Potty Training Question

I have a bit of a question . My new little girl- a West Highland Terrier- will be 4 months old on May 8th and is having some trouble with potty training. Here is what happens.....she gives a little bark and then walks to the door, I IMMED get up, praise her and take her outside. About 50% of the time she goes to the bathroom and we come back in-lots of praise and a little treat. But about 50% of the time she just walks around outside and looks at the leaves and barks and NOTHING! We then go back inside and I say, well guess it was a false alarm, but then she goes to the bathroom on the floor!

Yesterday I wanted to watch Oprah, only one hour...she asked to go outside 6 times in one hour....about two legitimate pees and all the rest false alarms followed by two accidents on the floor! What am I doing wrong?

She has an appt on Friday for her 4 month check-up and I am going to ask the Vet if she could possibly have a bladder infection....assuming that she does not have any medical problems, do you have any suggestions? Oh, by the way, if I get to the point where I get really sick of going outside and I put her in her crate, she can happily sit there for an hour or more, playing and eating a toy with no accidents, but if she is not confined she would go 4 times in that same hour? :(

sometimes little pups need a good run around before going to the bathroom,

I know my guy was bad for this till i realised a quick jog up and down the neighborhood, even just 15 mins and sure enough there he went.



eventually he decided he liked one spot to go outside so now all i gotta do is take him to that spot and he will go
but alot of the time he does still like to ahve a bit of a run, to help get things moving I guess.


Eleni

You are right to first rule out a UTI. My Berner pup was like that. What I learned to do was stay outside until he did pee. I didn't talk to him or bother with him, would just walk around the property until he peed or pooped, whichever was needed at the time. Once he succeeded, I would praise like crazy, we'd have a quick play then go back in. He started this around the 4 month mark and by 5.5 months old was completely trained.

Welcome to the wonderful world of Potty Training!!!! lol Well from what I read from your post, I'm sorry to say dear, YOU must be more persistant! Trust me, I know what you are going through right now. Even the slightest bit of selfishness, will spoil potty training.

When you take her out, do you have her on a leash? If you put her on a leash, YOU control whether or not she wanders around and frolicks with leaves or whatever. If she's on a leash, take her to the area of grass where she is expected to do her business. Stand in one spot if you need to, so she's not dilly-dallying. I always tell my pup "go pee, go pee" over and over again until she goes. And AS she is going PEE, i tell her good girl Zoe, good pee! My point here is, don't let her dilly dally and patience, patience, patience!

Pups basically have to pee after they eat, sleep and play. Play, pee,play, pee, play some more, pee again! It's a never ending viscious cycle!! This is why patience is so important.

And yes, I asked my vet the same thing about having a bladder infection. She said to wait and see how she has progressed until her next appt. Mind you, I only had Zoe for 2 weeks at the time and she was already 3 months old.