[kl324]

I adopted a 1yr 1 month old Terrier/beagle mix on this past Saturday...........She seems to only need to potty 2 times a day..............she seems to get very easily distracted when I take her out to potty and seems to go fine first thing in the morning, but then doesn't seem to act like she needs to potty when I take her out during the day........She has pottied a few times in the house and the car..........I try to take her out before we go somewhere and she seems to not do it if there are others in the car with us. I think today we did make progress as she seemed to finally signal she had to go so took her out and she did.
Should I kennel when I'm out of the house (tried yesterday for barely an hour and could hear her barking and such when I pulled up.............I did leave her in the bathroom once and she did ok, pooped, but not scratching signs or whining. Any help would be greatly appreciated

 

[Cinder]

I'll be watching this thread as I am in something of the same boat. New rescue dog (beagle hound cross),not signaling in any way that he needs to go out and having accidents in the house.

Cinder

 

[doxiemommy]

Congratulations on the new dog!

You haven't had her long. Rescue dogs need time to settle in, more than if you had gotten her from a breeder, or other situation. She's just over a year old, do you know much about her past?

You said she goes potty great in the morning, that's an easy one. She really has to go badly (I'm the same way in the morning! )
But, she gets distracted when you try to take her out later. She's in a new home with new sights, sounds, smells, etc. So, there are a lot of new things to distract her. If you think she should really need to potty, but she gets distracted, try taking her out for 5 minutes, saying the magic potty words, and if she doesn't go, take her back in. HOWEVER, watch her like a hawk when you bring her back in, because, sometimes, it seems like the minute you bring them back in they are thinking "hey! wait a minute, I needed to potty, I just got busy, oh well, I can go inside." And, they do.
So, after 5 minutes of trying outside, bring her back in, watching her closely, for 5 minutes. Then, take her back out for another 5 minutes of trying. Repeat.
Basically, it's 5 minutes out to try, then 5 minutes back inside, then back out to try for 5, then in for 5. The reason behind this is, you want her to understand potty time is for potty, not for exploring. You can do fun stuff, exploring and such later, but, when you think (as the human) that she needs to go, then she should go.

This method is a little time consuming, but, it can help when a dog is "indecisive" about going.

The other thing is, when you are home with her, she should always be in your sight, so that you can see when she starts to go. That way, you can interrupt her, rush her out, and let her finish outside. It's like saying "oops, no, not there, we go outside."
So, keep her in your sight until she has proven herself to be potty trained. OR, if you have to go out, or you have to do chores that will take your eyes off her, crate her for those periods of time.

If you leave the home, I would leave her crated. You can put a frozen stuffed kong in the crate with her, licking the frozen peanut butter (or other good stuff) out may keep her mind off you being gone.

Also, do you feed on a schedule? You can get her on a potty schedule if you keep track of how long after feeding she usually has to potty.