We need sorting out!

[tiernan]

Is it usual to have a whole month with no house accidents, then all of a sudden have a spur of accidents? :sad: We had Micha completely housetrainined it seemed and now she is peeing on the carpet again.

My husband and I need to be retrained it seems ... we slacked off maybe, temperature change, she is used to snow ...

We had her ringing a bell to go out, then she used it if she wanted attention, wanted to play etc. So, then she would wimper, cool that worked and we would take her out, then she let out a bark ... cool that worked too.

Now she doesn't give us a signal (seems we caused the disconnect somewhere) ... should we go back to the bell, and how do we train her so that the bell is only for outside and not play/attention etc.? (if she doesn't go, put her in her crate for 10 min, or if she rings take her out and doesn't go then ignore her for x minutes?) I don't know what to do? Suggestions welcome.

PS - we live in a condo and we are very much outdoor people (dog park, hikes, etc) so she LOVES to be outside so she will ring to go outside all of the time!!

[Trinitie]

How old is your dog? It is common for a dog to faulter during house training.

If she's ringing a bell to go outside, go back to the bell. When she rings it, take her out (on a leash of course) and wait for her to go potty. If she doesn't potty in about 5 minutes, then bring her in without playing. Keep doing this until she REALLY gets the idea that ringing the bell means "I gotta go potty!!!", not "I wanna go outside and play!!!".

I'm sure other members, who have apartment dogs, can offer advice.

[tiernan]

She is 10 months old.

[Trinitie]

Oh yes. At 10 months old she is still capable of having accidents. Until you can go for MONTHS, with no accidents, then assume that she's not housetrained completely.

She should be consistent about going outside without accidents, and should respond to you asking her if she want's to go outside. Put her leash on, walk her to her potty spot, and instruct her to go potty (or whatever words you chose to use). If she doesn't go potty within a predetermined length of time, bring her in, without playing with her outside. Play with her inside for a short while, wait for her to ring her bell, and then take her out again. Same routine, over and over and over. Repitition.

[tiernan]

But, you see, she loves to train us. And, will have us out there every hour on the hour! Are there any consequences for her not going when we take her out (we don't play on potty runs and we do use the 'hurry up' command)? But should we ignore her when we go back inside for x minutes or crate for x minutes? Or, do you think she will eventually relate the bell with ONLY going outside and stop training us?

I have a great "wanna go outside" command and she knows it and does respond if she has to go. In fact, I did it last night shortly after she had gone outside and did her business and I didn't get much of a response, which signals to me that she knows what that means.

Could that be why she stopped signalling? Because she was waiting for me to ask? My husband doesn't do the "wanna go outside" asking though ... still got some training work to do on him ... ha ha.

[mafiaprincess]

We have a bell (and live in an apartment). If she rings the bell we stand outside with the leash, *and have no playtime* and are really going to work hard on this this weekend with the snow melting and all.

When ours regressed and started having accidents on the carpet all of a sudden, it was a uti. You may want to rule out any medical problems that could be causing regression.

[Trinitie]

Your dog seems very smart, and so do you. You may have to work on the hubby though!

Whatever path you choose, for potty training, it must be consistent. Put the bell back as that's what she learned on. When she rings the bell, ask her if she wants to go outside. If she gets all excited, put her leash on, bring her to her potty spot and instruct her to make potty. (or hurry up, or whatever you like)
If she doesn't go potty after a certain length of time, bring her inside. Don't play with her outside at her potty spot. She should know that if you go with her to that specific spot, she's there for a reason. If she goes potty, bring her to another location of the yard and play, praise, and generally have a good time!

After a while, you'll be able to hear the ring, ask her, put her leash on and walk over to her potty spot. You won't have to tell her to go potty. She'll know what to do.

Don't vary the training techniques. She may be confused on how she's supposed to ask you to go, so that may be why she's pottying inside. It may be tedious, but persistence is the key. Routine is what a dog knows and comes to expect. Pee, poop, bed, eat, all at certain times. Play time happens every other time not occupied by sleeping!

You guys are doing well, you just faltered is all. Back to the routine you know, and she was used to, and you'll have her back to asking to go out again in no time. Just wait and see!

I hope this helps!

[Trinitie]

Originally Posted by mafiaprincess

You may want to rule out any medical problems that could be causing regression.

Good point. I completely forgot to mention possible medical conditions.
Since there's still snow on the ground, what does her pee look like? Is it overly dark? Does she pee lots? Is she drinking lots to account for more pee than usual?

[tiernan]

Well this weekend is Easter so we have four days at home with our little one!

We are going to be relentless!! Whoop whoop!

Her pee looks fine (as per normal) although I will keep an eye on the situation. She has no problem holding anything during the day (8 hours) when she is in the kitchen (babygated with full run of kitchen, can sleep in her bed etc.).

She is terribly smart (Bichon) so we are on full force potty patrol (WITH THE BELL) this weekend and will use the suggestions given. I am sure she will be training us ... but we will not relent.

Keep the suggestions coming crew, thanks for the help ... we are on a mission!

[Trinitie]

If you're not against it, you may want to schedule a vet appointment to be sure nothings amiss. But it does just sound like a training issue to me.

Good luck with the 4 days to get a good routine established.

[Eleni]

sorry I dont wanna derail this thread at all, but how is it you trained her to ring the bell, im lookig to train my sammy how to do the same thing


Eleni

[tiernan]

Hey there, I am definately no expert, but as I understand it you can hand a bell from your door (that you use to take the dog out) and everytime you go out you take their paw and ring the bell ... then they will catch on and voila!

However, as you can read from above I am still struggling ... it also serves as I want attention/play with me etc. but we'll eventually get there ...