I have a four and a half month old yellow lab. She is absolutely adorable, but is not housebroken. I've tried to be as consistent as possible, and right when I think she is doing good, she has an accident. The issue is that when she is in the kitchen, she'll make an accident on the floor without even making a single whining noise. It bothers me that she will do that without trying to tell me she needs to go out. However, she knows that she is supposed to go outside, because she pees (or pretends to) immediately when I take her outside.

It's like she knows she is supposed to go outside, but she doesn't know that she isn't supposed to go inside. Should she already be housebroken? Should I be worried that she isn't yet? I'm just starting to get frustrated because I want to be able to take her places without worrying if she'll make an accident somewhere.

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Thanks a lot.

http://leerburg.com/housetrainingproblems.htm


look into crate training as well.

She might not have the control yet,some dogs don't until they are about 6 months old. IMO girls are especially hard, I would often think she was just going to sit down and there would be a puddle. She might also need to go a few times before she's done and you can take her back in.

These things really helped me:

At first I took my puppy out once every hour when she was not in the crate. If she still had an accident I would just ignore it, put her away and clean it up. I would then take her out every half hour for the rest of that day. When she went I would praise her like she just won a gold medal.

My neighbors probably thought I was a nut! At 10 o'clock at night in the pouring rain I would be dancing around my yard with the puppy saying "YAY! Good Girl! GOOD Puppy! YAY!".

If she went on command she would also get a treat. Have you taught your dog a command to go? Its really helpful.

Doing this it only took a few days to get her house trained. Its just about being vigilant and patient.

Davis, besides the very good info you have received, I want to ask a little about the dog's history. How old was she when you got her?

Is the accident pee or poop?

Also, if you got her recently, has she seen a vet? That is, have you considered a UTI? More info: Is she dribbling on the floor with the "accident" or is it a full-blown puddle?

If you got her recently, was she forced to go in a kennel before? Was she not trained when you got her?

I want to add too that you will find it completely counterproductive to get frustrated or impatient. Either she doesn't understand yet or she has a UTI and can't help it or she isn't outside when she needs to go or she isn't getting empty outside ....

After a lot of experience over many years, including with dogs who had lived outdoors or in a kennel until their adult or senior years, maybe never having been in a house, and including dogs recovering from UTIs, or months in a shelter with nowhere near enough outdoor-potty time, I have good news: You can do this. My failure rate is
zero.

Consistency, patience, partying hearty and rewarding like a slot machine for outdoor potty, never letting a bad indoor habit develop (or continue), and everything else mentioned above by Dennis and Lauren --- these things work.

Surrounding the natural body functions of a learning dog with a positive, upbeat, rewarding protocol --- it's almost magic, as long as you are absolutely dependable and consistent.

Don't feel discouraged!

 Quote: lauren jeffery

.... She might also need to go a few times before she's done and you can take her back in. ... These things really helped me: ... At first I took my puppy out once every hour when she was not in the crate. If she still had an accident I would just ignore it, put her away and clean it up. I would then take her out every half hour for the rest of that day. When she went I would praise her like she just won a gold medal. ... My neighbors probably thought I was a nut! At 10 o'clock at night in the pouring rain I would be dancing around my yard with the puppy saying "YAY! Good Girl! GOOD Puppy! YAY!". ... If she went on command she would also get a treat.

That's the "protocol" in a nutshell, all right!

I forgot to mention the best part about the excited praise. If she needs to go again, the praise party will usually get the process going. Then you have an excuse for *another* party!

What could top that?

 Quote: lauren jeffery

I forgot to mention the best part about the excited praise. If she needs to go again, the praise party will usually get the process going. Then you have an excuse for *another* party!

What could top that?

And I forgot to mention that I use the word of choice a lot in the praise, such as "Good potty! Yay potty!" etc.

This associates the word with the deed and gives a me jump start to asking for potty (making it a command). It also associates the word with good times and rewards.

Connie--I was going to write in about the UTI. Maya had one when she was younger, and it came back more than once. She also took a longer time to housebreak despite my diligence. She just didn't want to stop at times. She was playing on wood floors once with her dog friends, and I actually caught her sneaking off to a carpeted area to pee! I think the stinker just didn't want to stop the good times to go out and potty.

Ditto on cuing the potty. I love when I take her out at night and can let her know it's not play time, but just for going potty one last time. Valuable time/sanity saver.

Wow thanks a lot for all the responses!

Just a little background info: I got her when she was 8 weeks old. The breeder kept the litter in an outside kennel and let them pee and poop whenever they liked. So this might be making the process slower. Also, I've taken her to the vet, she's up to date on all her shots and the vet said she was healthy. She is not dribbling.

She has been doing good the past 2 or 3 days and then she just pooped on the carpet without giving any sign of needing to go out.

I am taking her out often and praising her a lot. I'm also saying "Go Pee" or "Go poop" and then, "GOOD PEE!", etc.

Should I be crating her more? Whats the process for crate training?

Also, should I be doing something specific right before we go out, so that she knows thats what it means? For example, I make her sit at the door before I open it and take her out. She's actually sat there a few times and stared at the door, letting me know. But thats about 1 out of every 100 times.

Thanks a lot for yall's help.