Slip ups in the house -- 7 months old

[joeysmama]

Our little shih tzu, Cooper, is 7 months old and is usually pretty good about going outside. Every once in a while we'll see the occasional spot on the hardwood that lets us know that he slipped off and did a piddle without us noticing. When he does this it's in the foyer or living room where we don't spend a lot of time, so it's unnoticed. And he's never out of our sight for very long so he must slip off and do it quickly.

We're pretty diligent about getting him outside and he will sit by the door to tell us when he has to go, and we take him out whenever he does that and praise him for it.

Sometimes he will make a poop in the evening and eat it. We really hate that !!!


I was just thinking today how great it's been lately and how he hasn't had a slip up in weeks and, wouldn't you know it, he piddled in the house tonight.

Is this a bad sign at this age? I had really hoped we were well past this sort of thing. Also my husband shook a can of nails at him which I think was just mean since we didn't catch him in the act. I don't think he had any clue why the daddy was scaring him. So hubby got a lecture on how dogs think. (FYI--he's not a mean guy--he loves the dog a lot and worries about him if he's alone for the afternoon, he's just clueless about dog behavior and I'm doing all that I can to learn myself and in turn educate him.)

Okay--any potty training advice is appreciated. I know we need to be more diligent since these accidents usually occur when we bring him upstairs with us at the end of the night and we get distracted with the computer, flossing brushin, all the bedtime routine stuff.