House training

[MrsElijahMikaelson1]

Help!
At my wits end! Have a 14 week old cockapoo. She is delightful apart from the house training! She goes all night without a peep or any accidents in her crate.
I literally take her out every 20mins or so. We have bells on the door that we ring each time we go out. We have a set phrase we say every time. She gets lots of praise every time she goes outside.
We have nearly cracked it for poo-I think! Mostly outside, occasionally by the door to outside if it’s shut and people aren’t paying attention.
But oh my god the peeing everywhere is getting me down now. We say no and put her outside straight away whilst we clean up. We use proper stuff to clean up with. The other day she actually got in the sofa next to me-I thought for a cuddle, but no, she stooped and pissed on the Sofa!😱😱😱
Help please help!

It’s sad as we can’t trust her at all so we can’t let her anywhere else in the house, which is also upsetting me as bang goes family time.

Weeing can be excitement or stress, especially if she is doing it so often. The fact she is dry overnight says to me it isn’t a urine infection. Has peeing indoors always been an issue or recently? If recent, any new changes? If always been that way, it may be she just needs time and I would continue popping out every 20 mins.

You mention you tell her no when she wees indoors. I would just ignore as this teaches her that peeing in front of you is scary and it’s not uncommon that they won’t then do it in front of you when outside but when they come inside, they’ll do it behind the sofa or under the table so they are out of sight from you.

Is your pup foodie or interested in balls? Try offering a treat or a ball straight away once she has peed outside to really ring home the message that peeing outside is a great thing.

Good luck, puppies are hard work but this too shall pass!

Do you have hard floors or carpet? I’d start with doing a really deep clean to try to remove any wee scent that might be lingering in the house. I used a little biological washing liquid and warm water to mop. Throw open the windows to air the place out. Assume that anywhere they can reach, they’ve peed.

The only way I cracked house training with an older puppy that was tricky was with a length of long line attached to their collar while in the house. For a week they was always someone at the end of the line and they were watched like a hawk. Every 20 minutes they were out. After every play session, out. After food, out. After a drink of water, out. Any accident was ignored and cleaned up. Every wee outside was celebrated ridiculously. It was a total pain but it worked to break the habit.

She is 14 weeks old, whilst some dogs are clean by this age, they are the exception. It would be more normal for her to start to be cleaner around the 5 months old mark, but still with some accidents (e.g. once a day). At around 6 months these might have reduced down to just the odd one every now and again.

She stays clean all night because she is asleep and her body, therefore, naturally supresses the need to pee and poo. Much like I can go all night without weeing but probably won't go 8-9 hours in the day without it.

But all dogs are different and some take longer than others. The above timings are just a guide but you might realistically, still be seeing accidents up to a year old.

Calm, kind, persistent in ensuring that she goes out every half an hour, plus immediately after waking, eating, drinking, playing plus whenever she starts to pace or sniff. Keep at it - toilet training is really just habit forming, the more often she goes outside the stronger the habit. The more often she goes inside the weaker the habit. Set her up so that she is more likely to go out then in.

Accidents at 14 weeks old are honestly so normal, and the fact that she's clean all night is actually quite unusual at that stage - mine needed regular toilet breaks in the night up until six months of age.

Firstly, I would stop telling her "no" when she goes indoors - to a dog, any attention is good attention. She doesn't understand what "no" means - she doesn't speak English! All she sees is "I pee indoors and mum speaks to me".

Secondly, I would do a massive deep clean of your floors. Use a proper pet cleaning spray (simple solution is great) and get everything cleaned thoroughly. If you have carpets, it could have soaked into the underlay and it could also have soaked through your floorboards. Be really thorough.

Then I would just keep doing what you're doing. Take her out regularly, but ignore any accidents and just clean them thoroughly. If you catch her mid-pee, try and pick her up and take her outside so she finishes in the garden, then praise her. When she does go outdoors, I would add a treat to the praise - not all dogs thrive on praise. A nice yummy treat (maybe some ham or chicken) when she goes in the right place should help.

Good luck!

We are now at 16 weeks and no improvements 😢 She’s only allowed in the kitchen as she pees literally anywhere she actually is-she just doesn’t care even if she is told no-she will happily look me in the eye as she does it. Yesterday was on the other dogs bed.😱 She sometimes sleeps on there too-why would you pee where you sleep-right next to an open door so you could easily go out if you wanted to? Have also tried the suggestion above of picking her up mid pee to take her out, she just carried on peeing so we spread the mess. We take her out every 20mins, praise like hell and give a treat. Clean down constantly with bio stuff. Fed up now-it’s been 8 weeks of this with no improvement at all. Accidents is one thing-this is another altogether. It’s not excitement or stress or infection. She just pees wherever she is at that time, and makes no effort to go outside at all. With the lovely weather the doors have been open all day so it really couldn’t be easier.

With the lovely weather the doors have been open all day so it really couldn’t be easier

I think this is where humans and dogs differ. You leave the door open constantly and wonder why she doesn't toilet outside whereas to the dog it's all one big area and there isn't a distinction.

I would close the door. Stop thinking that she should know she needs to go outside. Make inside and outside very different by being a door that you open that eventually they will ask to open.

Start from scratch again. Tether her to you with a light piece of string or something so she can't just wander off and pee. Never let her leave your side.

The picking up mid pee and spreading it around. Yes it will happen but the point of doing that is that you can say an interrupter like no (they don't understand no but it's useful to interrupt a behaviour) and the act of running into the garden and then praising will eventually get them to associate that outside is the right place

It's about tipping the balance. The more times you catch her before she pees and get her outside the better. You want to have more outside than in and then the balance tips in your favour.

The doors being open actually makes it more difficult , dogs don’t know that outside is the right place that’s what you are teaching and if they are just wandering in and out alone they don’t learn that . You need to put her on a house line , take her out every 20/30 minutes and use a word for wees ( we use quickly still works and he’s 10) , in between the outdoor trips look for cues that she’s going to go and definitely if she starts to go pick her up and run with her whether it spreads the mess or not . Also stop saying no , that’s not going to help . It’s back to basics unfortunately , some dogs take months to get it .

Today has already been a new low.
After doing literally everything suggested on here all week, we have had only odd accidents-and no poo in the house. All good.

Then this morning😢. She actually got on my 14year old son’s lap for a cuddle and then stooped and pee’d all over him! He was slow to react as obviously wasn’t expecting that at all!

HELP!

It really is just a case of persevering , I think the really important bit is grabbing them mid pee and running outside then praising like mad

I don’t understand why she would pee on someone’s lap who just gives her loads of fuss and cuddles though... it’s another thing altogether from an accident on the floor.

She’s not house trained so in all likelihood it makes no odds to her whether it’s the floor , the sofa or a person - she feels the need to go so she just does it where she is , it’s not a vendetta against your son .