Kingdom of Pets

Posted by lovemyberner
Apr 19, 2011

I have a 4 month old Bernese Mountain Dog. She (Bella) will go all night, 10:00 PM to 6:00 AM without peeing in her crate. In addition she will go from 7:30 am to noon, and 12:30 to 5pm without peeing in her crate (I come home everyday at lunch to let her out and feed her). BUT she will not go more than 45 minutes to an hour during the evening and weekends without peeing in the house. She give us no sign that she even has to go out.

The second part of the problem is, she sits so low when she pee's that she looks like she is sitting. I have yelled "no" so many times and she is not even peeing. Then I feel horrible. Then there are other times that she was peeing right in front of me, and everyone, I swear, she was sitting.

I don't know what to do. I take her out after playing, after she eats, after she sleeps, before and after she goes in her crate. Besides the fact that I can't catch her because she pee's so low, I don't understand why she can hold it longer than 45 minutes outside her crate.

I welcome any and all suggestions

Posted by MaxHollyNoah
Apr 19, 2011

Hi lovemyberner,

I had a same problem with one of my foster dogs. She also was 4.5 mos old puppy. I am not used to foster puppies so I had a terrible time potty training her since I also work full time and come home to walk my dogs and foster dogs during the extended lunch hour.

When I complained Dusty peed in front of my eyes so many times, my friend told me that those are not "accidents" but she just doesn't know where she should and should not go.

It is much easier to show her where to go, rather than telling her not to go everywhere else. At that age, scolding doesn't work. "No!" doesn't mean much, more than scaring her.

She knows she should not and does not want to go in her crate since she doesn't like to soil her living quarters. Don't let her wander around the whole house, instead let her expand her living quarters little by little.

I know it's easy to be said than done but I was told to do the above from an expert. I wasn't good at housebreaking puppies. My current foster dog (1 year old) is fortunately already housebroken

Posted by lovemyberner
Apr 19, 2011

I will try that. Her day crate is in the living room and the way the room is set up, i can block off the entrance and keep her confined to that room. Especially since that is where we are most of the time. We do let her wander the house in the evening and mornings before we leave for work. Weekends she pretty much has free reins also.

I have tried to catch her in the act so that we can immediately take her outside to finish, and then throw a party, but like I said she actually sits and pee's.

We also tried keeping her in the crate in the evening but I feel so guilty having her in there while we are home. She spends our work hours in the crate already.

I will give it a shot and see how it goes. Thanks

Posted by KOPCaroline
Apr 22, 2011

Hey there,

Its understandable to feel bad for leaving your girl shut up in her crate while you're home, but its theoretically only temporary. If you start out leaving her in there, then giving her a small room (laundry or foyer usually work well) and then expanding and expanding, etc..she should learn along the way that hey, ALL of this is where I live, I shouldnt potty here! It usually takes only a couple weeks to fully housetrain a dog, even with a few accidents.

As soon as she has an accident in a new room, set her back a step and block access to the newly expanded area again, for at least 2 days, then give her access again. Everytime she goes outside is a HUGE deal, she should be praised so so much for it, so she knows its a fun, happy thing to bathroom outside

Hope it goes well for you, I'm sure she'll get it soon!

Posted by lovemyberner
May 4, 2011

I have been unable to get to the site and only got your response now. We expanded her area to the kitchen blocking off the dining room and living room. I took her outside last night right before I went downstairs to run on the treadmill. I though instead of putting her back in the crate (she had been in there while we were at work all day) I would leave her in the kitchen area. I ran for a half hour and when I came back up she had peed on the floor.

It was less than a half hour since she had been out. I don't know what to do. She is 5 months old and we got her at 8 weeks. What am i doing wrong???

I didn't yell at her because I didn't catch her but she knew she did wrong. She was at the other side of the room with her head slightly down. She kept looking at me and at the floor.

Again... what am i doing wrong????

Posted by lovemyberner
May 4, 2011

KOPcaroline,

I just had a thought after i re-read your post. Maybe I am not praising her enough when she goes outside? The area I live is still chilly and extremely rainy so we let her out the back door on a 50 foot leash. She runs out and pee's, and runs right back in where we give her a treat, tell her good girl and she runs off.

Could giving her the treat when she comes IN the house be telling her something else or confusing her?

Posted by KOPCaroline
May 6, 2011

Hey again,

I doubt youre significantly confusing her with treating as she comes in the door, though it might be a good idea to stand and watch her when she goes out, that way you know not to treat if she doesnt go to the bathroom. With watching her, you can also get on top of giving her a "good girl" or two while she's peeing/pooing, then treat her at the door.

If treating at the door is what youve always done, I'd stick with it because changing routine can sometimes be more confusing than anything for dogs. Just be sure, as I said above, that you're only treating when she actually goes to the bathroom!

Two part house training problem