# Problem house breaking



## Clicker (Apr 28, 2012)

Bailey is a 16 month old mini that I am having a problem with getting her 100% house broken. First off, I don't believe there to be any medical issues regarding her. (She was at the vet the other day for a routine checkup)The big problem is at night. Bed time is usually 11-11:30pm and she sleeps on my bed. She is always taken out right before bed. Every night between 3-4am she rings her bell to go out (which is really interfering with getting a good nights rest) so up I get to let her out. If I don't hear the bell, I wake up to a puddle in the morning. I have been taking up her water for the past couple of nights about 2 hours before bed but she is still getting up every night. I am home everyday for lunch and she is also let out then. Is this just because she is used to being let out every 5-6 hours and now has become a habit? If so, how do I fix this?


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## tortoise (Feb 5, 2012)

Crate her at night for 3 months and try again. Don't let her out in the middle of the night.

I feel your pain. In the last 3 days, my 6month old mpoo has been leaving a puddle for me if he doesn't go outside the FIRST time the alarm clock goes off. I usually don't wake up until my fiance has "snoozed" it for nearly an hour.

So back to crating for a few months to re-train his bladder to hold it an extra hour in the morning.

*sigh* He was doing so well... I don't know if it is coincidence that this started when he was starting to get 4 hours of freedom in the house during the day. He had been perfect for overnights for 2 months - maybe longer.


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## pgr8dnlvr (Aug 7, 2011)

I was literally just going to start a thread asking about toy poodle owners and about what age do they get their dog to be COMPLETELY house trained, no pee pads or other options other than outside.

Rebecca


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## schnauzerpoodle (Apr 21, 2010)

Before my Mini got 100% housebroken, I picked up water at 8pm. Final potty break at around midnight. He slept in his crate until he's 100% housebroken. I carried him to the patio door and opened the door and let him walk to the potty spot to do his business. Then gradually I added bed time, 5 mins interval and so on. Often time I woke up but stayed in bed pretending to be asleep. He's usually awake chewing on his nylabone. And then I carried him out of the carpeted bedroom and let him walk to the patio door himself. If he had an accident in between, I carried him a few steps closer to the patio door. Eventually I picked up the water bowl at later hours.

My Mini boy got reliably house trained at around 6 months old. The most difficult part for him was to make it to the patio in the morning.


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## tokipoke (Sep 3, 2011)

I think the crate will be a good tool to teach her to hold it till YOU wake up. Louis, although not a poodle, isn't fully housebroken (he is 2), and he sleeps in his crate. He will continue to do so till he gets the hang of it. He's good in the house in general but I take him out frequently. He still does not signal me to go potty.


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## tortoise (Feb 5, 2012)

schnauzerpoodle said:


> My Mini boy got reliably house trained at around 6 months old. The most difficult part for him was to make it to the patio in the morning.


That's the hard part here. I should also add a later "last out." I started changing it from 11 p.m. to 9 p.m. to fit my medication and sleep schedule. He was having perfect overnights going out last a 9 p.m. for more than a month, so I was surprised with his new "leaks" in the past week.


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## Clicker (Apr 28, 2012)

Thanks for the replies! I think going back to crate training will be my next step. Oh Boy!! She is not going to like that! Next question, her crate is quite big (compared to her). However, her bed covers the entire bottom of her crate, and (bed) was quite expensive. If she relieves herself, she will have no choice but to lay in it. Should I buy another crate (which I would like to avoid if possible) She absolutely loves the bed she has now, so should I chance it, that she won't pee on it?


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## PoodlePowerBC (Feb 25, 2011)

You can always make the crate smaller by putting a box in it to fill some space.Maybe remove the "bed" part for now and use towels for now?


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## Clicker (Apr 28, 2012)

PoodlePowerBC said:


> You can always make the crate smaller by putting a box in it to fill some space.Maybe remove the "bed" part for now and use towels for now?


Thanks PoodlePower. I have thought of that. I was just wondering about leaving her bed in because she really does love it! Funny thing is, I have a 2 bedroom apartment, and I use the master bedroom for storage and I sleep in the smaller bedroom. Her crate is in the master bedroom and has free run while I`m at work and very rarely has an accident. It`s just overnight that she has a problem. If you think about it, per pound, she has a living space 5 times the size of mine!! She has a better bed than I do, she eats better quality food than I do, her treats cost 5-13 times more than mine and when on walks, people always talk to her first before they even realize I`m there. (Sigh) HaHa, It`s a dog`s life!!


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## Ladywolfe (Jan 11, 2012)

Sounds like you have good advice. I just had to say, there is no way that I can hold it 5-6 hrs.


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## Leooonie (May 30, 2009)

I housetrained Harley within two weeks. It only took a week to get him to not pee in the night. But everydog is different...so I'll tell you how I got Harls trained and you can decide whether any of my techniques are applicable to you.

As others have suggested , I used a crate. I took up his water at 8pm. Let him toilet at 9pm. then at midnight. I then slept til 3, got up let him out, then got up at 6 let him out.
After 2 days of this I woke up at 3:30 instead of 3. the next night 4am. I then gradually increased till last night toilet was midnight, first morning toilet was at 6. from this point I got up later (though I usually got up at 6:30/7am for morning walk before school) and/or make the last toilet time earlier, so eventually 11:30 pm, 10pm.

I probably is very likely she has habituated to getting up at certain times of the night. If you dont hear the bell, she is probably still very awake and this will in effect 'awaken' her bladder... so she goes whether she was desperate or not.

Whatever you do, I would not go back to pads, or newspaper. This will confuse her. She obviously knows it is preferable to go outside, at least during the day, so having her be allowed to pee indoors at all will possible cause double standards to develop.


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## sbarnhardt (May 10, 2012)

Don't know that our experience is the answer, but it worked for us. 

We started out with taking Jack out when he was a little puppy once an hour. No asking by him, just took him out. He was little and stayed within 6-10 feet of us. When he did something, we heaped praise on him. Plenty of "G'boys" and "Attaboys." Then we started extending the time between relief trips till now he comes to us every 3-4-5 hours. Usually once every 4 or so. 

He poops three times a day usually within an hour of the same times each day. 5-6 am, 11:30-12:30 midday, and 4-5 in the afternoon. Unfortunately one of those is 5-5:30 in the morning which he got in the habit of when I was working. 

He was always, always taken out as soon as we got up in the mornings and the last thing before we went to bed. For the first year or so, he slept in his crate, but now sleeps in his bed which is beside ours in the bedroom. He is now so habit driven, he gets upset if he doesn't get taken out when he thinks you should. If you're sitting in the recliner, he will get up on you, plant his front feet on your chest and stare at you until you get the message. To my knowledge, he has only done something in the house maybe 2-3 times at most in the almost 6 years he's been with us. 

But just take your's out on a schedule. Same times, as soon as you get up, etc. Regiment him so he "knows" he's going to get taken out at certain times and if he does certain things, or when certain things happen in your house. 

Your dog will communicate with you. You just have to learn what it is he/she does when they try to do it. After you get used to it, they are really complex little creatures. There are those that want to say dogs don't think complex thought processes. I guess it depends on what you term "comples", but I personally believe they are capable of much more complex thought that some think.


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## sbarnhardt (May 10, 2012)

Leooonie said:


> As others have suggested , I used a crate. I took up his water at 8pm. Let him toilet at 9pm. then at midnight. I then slept til 3, got up let him out, then got up at 6 let him out.
> After 2 days of this I woke up at 3:30 instead of 3. the next night 4am. I then gradually increased till last night toilet was midnight, first morning toilet.


Thanks....

I forgot about the night pee breaks. We did that too much the same way you did. I think getting them in certain "habits" is a great help.


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## Joelly (May 8, 2012)

Charlie is now 10 weeks old. I crate train him but I never tether him (lack of knowledge really). This is my first puppy. 

Most of the time, he is really good and consistent with using the pee pad. However, at times he had accidents and usually followed by a cry from him. We usually don't notice why he cried until we found a puddle. Usually we just clean it and tell him he is a bad boy hoping he won't do it anymore. However, I notice that each time he has accidents is in those moments after he played with us. If he is unsupervised and inside his play yard, he will use the pee pad. 

Since I don't tether him, I don't quite know his movements. So maybe I should start doing that. Any tips? However, he is mostly in the crate which attached to the play yard, so if I tether him, is that mean he should be outside the crate and the play yard all the time?

I can't take him out as he is not finish with his vaccinations yet. So right now, he is exclusively using pee pads inside. When we're not home, he is inside a play yard with pee pad nearby and he is using the pee pad.

I am concern on what to do to train him to go outside if he is not allowed yet (due to his vaccination is not complete yet). There must be some transition that we have to endure to teach him to no more pee pads situations. Any tips?

Thanks so much!!!


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