[ATB17]

I've had her now for 7 or 8 months. We watch her constantly and when we're not watching her, we're crate training her. We take her outside every 3-4 hours and I'm still finding accidents in the house (I feel like if we don't watch her for 30 seconds, she's peeing in the house)


I'm seriously wondering if she's never going to be potty trained. Is this possible? We put her in the cage overnight and she can seemingly hold it for 10 hours overnight


What sucks now is she won't take treats outside so I'm just trying to rely on praise but that's not seeming to be working. I don't know what else I can do. I should say she hasn't pooped in the house in quite some time but I'm still finding some small pee spots here and there. I took her to a doc and the doc said she's perfectly healthy. Is my dog just stupid or what? She knows not to pee in the house but why does she keep doing it?

 

[LeoRose]

Has she been tested for a UTI? Is it possible that she has a malformed vulva? If she is spayed, it could be spay incontinence.

One thing to do is take her out a lot more often. Like every 30 to 60 minutes, and making sure that she is done peeing before coming back inside. Some dogs need to pee two or three times before they are empty.

 

[ATB17]

Has she been tested for a UTI? Is it possible that she has a malformed vulva? If she is spayed, it could be spay incontinence.

One thing to do is take her out a lot more often. Like every 30 to 60 minutes, and making sure that she is done peeing before coming back inside. Some dogs need to pee two or three times before they are empty.

she's almost a year old. I can't take her out every 30 or 60 minutes, it's in middle of freezing winter...just not realistic


I have friends with dogs the same age who are fine going out every 6 7 hours. Is this a question of lacking intelligence or something?


I had my vets do a full health test on her and my vet told me she's very healthy. I can put her in crate and she'll hold it for 6 7 8 9 10 hours, pretty much as long as I want her to. She never pees in crate. Also she very very rarely pees twice outside. I've taken her out for a long time to get her to poop (when she wouldn't poop) and still, she almost never pees twice.

 

[LeoRose]

Did they do a urinalysis?

If she is peeing when you aren't watching her, then she should be crated any time you can't be watching her. Feathering her to you when she's out of the crate means that she can't wander off and pee while you aren't looking.

I spent nearly two years getting up in the middle of the night to take my GSD out because she just couldn't hold it overnight. If I ignored or didn't hear her fussing, I was going to be cleaning a crate and bathing a dog. Eventually she outgrew it, and she's been known to hold it for over 12 hours in extenuating circumstances.

 

[storyist]

No, she's not stupid; she's just not housebroken. Believe it or not, part of housebreaking a puppy or dog is denying them opportunities to make mistakes. However, after you say you watch her constantly, you say, "I'm still finding some small pee spots here and there." If you're finding pee spots after the fact, she's having the opportunity to make them unobserved somehow and every one of those spots means you missed an opportunity to catch her mid-act and rush her outside to impress upon her that outside is where this should be happening. If she won't take treats outside, praise will work. Tailor the praise to her. Some dogs like enthusiastic praise. It overwhelms others and a calmer way of praising is better.

The reason housebreaking is a PITA is because it requires the human to pay attention to the dog any time the dog is able to make a mistake. We all want to be able to turn out dogs loose in the house while working on the computer or watching TV, but a few months of confinement whenever we can't or don't want to pay attention is worth it in the long run.

Also, if you're finding spots here and there after the fact, her environment contains scents of previous mistakes that pretty much guarantee it will continue. Consider using a black light to find all spots at one go, clean them with an enzymatic cleaner like Nature's Miracle that takes care of lingering scent, and get a clean slate to start again.

 

[3GSD4IPO]

I am going to add this and it may not be popular but here goes.

I know of SEVERAL owners of bully breeds that could not get their dogs house broken. It was not that these owners did not know what to do, they did. Really experienced people and much success for years until they got that bully breed (usually Frenchies and PB or PB mixes) that just did not care. Period.

This does not mean you should give up. You have two things going for you:
1.) She is pooping outside.
2.) She cares enough to not poop or pee in the crate.

At this point I would simply not give her any freedom in the house at all. None. Not even on a leash and attached to you. Crated or outside. Period. It may take you a few months and I know it is not the answer anyone would want to hear, but that is my suggestion. I think it is better than giving up the dog. In my world if a dog cannot or will not be house broken is a deal breaker and I will not keep such an animal.

I don't have many rules here but pooping and peeing outside along with not chasing the cats are my two rules. That is it. Truly. I don't care about anything else. All the rest is obedience training.

 

[ATB17]

I am going to add this and it may not be popular but here goes.

I know of SEVERAL owners of bully breeds that could not get their dogs house broken. It was not that these owners did not know what to do, they did. Really experienced people and much success for years until they got that bully breed (usually Frenchies and PB or PB mixes) that just did not care. Period.

This does not mean you should give up. You have two things going for you:
1.) She is pooping outside.
2.) She cares enough to not poop or pee in the crate.

At this point I would simply not give her any freedom in the house at all. None. Not even on a leash and attached to you. Crated or outside. Period. It may take you a few months and I know it is not the answer anyone would want to hear, but that is my suggestion. I think it is better than giving up the dog. In my world if a dog cannot or will not be house broken is a deal breaker and I will not keep such an animal.

I don't have many rules here but pooping and peeing outside along with not chasing the cats are my two rules. That is it. Truly. I don't care about anything else. All the rest is obedience training.

she's not having accidents when I'm watching her, like she's not peeing in front of me but I feel like I look at the computer for 2 mins and a day later I find a pee spot


I should note that I'm not constantly finding pee spots. It's like once a week or once every 5 days

 

[ATB17]

Did they do a urinalysis?

If she is peeing when you aren't watching her, then she should be crated any time you can't be watching her. Feathering her to you when she's out of the crate means that she can't wander off and pee while you aren't looking.

I spent nearly two years getting up in the middle of the night to take my GSD out because she just couldn't hold it overnight. If I ignored or didn't hear her fussing, I was going to be cleaning a crate and bathing a dog. Eventually she outgrew it, and she's been known to hold it for over 12 hours in extenuating circumstances.

They didn't do a urine analysis that I know off but I can ask


and the weird thing is my dog can hold it forever inside the crate. I've seen her hold it for 10 hours in the crate

 

[3GSD4IPO]

she's not having accidents when I'm watching her, like she's not peeing in front of me but I feel like I look at the computer for 2 mins and a day later I find a pee spot


I should note that I'm not constantly finding pee spots. It's like once a week or once every 5 days

The issue is she is still peeing in the house. Considering what you have said, you cannot have her out of your sight. If you are going to look at the computer etc. crate her.

I know of bully breed dogs that do not care about being clean in the crate. You have that going for you. Use it.~

Good Luck!!