Still not potty trained at 5- close to re homing !!

[workshy44]

My almost 5 year old retriever still has multiple accidents a week. Usually at night but was upstairs for about 40 mins and came down and She had done a wee in the kitchen.
I am at my wits end. She is walked at least an hour every day- weekends two walks. She was potty trained for about 1-2 years and then over time has gradually got worse. Nearly 2/3 times a week we come down to a massive poo or wee in the morning. What do we do, she looks sheepish but doesn't seem to care in the slightest

First off - has she seen a vet? It could be a physical issue as opposed to a training one.

If everything is healthy - aside from her exercise, how often is she let out and have you tried using something like doggy doorbells so she can alert you to when she needs to go?

Sounds like a medical or psychological issue poor thing, it’s not her fault, no dog likes to do their business in the house, get her checked by the vet and make sure she has access to the garden at all times.

Check by vet
Does she have free access to garden?
Can you up her walks 1x1hr isn’t really enough for a 5yo retriever?
How did you train in first place? If nothing physical identified by vet you need to go right back to basics

As above, at that age you need to rule out any physical reason.

Assuming no problems there, then it is a training issue, and you need to go back to basics and treat her like she's a puppy. Out every hour and after meals. Associate the action with a command and praise for results.

Whilst you're training, I personally wouldn't give free access to garden. She needs to differentiate better between the two.

You also need to look at relative timings of walks, meals and toileting - it could be that her meal time and digestive system are making it impossible for her to be clean overnight. Walk her just before bed? Feed her earlier?

Yep vet check then referal to a behavourist ideally member of APBC.

What do you do when she has weed or pooed?
Can she be left alone ok?
Does she like meeting people and other dogs?
Does she show any reaction to noise?
Is she spayed?
What time does she go to bed?
What time is her last meal?
Is she walked before or after her last meal?

Is she spayed?
This can lead to incontinence in some bitches and medication can usually fix the issue.

You also need to look at relative timings of walks, meals and toileting - it could be that her meal time and digestive system are making it impossible for her to be clean overnight. Walk her just before bed? Feed her earlier?

^ This!
Also the type of food you are giving. Dry kibble = lots of drinking, I found tinned dog food makes mine poo more often, ...

You say there are also daytime accidents- are you picking up on all her cues? E.g you might hear some barking/whining and dismiss ot as bad behavior, or her being disturbed by something, but is she actually trying to tell you she's ready to go out?

How much access does she have to the outdoors through the day? If it's 20 minutes at 7am, 1pm and 8pm that's not really enough in my opinion. You might need to go back to the more frequent trips outside that you probably made during the training process.

And how long are you leaving overnight. Again, if its 11pm to 6am, yeah, a lot of dogs will manage that. 8pm to 9am? You might need to look at a lifestyle change.

What changed after the 1-2 years she was potty trained? Did she get less walks, was she banned from being upstairs?
If you'd only been gone 40 minutes and she had already had a wee, could it be anxiety related?

Removing isn't going to solve the problem, you're just passing the problem. Although I understand it is frustrating. This can be fixed, so I hope you are able to stick it out.
I agree with a vet check.

im no expert when it comes to dogs as the last time i lived with one was when i was a child , what i will say though is that based on that , i think she needs more walks than just one a day ,
we had a basset hound , and he had a short one around the block in the morming ,a mid afternoon one and then a short evening one , i remember this so clearly as it was my job to take him for his afternoon ones in half terms , sometimes i did the evening one as well other times my dad did ,
shes quite a big breed and deffo could do with more i reckon , even if its one longer walk and 2 shorter ones

It might also help if you explain which suggestions you took from your post on the same topic last year.