[GoldenGal]

First of all, hello to you all! I am a long time lurker, first time poster. I have always been amazed when visiting these boards at how supportive and kind everyone is to each other!
Well, our family took sweet and loving little Annie home 2 1/2 weeks ago- she is now 13 1/2 weeks old. I have had dogs before and housetrained successfully. I figured housetraining would be a snap with this smart little girl. But it hasn't been. I keep her gated in our kitchen, and basically am in there with her the entire day. At night, or if I have to do an errand, she is in the crate. I take her out regularly, and she "goes on command" (I say "go potty" outside and she does). But she has not even one time given me a "signal" that she has to go to the bathroom- sniffing, barking, mouthing, scratching at the door, etc, etc. Instead, I am right next to her, and she will just squat and go right there in front of me. Sometimes I am putting something in the cabinet and she will just potty somewhere in the kitchen. She just doesn't seem to get going outside to go potty. Basically, she has accidents everyday 1-4x a day. At this point, I feel like I am losing my mind. I have never had this much trouble potty training before. I wondered if its because the breeder kept her in an indoor kennel, so it was acceptable for her to eliminate indoors?
I know this is long, but I am in tears today. I just don't know what else to do. The puppy kindergarten teacher is saying Annie shouldn't give signals, that I have to do a better job with her potty schedule. But I do! I have given up my life for 2 1/2 weeks to stay home with her and dedicate myself to this!
So sorry for the length of this, and I love her dearly, but I don't feel like we are making any progress. Advice, please??????????

 

[fostermom]

Hi and welcome!

Housetraining can be frustrating. Especially if she was kept in an indoor kennel and allowed to potty in there. I would suggest crating her a bit more. Also, puppies tend to potty at specific times. When they wake up from a nap, when they have finished playing, when they finish eating. If you use a crate, she should start whining and/or pawing at the gate when she needs to potty, though it could take up to a week for her to start doing it. It sounds to me like she is getting too much freedom at this point in her training. Also, when she does potty outside, make it into a big party! Treats and happy voices all around. When she potties inside, clap your hands to interrupt her, pick her up and take her outside (don't say anything until she is outside and then give the potty command). When she goes, throw a big potty party.

Also, you may want to clean your floor with some Nature's Miracle. That will get rid of the smell where she has eliminated before, so she won't be drawn back to the same place to go again.

 

[GoldenGal]

Yes, I do take her outside and make a big deal about her going potty- which she does when I say "go potty." We go to the same spot each time in the backyard and take the same route there every time. We use Nature's Miracle to clean up the accidents, and don't clean up in front of her. It's just that she has no problem going inside the house. She honestly doesn't show any signs- she just sits and squats inside. And our door to go out is right there in the kitchen, so she has easy access. Honestly, in 2 1/2 weeks, once time she sat in front of the door to go out.
All advice is welcome!!!!:wave:

 

[LuckyPup]

I am by far an expert in training, especially puppies.

But I would recommend getting a bell for the door. So she can ring that.

 

[tippykayak]

How long are you going between letting her out? Puppies can have undeveloped bladders at that age and may need to go every hour.

Also, in female puppies, urinary tract infections are sometimes the cause of housebreaking problems, particularly when they urinate without warning. Have you been to the vet?

Are you interrupting her each time she pees? Startle her with a loud noise, scoop her up, and take her to her pee spot outside. Continue to praise her when she pees in the right place.

 

[Tahnee GR]

None of my Goldens have ever given me a signal that they needed to go potty. I use the crate to potty train, and in the past have used Shirlee Kalstone's How to House Train Your Dog in 7 Days.

Nowadays, I just use the TV commercial method Every time a commercial comes on TV, out we go. Then I slowly move to every other commercial, etc.

If she was in an indoor kennel, you need to treat her as if she were just 7 or 8 weeks old. If you can't watch her constantly, she needs to be in the crate.

How frequently is she pottying? She may also have a UTI-very common in young female puppies.

And, if you want her to give you a signal, you may need to teach her to ring a bell when she has to go potty.

Like I said, in 30 years I can't remember one of my dogs ever giving me a signal. Well, except for one who would cut his eyes at me. That was it-that was his signal! We eventually worked it out.

 

[Minnesota Rosie]

I used to take Rosie out every 30 minutes, religiously. If she didn't go potty, I'd put her in the crate. Then, I would take her out of the crate and immediately go outside again. If she went potty, we'd go back inside for another 30 minutes, then repeat the process. Eventually, she started pawing at the door to go out. She's 15 weeks old now. I'd say it took several weeks before she showed me any signs of needing to go out.

 

[goldhaven]

It just takes some dogs longer than other. I know of some owners that claim to have their dogs housebroken in 1 week and other that it takes 6 months. I think somewhere in the middle is normal. All I can say is patience and perseverance. And the crate also helps. Good luck and don't get too frustrated.

 

[seethroughhero]

Chloe was suprisingly good with potty training. She sleeps through the night and is beginning to go to the door and sitting politely until we take her out when she needs to go.

I tried listening to the "puppies go at predictable times" comments, but she did NOT adhere. We just took her out very frequently, and watched for signs of her needing to go (pacing, sniffing, walking in circles.)

Also, if she ever started to go in the house, we'd stop her with a startle, and quickly rush her outside. Also heavy, HEAVY praise when she goes outside, so she starts to learn that the grass under her feet when she goes is good. We'd take treats everytime we went outside.

She's just about 4 months and has only had one accident in the house, and we've had her since her 8th week.


Good luck!

 

[yvettelovesgoldens]

I have a 4 month old pup. We set the kitchen timer every 20 minutes. When it rang, we let the pup outside. Worked great cause sometimes you get busy and forget to let them out.
Also kept the pup on a great schedule. It only took about 4 weeks of using this method. I crate trained as well.
Good luck..........Hang in there

 

[gold4me]

Emmy never gave a sign she had to go either. Then I noticed she sometimes would pace-going around the room. I finally realized that was he signal. Sometimes they give signals but we just don't realize that is what they are doing. Good luck!
Oh do you give her a treat along with the praise when she goes outside? That really helped me with Emmy.

 

[Florabora22]

When Flora had a UTI she would pee in the house all the time. I would be standing right next to her and she would squat and pee. I'd go to the vet and rule out a UTI, and if that comes back negative, then I would stick to the 30 minute schedule.

I actually set a timer for every 30 minutes. I would take Flora out, if she pottied, praise her, and reset the timer for 30 minutes. If she didn't potty, I would set the timer for 10 minutes, and take her out again in 10 minutes.

Good luck!

 

[fostermom]

I wanted to add that Danny never gives any signal when he needs to potty. Or, actually he does, but it took me quite a while to figure it out. He is a very high energy dog, so when he bounces and pesters at me, it's normal. Except when he has to pee. LOL. Jasper comes over and jumps into my lap. My golden/lab is the only direct one. She will sit by the door and stare at me. If I'm not paying attention, she woofs at me. So all dogs have signals, it's just that some are so subtle, they are easy to miss!

 

[Goody82]

I have a couple of recommendations. I thought I was going to give up with Scout but she learned pretty quick after these couple of things -
-I would take her out as soon as she woke up, was let out of the crate, and ate.
-As soon as I saw her starting to pee I would make loud noises and kind of jump on the floor which startled her. Then we would pick her up right away and bring her outside even if she didn't have to go anymore.
-We kept a baggie of small treats at the door. Every time we took her out we wold take the baggie of treats and as soon as (emphasize as soon as) she started squating to pee or poop we would pull out a treat and give it to her immediately after she went to the bathroom and show a lot of praise.
-Now everytime she has to go to the bathroom she sits quietly at the door or if we don't get there in time she walks over to us and then back to the door.
This took awhile and I thought she was never going to learn...the treats really worked for her I think. I have also heard that hanging a bell on the door and showing the dog to hit the bell with their paw every time they go outside works great also. We didn't get to that point.
Don't give up - your dog will get it before you know it. Good luck!