lalipupper
New member
- Joined
- Apr 5, 2017
- Messages
- 42
- Reaction score
- 0
Hi all, our little Lily is now 7 months old, and potty training has been incredibly frustrating. She is the sweetest girl - loves everyone, very gentle, such a clown - but I say this with as much love as I can muster...she seems to be spectacularly dim-witted. Leaps in understanding have been completely beyond her. And if she grasps something for a moment it slips almost immediately. She has regressed multiple times at this point.
From the beginning I did tons of reading and research about the best way to potty train, and to the best of my ability, have been as consistent as possible. She goes to work with my husband and while at work has absolutely no accidents - she holds her pee and poop and will wait patiently until she's let out. At home it's an entirely different story... As far as I can tell we use the exact same process. The only difference is that she is generally restricted to a single room while she's with him. We have also removed all household rugs to make sure she isn't confusing them with grass.
* We've been using potty bells for about 3-4 months now. They're hanging next to the door at her level. She knows 'touch' and will touch with her nose. If we are on our way outside she will consistently hit the bells before she goes out the door... but for the life of her she cannot connect that hitting the bells at any other time = she gets to go outside. She has hit the bells ONCE herself when we weren't in the room... and was patiently waiting at the door to go out. We basically threw a mini-party with lots of dancing and praising and treats... No dice - she never it again.
* We started with tethering and were constantly taking her outside giving her opportunities to potty. It worked great.
* We had an X-PEN set up and were sure to restrict her access to rooms. She was always within 'eyeshot' if she was outside of the pen. We were careful to take her out consistently and on a schedule.
* The pen has come up and down twice now as she'll be great for a few weeks, and then regresses, and up it goes again. It's down at the moment.
* She gets treats every time she goes outside and tons of praise - jumping up and down super excited omg you pottied praise!
* She's clearly very aware that she has to go outside. If we bring her out she'll do her business immediately and come to get a treat... but once she's back in and the waters down she'll pee every 30 minutes (only at home - at work she's fine) if we aren't watching her.
* She knows the words 'go potty' + pointing at the ground and she'll immediately go to the bathroom if she's outside.
* If we catch her in the act - say I walk in in the middle of a pee - she immediately goes submissive, puts her ears down, and slinks away towards the door because she knows she has to go outside to finish.
* If I catch her in the act we always clap and say 'NO' very sternly, and then bring her outside. She always gets treats after.
* Every pee and poop is cleaned up with enzymatic spray. For stuff on carpets we clean it up with the spray, then spray more to let it soak in.
* I thought she might be cold going outside so I got a sweater for her and it hasn't made a difference.
* Sometimes she'll come over and will stare at us to let us know she needs to go outside. Other times she won't. (Sidenote: staring isn't effective... we constantly have to be looking at her to see if she's staring at us.)
* She also has an issue with poop eating... Instead of letting us know she has to go to the bathroom she'll go find a spot to poop, then poop and eat it really quickly. I don't know if she's trying to 'clean up' after herself or what, but it's very frustrating. I was going to try pineapple juice... but the poop eating isn't consistent either. She'll stop for a few weeks and then start again. She is being fed Acana + limited ingredient soft food, as well as yogurt, and supplemented with pumpkin as required... so I do not think it's a nutrient deficiency.
* There seems to be very little consistency to when she goes to the bathroom. Ex. sometimes she poops 5 minutes after eating breakfast, other times she poops 4 hours after eating breakfast.
The ONLY thing that seems to help with the peeing is allowing her to drink her fill and then removing her water. I know young puppies need this, but I'm surprised at 7 months we'd still have to do it.
I don't know if I need moral support or what... We've decided to restrict her to a room at home from now on, making sure we can see her again... we've done this before and she regresses over and over. I can't tell if she's just really lovably stupid, or if this is typical to the breed.
Thanks for any input anyone can provide.
From the beginning I did tons of reading and research about the best way to potty train, and to the best of my ability, have been as consistent as possible. She goes to work with my husband and while at work has absolutely no accidents - she holds her pee and poop and will wait patiently until she's let out. At home it's an entirely different story... As far as I can tell we use the exact same process. The only difference is that she is generally restricted to a single room while she's with him. We have also removed all household rugs to make sure she isn't confusing them with grass.
* We've been using potty bells for about 3-4 months now. They're hanging next to the door at her level. She knows 'touch' and will touch with her nose. If we are on our way outside she will consistently hit the bells before she goes out the door... but for the life of her she cannot connect that hitting the bells at any other time = she gets to go outside. She has hit the bells ONCE herself when we weren't in the room... and was patiently waiting at the door to go out. We basically threw a mini-party with lots of dancing and praising and treats... No dice - she never it again.
* We started with tethering and were constantly taking her outside giving her opportunities to potty. It worked great.
* We had an X-PEN set up and were sure to restrict her access to rooms. She was always within 'eyeshot' if she was outside of the pen. We were careful to take her out consistently and on a schedule.
* The pen has come up and down twice now as she'll be great for a few weeks, and then regresses, and up it goes again. It's down at the moment.
* She gets treats every time she goes outside and tons of praise - jumping up and down super excited omg you pottied praise!
* She's clearly very aware that she has to go outside. If we bring her out she'll do her business immediately and come to get a treat... but once she's back in and the waters down she'll pee every 30 minutes (only at home - at work she's fine) if we aren't watching her.
* She knows the words 'go potty' + pointing at the ground and she'll immediately go to the bathroom if she's outside.
* If we catch her in the act - say I walk in in the middle of a pee - she immediately goes submissive, puts her ears down, and slinks away towards the door because she knows she has to go outside to finish.
* If I catch her in the act we always clap and say 'NO' very sternly, and then bring her outside. She always gets treats after.
* Every pee and poop is cleaned up with enzymatic spray. For stuff on carpets we clean it up with the spray, then spray more to let it soak in.
* I thought she might be cold going outside so I got a sweater for her and it hasn't made a difference.
* Sometimes she'll come over and will stare at us to let us know she needs to go outside. Other times she won't. (Sidenote: staring isn't effective... we constantly have to be looking at her to see if she's staring at us.)
* She also has an issue with poop eating... Instead of letting us know she has to go to the bathroom she'll go find a spot to poop, then poop and eat it really quickly. I don't know if she's trying to 'clean up' after herself or what, but it's very frustrating. I was going to try pineapple juice... but the poop eating isn't consistent either. She'll stop for a few weeks and then start again. She is being fed Acana + limited ingredient soft food, as well as yogurt, and supplemented with pumpkin as required... so I do not think it's a nutrient deficiency.
* There seems to be very little consistency to when she goes to the bathroom. Ex. sometimes she poops 5 minutes after eating breakfast, other times she poops 4 hours after eating breakfast.
The ONLY thing that seems to help with the peeing is allowing her to drink her fill and then removing her water. I know young puppies need this, but I'm surprised at 7 months we'd still have to do it.
I don't know if I need moral support or what... We've decided to restrict her to a room at home from now on, making sure we can see her again... we've done this before and she regresses over and over. I can't tell if she's just really lovably stupid, or if this is typical to the breed.
Thanks for any input anyone can provide.
