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If you're worried about your pet's health, please speak to a vet or qualified professional.

Original poster

4 month old puppy still having accidents

26 replies

heartsinvisiblefury · 27/10/2023 09:24

He is always praised when he goes outside and I have taken him out after he wakes up and when I see him sniffing and showing signs and pretty much be every half hour but he is still having accidents inside - does anyone have any tips as to how to help reduce these accidents?

OP posts:
Cloclo93 · 27/10/2023 11:20

Bump. My 9 month old dachshund pup still uses the house as his totliet;(

Newpeep · 27/10/2023 11:36

My pup wasn’t reliable until she was about 6 months old. Now she’ll go all day!

Darklane · 27/10/2023 14:34

That’s very young, especially if it’s a small breed they always seem to take longer.
All of mine seem to suddenly click & get the idea around their first birthday. It’s often a sudden, almost overnight thing, like a switch suddenly goes on in their brain.

Cotswoldbee · 27/10/2023 14:53

Agree, 4-months is no time at all

Our latest addition is 4-months and certainly can't be replied on, is getting better but you only have to miss a signal and you have a puddle.
Also she can't get the hang of having a wee and a poo in one trip to the garden but instead wants to go back outside 2-minutes after coming in. 😖

margotrose · 27/10/2023 15:43

It's totally normal for them to still have accidents at four months old - he's still a baby.

It sounds like you're doing all the right things so I would just carry on as you are - they do get it eventually!

coffeemonster28 · 27/10/2023 15:45

totally normal - my golden was doing ok-ish at 6 months with occasional accidents, only at 8 months the accidents completely stopped.

2jacqi · 27/10/2023 15:46

at 4 months you cannot possibly expect a puppy to be housetrained!!! heavens, there are mothers on here who havent even managed to toilet train their 5 year olds for going to school!!

Flipflopflopflip · 27/10/2023 15:48

My dog was at least 6 months. Try not worry, it's frustrating though!

40andlovelife · 27/10/2023 15:48

You are being extremely unrealistic!! You're looking at around 10-12 mo this but believe me dogs will ALWAYS have accidents, it's part of having a dog

wildwestpioneer · 27/10/2023 15:50

Just keep going, I've found with all my dogs that when I've got to the end of breather, all of a sudden they get it!

4 months isn't old. You've only been training them for a max of 2 months if they are 4 months old

nottaotter · 27/10/2023 15:50

My 16 month still has accidents. Sometimes she holds on as I can tell when I take her out she is desperate , other times she strolls over and does a long wee in front of me and saunters back to bed/open crate.

Original poster
heartsinvisiblefury · 27/10/2023 20:04

Thank you all so much - good to know he's doing ok and well for his age - I'm very proud of how he's doing despite his puddles 😀

OP posts:
Vet73 · 27/10/2023 20:12

My boy never had a single accident and this is what I did:

  • Wake up? Straight to toilet
  • eaten? Straight to toilet
  • played for a while? Straight to toilet
  • sniffing at all? Toilet
  • not been out for 30-40 mins? Toilet

He’s 6 months old now and barks to be let out. We’ve taken him to stay at 5 other houses on holiday and he never had any accidents there and always waited by the door if he needed to go.

I’m a vet and this is the advice I give to all my clients. Sometimes you’ll wait in the rain for 15 minutes but it’s worth it to be able to praise him and reiterate going outside is the answer. I also never recommend puppy pads unless you have a flat and will have a strip of grass or similar for them to use inside

Original poster
heartsinvisiblefury · 27/10/2023 20:16

Vet73 · 27/10/2023 20:12

My boy never had a single accident and this is what I did:

  • Wake up? Straight to toilet
  • eaten? Straight to toilet
  • played for a while? Straight to toilet
  • sniffing at all? Toilet
  • not been out for 30-40 mins? Toilet

He’s 6 months old now and barks to be let out. We’ve taken him to stay at 5 other houses on holiday and he never had any accidents there and always waited by the door if he needed to go.

I’m a vet and this is the advice I give to all my clients. Sometimes you’ll wait in the rain for 15 minutes but it’s worth it to be able to praise him and reiterate going outside is the answer. I also never recommend puppy pads unless you have a flat and will have a strip of grass or similar for them to use inside

I do ALL of this yet he still has accidents - I think, as others have said, he's still very young and the odd accident is absolutely fine. I'm struggling to believe you haven't had one accident though

OP posts:
muddyford · 27/10/2023 20:28

He's still a baby, for goodness sake.

sonjadog · 27/10/2023 20:31

Dogs are individuals. I had one puppy house-trained within two weeks of me getting him, no accidents. Another puppy, trained exactly the same way, took 9 months to be 100% trained. Just different personalities.

Guiltyfeethavegotnorhythm0 · 27/10/2023 20:34

Vet73 · 27/10/2023 20:12

My boy never had a single accident and this is what I did:

  • Wake up? Straight to toilet
  • eaten? Straight to toilet
  • played for a while? Straight to toilet
  • sniffing at all? Toilet
  • not been out for 30-40 mins? Toilet

He’s 6 months old now and barks to be let out. We’ve taken him to stay at 5 other houses on holiday and he never had any accidents there and always waited by the door if he needed to go.

I’m a vet and this is the advice I give to all my clients. Sometimes you’ll wait in the rain for 15 minutes but it’s worth it to be able to praise him and reiterate going outside is the answer. I also never recommend puppy pads unless you have a flat and will have a strip of grass or similar for them to use inside

None of my dogs have ever had accidents past eleven weeks , I absolutely live by this . however I have always had a pup in the summer .
My last pup probably had two or three accidents in total .

Original poster
heartsinvisiblefury · 27/10/2023 20:46

muddyford · 27/10/2023 20:28

He's still a baby, for goodness sake.

Yes I know!!!

OP posts:
Greygardenz · 27/10/2023 20:48

Depends on the breed and the dog. We always trained ours the same way. The last one was watertight from a couple of months, the one before, a Dalmatian, loved a sneeky wee in the dining room all their life

JemOfAWoman · 27/10/2023 21:52

We got a set of dog bells to hang from the back door. Our boy very quickly worked out ringing the bells meant we open the door to the garden.
Clean in the house at about 12 weeks but at the beginning if he even sniffed the bells he got loads of praise and the door opened.

Now he batters the bells if he thinks he's not getting enough attention! 🤣❤️🐾

Zellar Dog Puppy Doorbells, Length Adjustable Loud Dog Puppy Potty Toilet House Training Bells
amzn.eu/d/f9cD6wC

BeansOnToast32 · 28/10/2023 13:27

Vet73 · 27/10/2023 20:12

My boy never had a single accident and this is what I did:

  • Wake up? Straight to toilet
  • eaten? Straight to toilet
  • played for a while? Straight to toilet
  • sniffing at all? Toilet
  • not been out for 30-40 mins? Toilet

He’s 6 months old now and barks to be let out. We’ve taken him to stay at 5 other houses on holiday and he never had any accidents there and always waited by the door if he needed to go.

I’m a vet and this is the advice I give to all my clients. Sometimes you’ll wait in the rain for 15 minutes but it’s worth it to be able to praise him and reiterate going outside is the answer. I also never recommend puppy pads unless you have a flat and will have a strip of grass or similar for them to use inside

I did exactly this and my pup hasn't had a single accident since 10 wks (now 16months) and she only had a handful of accidents before that, totally my fault for not seeing her signs. She only usually asks to go out 3 times a day now, plus she has her walks.

Sometimes it depends on the breed plus whether your dog is funny about the weather. I've got a breed that people say can be hard to toilet train (CKCS) but I've had a few and never had a problem.

The biggest issue my dog has is the rain, typical Cav she hates it. If it was up to her she'd hold her wee all day when it's wet outside. I still put her out on the garden at the usual times she'd ask to go out if it was dry, she does try to come straight back in but if I say her cue word she understands what I want and will quickly have a wee and come back inside.

JessicaFletcherMSW · 28/10/2023 14:25

Darklane · 27/10/2023 14:34

That’s very young, especially if it’s a small breed they always seem to take longer.
All of mine seem to suddenly click & get the idea around their first birthday. It’s often a sudden, almost overnight thing, like a switch suddenly goes on in their brain.

This is my experience too. Keep going and around 7/8 months the accidents decrease and then you suddenly realise when they’re around a year old they you can’f remember the last time you had to clean one up.

Vet73 · 28/10/2023 18:01

heartsinvisiblefury · 27/10/2023 20:16

I do ALL of this yet he still has accidents - I think, as others have said, he's still very young and the odd accident is absolutely fine. I'm struggling to believe you haven't had one accident though

Show quote history

He genuinely didn’t have a single accident but I did take 2 months off work to settle him. Of course he’s still young and some do take longer than others and it sounds like you’re doing all the right things.
My last dog had one accident at 8 and a half weeks as I left her too long and that’s all. I have working goldens that are very biddable and want to please. More stubborn breeds can be harder.

I find most clients have their pups house trained by 3 months by following my advice. The odd few can take until a year.

mumnosbest · 04/11/2023 11:04

We're 2 weeks in (early days I know) with our 17wk cockapoo. He goes outside sometimes, inside sometimes (usually on a mat). No pattern. Out of curiosity, why are mats not a good idea?

tabulahrasa · 04/11/2023 13:39

mumnosbest · 04/11/2023 11:04

We're 2 weeks in (early days I know) with our 17wk cockapoo. He goes outside sometimes, inside sometimes (usually on a mat). No pattern. Out of curiosity, why are mats not a good idea?

Because you want the message they get to be that toileting is outside.

Pads encourage them to go inside and confuses that.

OP - housetraining a puppy is IMO like babies sleeping through, you’ll get some people it happens really quickly others quite a while and others what seems like forever, and it’s usually just down to when they’re ready over anything you’re doing...if you’re taking them out as often as needed, obviously.