while we were perfecting teagan's medicine for her hips (and before in the bad patch that got her diagnosed) teagan would have accidents in the house. i just cleaned them up since i figured it wasn't entirely her fault, pain etc factoring in.

but every now and then, she'll pee. sometimes in her crate, sometimes in the hall.

and this is the dog i can walk around the park for 20 minutes saying 'go pee' before she'll actually pee (it's actually improved lately, sometimes she pees right away ). (i am working on marking her peeing as well and praising her when she goes)

i keep the dogs to a regular schedule, so that they're adjusted to going out 3X/day at those times. they're both adult dogs (teagan is 5).

this morning, i took the dogs out (a little early even) and once we got down in the entry way and i was putting on my jacket and boots, teagan peed - like she couldn't wait. i said no, grabbed her, and took her outside, where she did not pee. she later peed some more at the park.

is this just anticipation gone wrong? does she just not care? should i concern myself?

i don't want to discount the role her hips might play here, but like i said - we're pretty regimented about when we go to the washroom, and 98% of the time it's fine, but she does seem to be willing to go in the house that other 2% of the time. luc would never - i've seen him hold it for over 16 hours (my landlady was supposed to walk him but "couldn't").

I would drop off a specimen for a UTI check, and then I'd just back up to beginning potty training.

I've done that before with adults. No idea why there was a relapse, but it was always quickly resolved and back on track by frequent "outside," praise, etc. -- same as the first training.

she's been checked out for UTI before - i was having trouble w/her going infrequently (what started me trying to mark and praise her going - the peeing on command thread in general) and then she started going in the house. negative on the UTI, but the xrays showed she had hip dysplasia and a bone chip in her left hip.

her peeing patterns had been lovely (3 times a day!!!!) once on metacam, though she's still not back to that after going away on a cabin weekend a few weekends ago - we had to hike in, nothing extreme, but the weather was cold (-30C without windchill) and she definitely got off her pee schedule - but not accidents, the whole 'holding it' thing.

i do keep her tethered to me in the house. she has accidents either in the crate, or in the entry hall - where she is not tethered to me b/c i'm putting on boots/jacket. i'll go back and start tethering her to me while i do that. that's good for housetraining, right? and i'll keep to our established schedule. (i've never really housetrained a dog before, but i was reading the tethering is good, and the schedule has worked for her so i'll just really work on reinforcing it.)

(i've never been sure how well my marking her peeing in the park has gone. i always feel like she's ignoring me ("i'm peeing lady!") but i hope it's helping a bit.

 Quote: jennifer mullen

... (i've never been sure how well my marking her peeing in the park has gone. i always feel like she's ignoring me ("i'm peeing lady!") but i hope it's helping a bit.

Heck, grab a couple of high-value treats and throw a party when she goes outside. Why not? Reinforce the outdoor potty. And yes, I agree; why not tether?

If she's having accidents, I'd take her out more often. I don't like the accident habit to get established, and it won't if she's outdoors when she has to go and you are rewarding her every time for a while.

I still praise "Good potty!" sometimes, even with adults and seniors. Again, why not?

when would i give the treats? while she's peeing, or after? right now i praise her during and after (i'm the crazy lady cheering 'GREAT PEE!' in the park), and i pet her after. i don't pet her during since i don't want to interrupt her mid-flow.

(i praise luc too, though he's never had any issues, he goes immediately, but he always looks so proud of himself, it's so sweet.)

this morning's accident was the first in a few weeks, and i don't think she had one for a month before that - like i said, they're rare, but she doesn't seem to have a problem going in the house on those occassions - and then i look at luc who would never dream of it.

to be fair, mornings are probably harder for her b/c they get fed at night and i make her joint supplement gravy w/lots of water since she doesn't drink a lot (b/c of being raw fed? i don't know) and isn't always a huge pee-er. i like to know she'll have a good pee in the morning, luc pees all the time and teagan's all 'i don't have to go'. i may need to be careful of how watery i make the gravy as well, but to be honest - even if it is more watery than normal, what i don't get is she can hold it until we're downstairs, stop peeing once i take her outside, and then pee again in the park. i guess i can't help wonder if she's going to have an accident, why didn't she have it in the crate? why can't she hold her pee for a few more seconds until we're outside, she's held all night until i get up (they go immediately before bed/feeding and when. sometimes i get up a bit earlier and don't take them out until right before i leave for work - though this morning i took them out earlier, when i got up - i might get up a bit earlier, take her out then, and then take her out right before work. i just don't get how she can be fine most of the time, and she can hold something all night but not wait that extra 30 seconds. i've had people tell me it's because she was in a shelter and the kennels there are set up for the dogs to go in them (it was kinda gross) but she spend 3.5 weeks in a shelter, luc spent 3 years and he would die before he'd pee in the house! but different personalities, and maybe her hips do make her thresholds different.

oh....i just remembered too. the other thing i've started doing in an attempt to get her to go WHEN we get to the park, rather than after 20 minutes of walking in a circle in her 'area' is if she doesn't go after say 5 minutes, than we leave the park and finish our walk. i did that to her last night, she poohed, but wouldn't pee. maybe this is my fault, though i have seen her hold it fine over a similar time frame in the past (pre-metacam).

but maybe ignore my question, i forgot that, it's probably all my fault. sheesh!

 Quote: Jennifer Mullen

... right now i praise her during and after (i'm the crazy lady cheering 'GREAT PEE!' in the park), and i pet her after. i don't pet her during since i don't want to interrupt her mid-flow.

Me too.

I mark when the dog squats or lifts and starts to pee, and reward when s/he's done.

ok, so i'm pretty well doing that other than the treat.

i think it might also be a function of her personality. when i praise luc after he's gone, he looks so proud, he stands so tall, if i had to put it into words he'd be all 'I DID THAT GREAT!!! DID YOU SEE ME WORLD? I PEED GOOD!'.

teagan, on the otherhand, often turns her head slightly away with an almost 'there's no need to inform the whole world' combined with an 'i'm busy, could you talk to me later'.

(not that i would at all be anthropomorphic there or anything)

but that also just might be how they are. when they were away at the cabin weekend, people loved luc b/c they talk to him in a high-pitched voice and he'd get all excited, spinning around in circles, grinning his doggy grin (like an 'OMG! you're excited too?!! so am i!!!! isn't this the BEST!?!') and anyone who did that to teagan got a slightly disgusted look ('are you talking to me in that tone of voice?')

(not to say teagan can't get excited. small animals get her excited (sigh) and we play a game where she runs/hops towards me and then i jump up and tickle her, she loves that, and she and luc are playing quite a bit!!!! (which doesn't make me cry anymore, but i'm still so happy when i see them play) )

I'd reward her tangibly for now if I were backing up in the housetraining process.

I'd have with me whatever she loves.

JMO.

makes sense. basically, make peeing the best thing in the world.

chicken hearts are a nice size to stick in a baggy....and they would be very high-value for her compared to most other store-bought dog treats.
(she's far more independent than luc. luc wants to please, with everything he's got, whereas teagan - she's sweet, but she's got her own mind about those things. i've had her for four months now, and i find that difference between the two of them striking. praise is not a significant motivator for teagan, and to some degree even treats/toys....i find she thinks far more than luc does, and almost goes through this process 'is this worth it for me' that i don't really see in luc. again, i might be overly anthropomorphic there though. teagan's the dog who learnt to lift the latch of the door of the cabin we stayed at a few weeks ago. luc's the dog who is like 'yep, that sure is a door!' she thinks everything through and seems to weigh/evaluate her decisions. i don't know though. my garbled impressions )

....but even she couldn't resist chicken hearts! muahahahaha