[thr61]

I have an 11 month old female that came to us 2 weeks ago from a breeders home. She had been raised for show, but the breeder decided to keep moving forward with her sister, not her.

She arrived "sort of" house trained. That is, she would be fine if kept in a close environment and watched, but was not reliable if given free reign. We have been working hard with her to make her feel comfortable and secure (she is crated at night and when we are out) and are getting her lots of exercise and plenty of attention from the kids.

My question is how long should we expect her to go without needing to go out during the day? She has no problem making it the night in her crate. However, during the day, she seems to start being restless and needing to go out about every hour. She has had a three pee accidents all a result of her providing signals of needing to go out, but me not believing she would need to because of the short time interval between her last pee.

She does not drink water to excess and is good at giving us indicators of her need to go out. I have also taught her to go on command and she does that just fine. I had thought that by 11 months dogs were pretty much in adult-hood in terms of control, but she seems to need these regular trips out.

What have your experiences been and what should I expect at this age?

Thanks!

 

[AquaClaraCanines]

Raised from a puppy, I would expect 100% reliability, but in this case, I'd start over as if the dog was a brand new puppy. No unsupervised time out of the crate.

If she is peeing hourly as an adult, I'd suspect a UTI.

 

[missmarstar]

At that age, needing to pee every hour would lead me to believe she's got a UTI and needs to see a vet.

If all is good on that end and there is no UTI, she should easily be able to hold it for several hours (mine are at home alone for 9 hours while I am at work, and still want their dinner even before needing to potty most days)

She may just have not ever had to learn to hold it if she was kept outside or something before... so it will just take some time. For now, get her checked out at the vets for a possible UTI... then don't doubt her. If she says she needs to go, believe her, and take her out. Try to space out her potty times to longer and longer intervals as time goes on so she starts to learn how to hold it longer and longer.

 

[thr61]

I may be a bit off about the hour, but I do know she can easily go 8-9 hours in her crate a night and does not complain at all. If she had a UTI, I suspect I would hear about it at night!

My guess is that she just likes to go outside and is enjoying having the opportunity to do so. I just don't want to let her have more of the house and and let her have the opportunity to make a mistake.

I guess I should monitor the time more closely and see what she really is doing. What feels like a "reasonable" interval for an 11 month old in this case?

 

[AquaClaraCanines]

By 9 or 10 months, my dogs can all go eight hours easily, and some of them do even when I'm home and they have free access to go outside. But, in a new situation, there could be a lot of factors.

 

[Loisiana]

My guess is that she doesn't absolutely have to go every hour, but hasn't learned yet that she should hold it outside of her crate. There is a difference between being able to go and needing to go. She's probably able to go and so figures "why not?" My puppy is at the same stage....if he feels like he needs to go, he does. It's not unusual for him to go fifteen minutes apart sometimes. I would try crating her for a few hours at a time during the day so she can get used to holding it during the day as well as at night.

 

[sammydog]

I am guessing she has never had to "hold it" during the day, so it may take some time. I would treat her just like a puppy until she learns good bathroom habits. Even many 8 week old puppies can "hold it" all night, but they still need to go frequently during the day.

A trip to the vet would be good as well, UTIs are pretty common and will cause frequent urination. There are a number of other medical conditions that can as well. It could not hurt to rule out a physical cause.

 

[jwemt81]

Tucker was 100% reliably house trained by about 6-7 months, but we crate trained him from the minute we brought him home, so that played a big part in it. I agree that a UTI could be a possibility if she is peeing that much. I would get her checked by a vet. I also suggest starting with crate training, just like you would with a young puppy.

 

[AmberSunrise]

I have a foster with a similar background and she just did not know to 'hold it'. While I would definitely have her checked for an UTI, what worked for my little one was
treating her as a puppy

1) Crating when I could not watch her
2) Bringing her out every hour or so
3) Bringing her out after she eats
4) Bringing her out after playing

She now trusts (after 3-4 months) that she will be able to go out when needed and has become very good at signalling - she still needs a bit of work if she signals (she runs to the back door) and no one is paying attention but can generally go several hours as long as we are around her. She is still not reliable given free reign at night but is fine when in my room with the door closed.

I think they just need time to learn the whole 'hold it' idea and to develop those muscles