rikkia - I suspect you have possibly scolded her for doing it indoors, if she is hiding away to do it, but have you routinely and consistently rewarded her for doing it out of doors? You need to go with her, make sure she has done it, and praise and reward her at that moment, not when she comes back to the house. Is there a pattern to when she goes inside? A particularly long time shut in, particular weather conditions, something scary outside? Or even a few glasses of wine making you forget the late night trip outside, and causing you to sleep rather heavily ... note the voice of experience!

And the neutralising enzyme cleaners are a godsend!


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## Quossum (Mar 18, 2011)

Once a dog has learned to "sneaky pee," you're in trouble. That indicates that she realizes that owner + urination sometimes = scolding, while urination with no owner around = relief. Meanwhile, it doesn't seem like she's made the urination + outside = Yay! connection yet.

I know you hate to hear it, but if you want this dog to be 100% house trained, you will have to go back to Day One. Dog cannot, _cannot_ be out of your sight while you are in the house with her. Take her outside very, very regularly and monitor her elimination. Huge party / treats for eliminating outside. For a while, you'll just have to make every trip outside with her. It's a pain for a while, but worth it.

There will come a time when the dog will try to squat inside while you're watching. Then is the time to hustle them outside and make a huge deal of them finishing up outside. But if they manage to sneaky pee again, that habit will become firmly, firmly entrenched.

Take my word on this. I have an Italian Greyhound who is 9 and *not* reliably house trained. I was lazy when she was a pup and she managed to learn the sneaky elimination tricks. Granted, her breed is notoriously hard to housebreak, but I let her get away with those shenanigans, and I'm an experienced trainer! Just goes to show we all have our weak spots.  Anyway, I was determined to do right by my new pup; he's four months old and I say with fair certainty that he's 100% right now. We are still in the phase of very active monitoring of him, supervised trips outside, making a big deal of eliminating outside. We haven't had an indoor accident for several weeks.

Good luck!

--Q


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## wickednag (Nov 30, 2011)

Crates and praise. Crate when you can not watch.. I still do not leave Hazel out when we are gone. All the dogs are crated at night (Hazel hasn't gotten the lay down beside me and sleep) and when we can't watch them. Hazel has not had an accident (always knock on wood here) for many months. She is what I would consider mostly house trained. No accidents as long as we are home  Good luck to you... Hazel is 7 months old btw.


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## tokipoke (Sep 3, 2011)

Sounds like your pup has learned "barking gets me attention!" I think the key phrase in your post is "Charlotte SEEMS to know to go outside" but that comment doesn't sound confident. It sounds like, with the right circumstances, she will potty inside, which people have described as "sneaky pee." 

I just got a 2 year old dog. I thought I was done with the puppy days, but I find myself doing basic potty training. He isn't housebroken well so I'm working hard to reinforce correct behavior. Here is what's working for me:

He is crated at night when I sleep (crate is next to my bed). As soon as we wake up, outside he goes. When he pees, I say "go potty" repeatedly till he's done. Then I go wild with praise and give treats (you will always have to have treats on you). I take him out every few hours or when I see him sniffing the ground. I take him out right after play and eating. I say "go poop" for pooping. I also will walk him for 30 minutes during the day. This is great for me cause he likes to mark on every little thing. He tries to squeeze out every last drop, so when we come home I'm confident he won't mark in the house. This allows him more freedom in the house. I never let him out of my sight cause he'll shuffle into another room and eliminate. If I cannot focus on him, into the crate he goes or he is leashed and tethered to me. When he has gone in the house, he was scolded firmly. When he goes outside, he gets yummy treats. My husband is too relaxed with him and let's him wander around too much, which results in more accidents. It is hard work but you have to be on it all the time, but it'll be worth it in the long run. I always go out and monitor his elimination because you want to make sure he went to the bathroom - nothing worse than when you think they peed when really they just goofed off, and once in the house, the dog remembers "oh yeah! I gotta go!" and pees on the rug. My new guy also has a nasty secret - he likes to eat his poop! So I'm trying to break this habit and I have to watch carefully. After he poops, I call him over immediately to praise and treat. He gets awarded for popping and for ignoring his poop. I think 5 months is still too young to just leave the door open and expect the dog to figure it out. I will be getting two more small crates, one for the bathroom and downstairs so that I have easy access tools when I cannot watch him. Right now I move his crate around from my bed, to the bathroom, to downstairs. Sounds like a hassle but it's more of a hassle trying to re-correct housebreaking once they go in the house again. It's going two steps back each time you allow them to potty in the house.

Try crating your pup in the bathroom when you shower. If she barks, you'll just have to ignore it. When the crate is in the bathroom and I go in there, my dog will run in there "to rest" till I'm done getting ready for bed or work.


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## Scooter's_Mom (Feb 1, 2012)

You've got a lot of great responses here. The main thing is consistency. My boy was 4 when he came to us. I thought he "should" have been house trained, but learned rather quickly, he was not. I posted here for suggestions and received quite a bit of information. We tethered him to my hip for the afternoons/evenings when I'm busy in the house. He goes outdoors often, but on a regular schedule, too. Always first thing after getting out of bed, immediately after breakfast, hubby takes him out when he comes home from work in the mornings, and then again when he gets up around 3 pm. My first task after arriving home is to take him out again. He gets a couple more "added" potty breaks before bedtime, but we always, always get that one last, just before bed potty break. If I think there is any chance he hasn't completely eliminated, I've had him sleep in the crate for the night. He's been quick to learn that the sooner he pees and poops, the sooner he gets to get in the big 'ol bed with Mommy!

I have seen great results just by being consistent and not allowing him to have free run of the house still. I'm not sure that he'll ever get "free run" but that's ok. He's my companion, not a chore. 

Also, the enzyme stuff.....I use a product that soaks all the way down through the carpet to neutralize the urine. I also use a spray deterrant over the top of that to keep him from revisiting that spot. As long as I am consistent, Scooter has been consistent. Any accidents he has now are on me.


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## Ginabeena (Oct 27, 2013)

*Need Advice as well.*

What is the Enzyme stuff you speak of and the deterrent? I have to get rid of any odors. Fortunately I have wood floors and just 1 area rug. My puppy is about 5 months old now and I think confused. These posts were very helpful.


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## patk (Jun 13, 2013)

ginabeena, this appears to be a pretty old thread, so you may not get a response from the original participants. let me just jump in to say that one enzyme neutralizing product i know of is nature's miracle. it comes in several sizes. if you have carpet, i would get one of the larger sizes, because you do have to use enough so it soaks in to kill the enzymes (which the dog can detect even if we can't).


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