Crate Training sorta not working :( help please!

We got our Lovely Lucy from an SPCA foster home 3 weeks ago, and she was crate trained already, how convenient for us. Up until a few days ago, she had never had an accident in the house. She peed on our carpet once the other day right in front of us, but we figured it was our fault because we must have missed the sign that she had to go out.

In her crate she can hold it overnight, we take her out first thing in the morning and she did her business, then she can hold it while we are at work too, while in her crate. We take her for at least 2 walks a day, plus take her outside whenever we think she just may need to go out.

Well Today I had my wisdom teeth out, so we have been home with her all day, which means she has not been in her crate. she went out for her morning walk, did her business, went out 3 hours later when we came back from the dentist, did her business, then maybe 1 hour after that, she peed on the carpet so we immediately took her outside, and then again maybe 2 hours later on the floor!

I have been trying to bell train her, so that she can tell us that she needs to go out, but she just doesnt seem to be picking it up. It seems up until now we have just guessed right at when she could go for a pee and been lucky.

Anyone have any idea how we can solve this? She was doing so well, we thought she was fully house broken until today :(

When we brought home some of our dogs, the stress from the the move seemed to predispose them to urinary tract infections--which can lead to inappropriate peeing in the house. Given that your dog did so well for the first couple of weeks, and she seems to be peeing pretty often, you might want to consider at least taking a urine sample into your vet to rule out a UTI.

If it's not something medical, then you're probably just missing her signals. Since we really don't know how well-trained they are, any time we add a new dog we treat it just like it was a puppy. It goes out after a nap, before a meal, after eating, after play, and we watch carefully for the subtle signals that indicate a need to pee. Usually both we and the dog catch on quickly. :D

Three weeks is still a pretty short time for bell-training when she needs to go out. Just keep at it and watch her more closely for signals in the meanwhile. Consistency and patience will be your best tools.

Meanwhile, I hope your girl just needs a little more training and not antibiotics! And I hope your mouth heals up soon! :goodvibes:

Welcome to the board, pickmary!

Thanks for the welcome and the good advice! She is actually 6 months old, we have just had her for 3 weeks. I guess its just still to early to expect her to be totally housebroken, so we will just keep trying and being patient!

I was told (and it makes sense to me) that a dog has to be trained for each room. Just because she knows to ask to go out in the kitchen doesn't mean that she will know when she is in the living room. That explained to me why Max, our pup peed in the bathroom (we usually keep the door shut) when I "thought" he was trained. I'd suggest taking her out every hour until you are sure she "gets" it. I thought that our Max (who is 5 months) was trained but he peed twice in the family room yesterday (first time in over a month). Apparently we gave him a bit too much freedom so he is back to being in the same room one of us is in - which isn't a great hardship for him anyway.

Welcome to the board PickMary

You have received good advice. The one thing I would like to mention is that you got her from the SPCA and she was used to peeing where she wanted to. Also, they are like kids they wait till the last minute and can't wait any longer.

Good luck, before you know it, she will be doing all her business outside. Good luck.