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Partial rant, partial request for help. I'm feeling frustrated. Our standard puppy is a little over 16 weeks old now, we've had her for 8. Our breeder said she was already used to using a doggy door, but we don't have one, so I assumed potty training would start from scratch.
At 8 weeks, she wasn't too bad - she would never soil her crate, and she seemed to prefer going outside. Once in a while she would go inside, but it seemed just a matter of timing.
While my wife and I are at work, we leave her in an exercise pen with a pee pad. After the first couple of weeks, she stopped even using the pee pad, holding it all day until we get home. That's progress!
The problem is, we still have accidents almost daily, and I can't find any rhyme or reason to them. She pooped several times outside today, and also pooped in the house twice and peed once inside the house. The pee came while I was cleaning the poop, and it was less than an hour since she's been outside. I know she can hold it, but she doesn't. Once in a while she'll start peeing on the carpet just a few feet away from me. She finishes within 5 seconds, so there's almost no way I can interrupt her and move her outside.
By the time I see it, it's all over. I take her outside probably hourly, if not more often than that. If I'm going to be busy for a while, I put her in a crate and take her outside immediately after.
I put bells on the door about a week ago, and jingle them every time I take her outside. I've moved her paw with my hand several times to show her how to ring them herself. She knows what the bells mean - if I jingle them, she and my other dog come to the door. But she doesn't ring them on her own, and I don't know how to get her to make the connection between the bell and going to the bathroom.
Anyway - sorry for the rant. I feel like we should be doing better with this by now. Am I expecting too much? Or am I not doing this right?
At 8 weeks, she wasn't too bad - she would never soil her crate, and she seemed to prefer going outside. Once in a while she would go inside, but it seemed just a matter of timing.
While my wife and I are at work, we leave her in an exercise pen with a pee pad. After the first couple of weeks, she stopped even using the pee pad, holding it all day until we get home. That's progress!
The problem is, we still have accidents almost daily, and I can't find any rhyme or reason to them. She pooped several times outside today, and also pooped in the house twice and peed once inside the house. The pee came while I was cleaning the poop, and it was less than an hour since she's been outside. I know she can hold it, but she doesn't. Once in a while she'll start peeing on the carpet just a few feet away from me. She finishes within 5 seconds, so there's almost no way I can interrupt her and move her outside.
By the time I see it, it's all over. I take her outside probably hourly, if not more often than that. If I'm going to be busy for a while, I put her in a crate and take her outside immediately after.
I put bells on the door about a week ago, and jingle them every time I take her outside. I've moved her paw with my hand several times to show her how to ring them herself. She knows what the bells mean - if I jingle them, she and my other dog come to the door. But she doesn't ring them on her own, and I don't know how to get her to make the connection between the bell and going to the bathroom.
Anyway - sorry for the rant. I feel like we should be doing better with this by now. Am I expecting too much? Or am I not doing this right?