Pic included... my dog the dribbler..help!

[littledoggiedribbler]

Pic because he's a cutie pie but my god I'm done with the indoor piddles.

Please Mumsnet help a gal out!

Okay here's the background and info: he's a Norwich Terrier, coming up to 8 months old. Castrated at 6 months (under vet advice - all went well). We brought him home with he was just over three months old from a lovely breeder, kept with his sister and mum.

He took a while to nail the indoor toilet training with both poops and wees but safely poops outside now (will run to the back door as a signal) for the last three months.

He is crate trained and sleeps over night in his crate with zero accidents. Happily sleeps overnight and can go 12-13 hours happily (I watch him on the camera and he loves his bed... creeps in there at 9pm for bed time and usually up most days at 7am). We have to carry him from crate to garden in the morning after wake up if we took him out and walked him to back door he would just wee.

The problem is.. he just wees inside, never signals to go or very very rarely does. We don't get cross just clean it up and take him outside. He also does submissive or excitable wees when he greets people and just can't seem to control it. I know this is normal but it's the full blown wees in the house I don't get.

What we try/are doing-

Everytime is wees outside loads of praise and key phrase said "wee wees"

Taking him out every hour and waiting using cue word (doesn't work)

Keeping an eye on him and not letting him roam the house (he only is allowed access to lounge and kitchen not upstairs)

The weird thing is on walks in the park I'll say wee wee and he'll go!!! But at home in the garden never, or very rarely!

Please help, I'm 7 months pregnant with my second and I'm exhausted and not looking forward to all this m continuing with a newborn....

Thanks so much for reading!!

Why did the vet advise you to neuter at such a young age, especially when he wasn't fully toilet trained beforehand?

Well he's a cutie!

I'm no expert, but I think you're going to have to go back to basics with him as he's still very much a baby

I've had a lot of success with the bells you attach to the door you use for going toilet. When you take him out, tap his paw on the bells and use the cue word, eg peepee.

When outside tell him time for peepee and when he goes tell him good peepee (or some such). Make a huge fuss of a positive outcome.

If he sees indoors make sure you clean it up with a specialist pet stain cleaner. This will reduce/remove the smell and make him less likely to see there again. It's good you don't shout/react/punish - carry on ignoring accidents and taking him out using the bells and/or cue words.

Finally, I think carrying him outside when he's still sleepy isn't helping. He's not learning to recognise when he needs to go/or realising he has to ask as you're bypassing that desired behaviour by carrying him.

I know starting again seems like a backward step, but I think he needs to learn/reinforce the behaviours around weeing.

Good luck , he looks like a lovely little dog and a bit of inconvenience now will be worth it,

He's a small breed so they recommend from 6 months. They didn't ask me anything about if he was fully toilet trained or not.. although maybe they should have? Reading online it seems it doesn't matter if they are or aren't... so confusing.

Thank you for the message.

I will look into the bells for the door. Not sure how to make that work though as currently he shows no signs of wanting to wee (for poos he runs to the back door and waits). Do I ring the bell when we go out for a wee or ring it when he wees?

We had two days of no accidents (me watching him like a hawk) and today he did a massive wee at the bottom of the stairs. I feel so upset by it all. I'm cleaning with the proper cleaner to get rid of the enzymes etc, using salami as a special treat when he wees outside and getting super high pitched voice and praising him. However he's just not getting it and I'm become more upset by it. Don't know where to go from here...

To break the habit of indoors, I’d be taking him out (round the block) every two hours. Some boys wait to pee somewhere they can mark. I had a dog who never really peed in our garden he wanted to pee on smells, and it could be that your dog is waiting too long between walks.

Worth trying but sustainable in the long run? You make a point though as he usually wees straight away on walks in the grass. Maybe a grass pad in the garden?

It doesn't matter. Neutering is a personal decision and in no way connected with toilet training.

Toilet training is habit rather than training. So the habit needs to be in the garden. It is just a case of going back to basics as long as he is medically ok. Keep taking out. Keep praising (not treating as they will hold it for more treats!) and you'll get there. He's a baby yet. Our terrier (female) wasn't reliable until she was about 7/8 months. She would wee outside but she couldn't hold it if we weren't quick enough seeing she needed to go. Now she is 100%.

@allthedecentnamesweregone you ring the bells when you go out. Take his paw and pat the bells whilst saying the cue word for toiletting. It might take him a bit longer than it would a younger pup as he's heading for the rebellious adolescent stage. Keep at it, he will get it. It sounds like you are using lots of positive reinforcement which is spot on.

Good luck, you and him will get through this x

@allthedecentnamesweregone

somehow you've namechanged.so are not showing up as the OP.

if there's no grass in the garden, what are you trying to get him to wee on?

if there's no grass I'd definitely get some turf & try that.