# Is our puppy "special"? (house breaking)



## tippykayak (Oct 27, 2008)

At that age, some pups haven't developed as much bladder control as others. I've had pups who could hold it for hours by 10 weeks and pups who were still having control issues at 16. It could just be a little developmental delay down there.

The other possibility, particularly with female puppies, is a urinary tract infection. At this point, I'd take her to the vet and have her checked out.


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## acritzer (Aug 23, 2009)

Well, she already had a UTI and that was much different than this, so I don't think that's the issue. When diagnosed with the UTI she had several accidents all within a couple hours. 
This larger issue seems to be control and understanding.

So, just keep hanging in there? I'm starting to get beat down by not relaxing in the evenings...like I said every movement she makes we second guess ourselves, so we're constantly jumping up in anticipation.


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## Noey (Feb 26, 2009)

I think every pup is different. Sounds like she needs to stay out a little longer and "finish" maybe. I know my Scout gets distracted and will go but stop part way through sometimes...because he wants to play or chase a leaf or see what Noah is doing and is ready again in about 10 minutes. So I try and make him stay in the yard longer and this is working...make them empty the tank when possible.

If it continues I would have her checked just to make sure she does not have a UTI.


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## LibertyME (Jan 6, 2007)

some puppies just take longer...patience...

Becuase she is a female, Im with Brian...a quick trip to rule out a UTI would be a great idea...then you will know if it is health realted or maturtation....
You will feel bad if you are loosing your nut if she is ill...and you will be able to be look forward to drier days if it is just a matter of bladder control...

There are some puppies that housebreak easily...IMHO...they are the minority...their owners will pay their dues when the get puppy number 2! LOLOLOL


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## LibertyME (Jan 6, 2007)

acritzer said:


> Well, she already had a UTI and that was much different than this, so I don't think that's the issue. When diagnosed with the UTI she had several accidents all within a couple hours.
> This larger issue seems to be control and understanding.
> 
> So, just keep hanging in there? I'm starting to get beat down by not relaxing in the evenings...like I said every movement she makes we second guess ourselves, so we're constantly jumping up in anticipation.


It does seem that if a puppy has had a UTI...that their housebreaking takes a bit longer...their urinary tract needs time to heal....


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## mylissyk (Feb 25, 2007)

...I agree with others above, and don't let anyone tell you their puppy was housetrained in a week, I'd make a bet they weren't and still had accidents periodically. Puppies don't have bladder control that young, and 13 weeks is still very much a baby who probably needs to grow and develop muscle and bladder control.

Keep her out in the yard longer to finish pottying in the evening, and then take her back out sooner, you've identified a pattern so you are one step ahead of catching her before the accident.


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## Micki's Mum (Jun 7, 2009)

My only advice is hang in there.  Michaela took a long time to housebreak. There was a point when we were taking her out every 20 minutes (good advice I got on here). It will come and you'll be glad that your patience paid off.


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## acritzer (Aug 23, 2009)

LibertyME said:


> It does seem that if a puppy has had a UTI...that their housebreaking takes a bit longer...their urinary tract needs time to heal....


She had a UTI and was on meds approx. 2 weeks ago. While I understand the UTI issue, I don't want to run in for a $50 vet bill (office visit+test) multiple times due to accidents.

We'll continue to work with her. It just gets discouraging when you hear from others: "Oh, she's still not house trained?" "Oh, my puppy only took 2 weeks to learn." Etc, etc.

You start to get the impression that we're doing something wrong. :doh:


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## Florabora22 (Nov 30, 2008)

acritzer said:


> She had a UTI and was on meds approx. 2 weeks ago. While I understand the UTI issue, I don't want to run in for a $50 vet bill (office visit+test) multiple times due to accidents.
> 
> We'll continue to work with her. It just gets discouraging when you hear from others: "Oh, she's still not house trained?" "Oh, my puppy only took 2 weeks to learn." Etc, etc.
> 
> You start to get the impression that we're doing something wrong. :doh:


Relax. Your pup is fine. Flora struggled with UTIs when she was a baby and took quite a long time before she was completely reliable. I mean... I'm pretty sure she was still having the occasional pee accident when she was 4 months. But she's not retarded or anything. She just had a medical issue that required time for her to recover from.

She is perfect now. NEVER pees in the house, and can hold it up to 7 hours in one stretch. I know it's annoying having to constantly clean up pee everywhere, but if you're doing everything else right, eventually she'll get there. It's frustrating (especially when people brag about how quickly their pups are trained, but believe me, I'm sure their pups have other problems that yours don't), but it will soon pass.


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## Bob-N-Tash (Feb 24, 2008)

You sound like you are near the end of your rope. 
People have already made the same suggests that I would have made. 

It's not only the physical but the mental development that has to occur. You have been working on this since you got your pup. But at 7 weeks old the puppy brain is not ready to comprehend that it is not acceptable to pee/poop just anywhere. Even so, it is important to begin to reward the desired behavior from the beginning. 

Continue to reward the good behavior... if possible restrict the pup to surfaces that are easy to clean... continue to be vigilant taking the pup out often certainly after every nap and every meal... and don't assume that one squat will take care of everything. But you know all of this. 

At 13 weeks old the puppy's brain should be about ready to grasp the concept. When he does it just may be as though someone flipped a switch. 

Keeping our paws crossed for your imminent success.


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## acritzer (Aug 23, 2009)

I'm not at the end of my rope, just a bit discouraged. Even though there are still accidents it's not like she hasn't made progress. I think it's the stories of fast training that are getting to me...I need to remember that it's a fairly long process.


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## Bob-N-Tash (Feb 24, 2008)

Not at the end of the rope, well that's good. 

IMHO Raising a puppy can be a 2 year process. Be prepared for occasional brain lapse moments in the puppy's future. That's normal and usually the lapse will last for only a day or two. 

If you just need support and encouragement... here is a pat on the back for you. And some assurance that there is light at the end of the tunnel.


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## tippykayak (Oct 27, 2008)

acritzer said:


> She had a UTI and was on meds approx. 2 weeks ago. While I understand the UTI issue, I don't want to run in for a $50 vet bill (office visit+test) multiple times due to accidents.
> 
> We'll continue to work with her. It just gets discouraging when you hear from others: "Oh, she's still not house trained?" "Oh, my puppy only took 2 weeks to learn." Etc, etc.
> 
> You start to get the impression that we're doing something wrong. :doh:


You're probably not doing it wrong. Don't terrify the puppy when you catch her, but make sure you always catch her and that you make enough noise that she stops midstream (she needs to have enough still in there for a successful pee outside right after the accident).

The UTI she had may have confused her or set her back. Stick with it, make sure that there are no successful accidents, and don't use punishment when you catch her.

You never drag her back to old accidents that you missed or handle her roughly when you catch her, do you? Those are common mistakes that simply confuse the puppy. It doesn't sound like you're making them, but I figured it was worth mentioning.


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## tippykayak (Oct 27, 2008)

acritzer said:


> I'm not at the end of my rope, just a bit discouraged. Even though there are still accidents it's not like she hasn't made progress. I think it's the stories of fast training that are getting to me...I need to remember that it's a fairly long process.


Fast housebreakers are nice, but they're not the only kind of normal pup.


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## Willow52 (Aug 14, 2009)

acritzer said:


> ... A friend swears he's never had a puppy take longer than a week to become house trained.


If he's talking about a young puppy, don't believe it, he's either lying or delusional. Young puppies aren't physical or mentally capable of being housetrained. HE was housetrained...to take the puppy out often enough as to not have a chance to go indoors or kept it crated.

Some puppies may just take longer than others. 13 weeks is still young, as long as it isn't a physical problem, she'll get it. The UTI she had may have caused a set back. 

With Hank, it WAS like someone flipped a switch. It seemed like I was forever cleaning up pee then all of a sudden I wasn't. He was around your Bailey's age. Hang in there.


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## acritzer (Aug 23, 2009)

Thanks for feedback. On a positive note, we just found out her vwd test came back negative! We're thrilled.


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## badfisherman (Mar 11, 2012)

I am struggling with the same. I'm far from the end of my rope but am wondering if I should be doing anything more than taking her outside. We spent all morning outside working in the yard, came in for lunch, went back out for 30 minutes because I never saw her go this morn. Came back in and she immediately peed on the rug!! Help!


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## shallwemichele (Apr 28, 2012)

Arthur is now 20 weeks and maybe at last fully house trained. That is, I can't remember when the last accident occurred: maybe 2-3 weeks ago. I do remember that he had a couple of accidents indoors (on a tarp in his kennel area, thank goodness) right after going in a strange place, e.g. outside or at puppy class, indoors. (He started with pee pads on the balcony indoors until 16 weeks, and now goes there as well as outside.) I think it was all part of him learning context—the kinds of places you can and can't go. I think he's reliable inside the house now and don't watch him every minute any more. I'm also better at picking up the signals of needing to go. It all just takes time!


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## goldensrbest (Dec 20, 2007)

She will learn, just take her out alot,and know she is just a baby.


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## mylissyk (Feb 25, 2007)

badfisherman said:


> I am struggling with the same. I'm far from the end of my rope but am wondering if I should be doing anything more than taking her outside. We spent all morning outside working in the yard, came in for lunch, went back out for 30 minutes because I never saw her go this morn. Came back in and she immediately peed on the rug!! Help!


Are you giving her a cue word asking her to "go potty"? Do that, then when she does potty outside throw party, tell her what good girl she is, give her a treat, "good POTTY" "good POTTY!!" 

If your neighbors think you are insane, you are doing it right, lol.


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## badfisherman (Mar 11, 2012)

Yeah, I do that.....just more patience I guess. Good days and bad days.


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## Wyatt's mommy (Feb 25, 2011)

mylissyk said:


> "
> 
> If your neighbors think you are insane, you are doing it right, lol.


LOL! Isn't that the truth!


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## Heatherjfitz (May 4, 2012)

I just wanted to chime in that my pup is 11 weeks, and we still have pee pee accidents a lot. I bring her out very frequently, but sometimes she is too excited outside to stop to pee, and she runs back in the house and pees on my floor. :doh:

I've noticed that she almost always has her BM outside now (although we've even had that accident the day before yesterday).

I just keep at. It isn't the end of the world for me because the area she is allowed to be in has vinyl hardwood, so it's easy cleanup. I have kids that I tend too, so it's sometimes inevitable that the ONE moment I stop to make a PBJ sandwhich, the puppy starts sniffing and I miss her queue.

I too am tired of always having to feel "on guard", but it's been better since I've taken some pressure off of myself. I keep reminded myself that she's still young, and will eventually get it with time and consistency.

I did the same thing when potty training my twin daughters (now 3 years old), When I was so desperate for them to train, I was a wreck. So stressed, and so "worried there was something I wasn't doing right". I was so tired of all the other moms bragging about how their kids potty trained before their 2nd birthday. Once I chilled out a little, and stopped caring about what other people said, they both potty trained right away. 

I am curious though, for the more experienced owners, at what age SHOULD your pup be potty trained by? I mean, I know it obviously varies. But if you had to guess an average window... what would it be?


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## Elisabeth Kazup (Aug 23, 2008)

Our Penny caught on right away that she was to go potty outside. She didn't catch on right away that she SHOULDN'T go INSIDE. One day I followed her around ...literally walked behind her within a step or two. I waited until she BEGAN to squat. I swooped her up and raced her outside. I put her down and very sweetly said "good girl, go potty" which she did after a few minutes.

I only had to do that one time...it made a big impression on her. After that she understood the 'black and white' of pottying. Everything had progressed beautifully to that point and it was the only way I knew to let her know INSIDE isn't what we want.


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## badfisherman (Mar 11, 2012)

UGH!!! Again! 3rd time today, outside for over an hour, come in side and pee all over the floor!!! Just one of those days I guess.


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## LibertyME (Jan 6, 2007)

Few thoughts, when you are pretty sure she needs to go (ie right after a nap)..Take him/her to the same spot in the yard where you want her to go- and wait on leash until she goes. As the pup squats use your potty phrase...as they rise...throw a party offer a cookie etc.... Sometimes taking a paper towel with puppy-pee on it to mark the area helps..

ITs really easy for a puppy wandering around the yard to be too preoccupied to think about peeing. So when they get inside they relax and VOILA! PEE!


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## Ninde'Gold (Oct 21, 2006)

Tucker wasn't fully house trained until he was like 4 months old.


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## badfisherman (Mar 11, 2012)

OK, I know she is way behind because the folks I got her from had her chained up and she wasnt allowed inside so she is used to JUST GOING. I will see if she is ready for the leash trick yet. Usually if I put the leash on she flops down and wont move! Stubborn. I'll try the paper towel trick. Because she had peed on the floor, I put her in her crate when we left for an hour and she gets so worked up she soaked her quilt! My goodness. Newspaper in the crate from now on. Thanks for all the tips.


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## quilter (Sep 12, 2011)

Hi badfisherman - 

I can't tell how old your dog is, but it's common for puppies to go after each activity. So maybe when you go back in the house, she thinks, "oh, I'm relaxed now, just realized I needed to pee" and there she goes. My dog will go just before we go back in the house. I'm not sure if his poop command is "get busy" or "time to go in now." Perhaps if you had a little bit of quiet time in the yard, maybe on a leash walking her slowly, then she'd go. Then treats and praise! Casper gets one treat a day for peeing - the last pee right before bed. (He gets lots of treats other things, too. ) We go out on leash straight to his current favorite spot, he goes, then he walks to my hand for his treat. One time, he tried to fake me out by lifting his leg - and not peeing!

I think his last accident was at about 4 months. It was at 6 months where I thought he really was trained. He drove me nuts at 6 months, because all of a sudden he didn't need to go nearly as often, and I took him out way more than I needed to. Now at 10 months, I'm sure he's holding it until he's outside.


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