# Potty training regression???



## Chaya (Aug 18, 2012)

After a month of no accidents (even when we're gone 3-4 hours and Laika was uncrated), suddenly last week, she started having accidents left and right. It started the day before we left for our trip, but I hadn't started packing yet so I didn't think she'd pick up on it.

First she would go inside if we leave the house, even if we had just taken her out. This would happen even if we were gone for 5 minutes to take out the trash. This has happened a few times so now she's crated when we leave, even for short trips. The weird thing is, when she pottied while we were out, she went on her dog bed and once in her open crate (poop both times). It doesn't seem like the behavior of a puppy that just couldn't hold it. She's all clear from the vet, and is not on any medications. I'm so hoping it's not the separation anxiety.

Also, we let her sleep in our bedroom at night, uncrated. She used to whine if she had to go out in the middle of the night, but last night, for the first time ever, she just pooped in our bedroom. She made the briefest whine, but I thought she was just having a nightmare. Usually, her whines are much more insistant and loud. The poop was a little soft, but wasn't too bad. 

During the day when we're around, she's perfect about going to the door and sitting to go out. Do any of you know why she may suddenly be pottying so much inside? She's perfect otherwise, no sign of teenager behavior. Thanks!


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## Chaya (Aug 18, 2012)

bumping up


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## nolefan (Nov 6, 2009)

If she is clear with the vet, I would think she needs her freedom reined in. I know it must be frustrating when you thought you could cross this off the list, but it sounds like she just needs more time.

I will tell you that my collie, Mack, is turning two now. He came home from his breeder at 12 weeks pretty much potty trained. Had 3 accidents over a few weeks and then that was that. However I did continue to keep him crated when we were away and also at night. In the past year I have had two incidents where it was evening, I was in the house upstairs and the rest of the family didn't notice he wanted out (I assume) and he went upstairs to the guest room and pooped. It wasn't loose but clearly he had to go IMMEDIATELY and was just unable to hold it any longer. I am wondering if Laika is having the same issue. Her stools aren't super loose, but maybe her tummy just isn't quite right and she just doesn't have the control and maturity to hold it no matter what like an adult dog does. I would not be giving her so much freedom at this age if she were mine. Just my two cents.
I hope this passes (sorry, no pun intended) by soon. I know it's frustrating.


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## Chaya (Aug 18, 2012)

I totally agree, we need to limit her freedom a bit. Since she never learned to love the crate, we're going to try to work on that more. My schedule's pretty flexible right now, so I'll start with short crate periods and work her up. About the nighttime though....I'd hate to crate her at night again, so I'll wait to do that if she has another accident. Sigh....I have to keep reminding myself that progress isn't always forward!!


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## GPHusker (Mar 14, 2013)

Zoey is doing the exact same thing right now. She was doing really well, then last week she begain whining very badly when in her crate at night and it would go on for a very long time. We succumbed for the sake of a good nights sleep to here being baby gated in the kitchen where she normally is. That went great for a couple days, now three days in a row she has pottied during the night. She used to whine when she wanted out but now she doesnt make a noise. I think we need to get back in the crate at night and just deal with it.


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## Ksdenton (Mar 17, 2013)

This scares me. How is Laika doing now?


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## Carolina Clover (Apr 12, 2013)

We had the same thing happen.... Clover is 14 weeks now and she had had no accidents for at least 3 weeks, so we relaxed a bit and patted ourselves on the back. Then, one day somebody came to the house when she was sleeping. She woke up, was so excited to see her visitor (and I didn't make her go out like I usually would when she wakes up). Next thing I know, she is in the house, squatting to pee on her bed. I knew it was truly my fault and thought that was the end of it. Then, the next day she did it again with no real excuse, and even one more time after that. I lost all confidence in the potty training. Is she just potty trained because I happen to take her out at all of the times she should have to go and she truly has no idea that she should go out there? She'll go to the door and ring her bell or sit there, but I think half the time it is just because she likes being outside. So, we are back to watching like hawks and really don't leave her unattended (don't really anyway, but now, if she gets up from a nap, it is straight out to potty vs. waiting for her to signal). I am not sure how to solidify the connection for her. In some ways I thought maybe she needed to have more accidents where I catch her in the act so she can hear the stern, "NO." She gets congratulated outside for every potty, but for all I know she just thinks pottying is fabulous period, in or out! So, don't have much advice since I'm in the same boat, but it seems like time to take a few steps backward with the crate and the pottying. Incidentally, I'd put Clover in the same category of not loving her crate --- she'll go in there when we make her, but not if she has the choice. However, just yesterday she came in the house, plopped down in there at night voluntarily (miracle). Then this morning when it was time for her nap, she went in there to lie down. She didn't stay for her whole nap, but she did for a while. I think with persistence, she'll eventually learn it is her special spot. She gets the best treats in there so I think that is helping.... I'm keeping my fingers crossed for us all on the potty front!


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## GPHusker (Mar 14, 2013)

Carolina Clover said:


> We had the same thing happen.... Clover is 14 weeks now and she had had no accidents for at least 3 weeks, so we relaxed a bit and patted ourselves on the back. Then, one day somebody came to the house when she was sleeping. She woke up, was so excited to see her visitor (and I didn't make her go out like I usually would when she wakes up). Next thing I know, she is in the house, squatting to pee on her bed. I knew it was truly my fault and thought that was the end of it. Then, the next day she did it again with no real excuse, and even one more time after that. I lost all confidence in the potty training. Is she just potty trained because I happen to take her out at all of the times she should have to go and she truly has no idea that she should go out there? She'll go to the door and ring her bell or sit there, but I think half the time it is just because she likes being outside. So, we are back to watching like hawks and really don't leave her unattended (don't really anyway, but now, if she gets up from a nap, it is straight out to potty vs. waiting for her to signal). I am not sure how to solidify the connection for her. In some ways I thought maybe she needed to have more accidents where I catch her in the act so she can hear the stern, "NO." She gets congratulated outside for every potty, but for all I know she just thinks pottying is fabulous period, in or out! So, don't have much advice since I'm in the same boat, but it seems like time to take a few steps backward with the crate and the pottying. Incidentally, I'd put Clover in the same category of not loving her crate --- she'll go in there when we make her, but not if she has the choice. However, just yesterday she came in the house, plopped down in there at night voluntarily (miracle). Then this morning when it was time for her nap, she went in there to lie down. She didn't stay for her whole nap, but she did for a while. I think with persistence, she'll eventually learn it is her special spot. She gets the best treats in there so I think that is helping.... I'm keeping my fingers crossed for us all on the potty front!


I am beginning to think the same thing with Zoey. That she doesn't actually know that she needs to only go outside but does because I take her out often. I've lost confidence. Today its back to getting her to love her crate like she did for the first few weeks. I was thinking she was at a point where we were going to be able to give her more freedom :no:


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## Dancer (Apr 5, 2010)

......and then you'll think everything is great (and it will be) until they reach 8-9 months and experience the "Set Back", lol. I started a thread on that, wondering if anyone else's dogs follow that pattern, and it appears that most seem to.... But once you get through that, then you are home-free! 


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## GPHusker (Mar 14, 2013)

We put Zoey in her crate last night. I worked with her again today making sure her crate was a happy place by giving her high value treats whenever she went in. After a very short while she was going in to check for treats. So no potty accidents for us yesterday. Hopefully her being able to stay in her crate at night again pushes her back into the nice routine we had going. 

How are everyone elses puppies doing?


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## Carolina Clover (Apr 12, 2013)

No accidents here either... so far..... fingers crossed! We have a crate in our bedroom where Clover sleeps at night and that has been fine and she has been sleeping well, though I still would not say she loves her crate. During the day she has an identical crate in the family room where she stays if we leave the house. Anyway, the last couple of days she has been playing outside, or sleeping on our porch at night and she comes in, exhausted and goes into our family room crate (on her own). We slip her collar off and see if she wants to follow us to our room. She has made no move so we have closed her crate and we head down to our room and she shockingly has stayed in the family room crate. 2 nights in a row and I expected a midnight whine when she stirred and realized we are not around, but so far she hasn't! I am so surprised. So, maybe the crate is becoming increasingly desirable.

I am still not convinced on the potty front that she distinguishes between pottying inside vs. outside. She goes outside and not inside generally, but I still feel like that is a fluke. The part that is making me feel better is that if we continue to make her successful, pottying outside only, over time based on smell alone the "habit" will develop whether or not she knows the difference in her brain... or at least I am hoping! 

Any others?


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## CITIgolden (Mar 9, 2013)

I have a 7 month old rescue mix who just two weeks ago did the same thing. First peed on his blanked and then went on the floor. He usually gives signals. 

I was just getting him ready to move on from the wee pad, cause I live in an apartment and there's just not enough room and I really don't mind going out 15x a day...better for my health. 

I put the wee pad back in and now he signals and goes on the wee pad when he doesn't signal. Not sure if this helps but you could introduce the wee pad, I've never crated my dogs so not sure how that works with crate training. 

He hasn't used the wee pad for several days now, I guess maybe it gives him a sense of security?! I'm no expert, not sure quite frankly...but it worked.


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## Rubyftw (Jan 27, 2013)

Dancer said:


> ......and then you'll think everything is great (and it will be) until they reach 8-9 months and experience the "Set Back", lol. I started a thread on that, wondering if anyone else's dogs follow that pattern, and it appears that most seem to.... But once you get through that, then you are home-free!


I was wondering about this. Ruby is six months now, and hasn't had an accident in the house since ~13 weeks. Last night she jumped up on our bed as my fiance and I were about to go to sleep. (yeah we let her sleep in our bed; I'm sucker...)

So she hops up, looks at me right in the eye, and squats to go poop square in the middle of the bed. She's never pooped in the house in general, and only ever had ~7-8 pee accidents inside, almost all of which were in the first week she came home with us (8 weeks). 

I scooped her up and took her outside before she managed to squeeze out a turd, but what's up with that? She's not sick or anything, and gave no signals. When I took her out she sniffed around and found her normal poop spot and went. Is she just a teenager, testing her boundaries now? Not cool, Ruby! :doh:


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## Chaya (Aug 18, 2012)

I think we got over the regression phase with Laika, thankfully. I think part of the reason was separation anxiety, as I stated in my original post this whole thing started while we were gone. What I did to fix it was to give her a treat every time I left so she would associate me leaving with something positive. At first, I would only leave for 30 seconds. Then 1 minute, 5 minutes, 30 minutes, 1 hour, 3 hours, and now I'm pretty comfortable leaving her home alone for up to 4 hours. 

When we're home, soon after the regression started, we just took her out more often. Before, we were trying to "stretch" her bladder for 2-3 hours between potties. After the regression started, we went back to every hour, or however often she wants to go out. We decided that it was more important at that point to reaffirm to her that we are responsive to her signals.

I've got to say, restarting slow and short really got us through this. And it only took about a week to get her back on track, so we weren't completely re-training her. I guess my expectations got ahead of me, and she just wasn't physically ready to hold it for hours and hours. The # of months +1 rule that I see everywhere only applies when they are crated, and only when they're peed out, pooped out, and not feeling sick. It's been almost a month since I first posted this, and she is back to hold it 2-4 hours all on her own schedule.


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## GPHusker (Mar 14, 2013)

Yesterday went fine up until I was running our Rhoomba in the kitchen where Zoey is. I figured that would give her some entertainment (and me ). Went fine for a bit, then she was busy staring at the Rhoomba and just squatted and went right on the kitchen floor. She was so focused on the Rhoomba that me yelling a stern "NO" didnt even get her attention. So once again I am not so convinced she understands where to pee or not to pee, only that I take her out a lot.


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## nolefan (Nov 6, 2009)

THanks for the update Chaya, this is a very useful thread


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