# Puppy potty training "regression"?



## Qlatifas (Oct 29, 2010)

Hello everybody! This is my first time posting here so I hope I do everything right! I have two Havanese/Coton mix puppies, Teddy and Tula. First - I'll try to give some background info about them. I have had them since 8 weeks old and have thus-far puppy pee pad trained them. I chose to go this route because it's winter and I don't want to let them out too much until it's a little warmer out. I will try to potty train them to go outside when they're older but that's beside the point. They have always been pretty good about going where they should - Teddy in particular. But recently Tula has been having accidents all over the house and rarely where she should (in the pen). This has been going on for a little while now and I am not quite sure what to do. If it helps, she was spayed a few days ago and the problem started a little before that. Oh - and I don't know if this is relevant - but between the two, Teddy is the more "dominant" one. Can anyone help/give advice? Thanks!


----------



## krandall (Jun 11, 2009)

If your puppy is having accidents, you need to confine her to an area that is small enough that she can be successful. If that means that she will reliably find her pad and use it in the kitchen, fine. If not, you need to keep her in her pen unless you can give her your UNDIVIDED attention (as in NEVER taking your eyes off her) so that you can catch her BEFORE she has an accident and get he to her approved potty spot.

Every mistake you let her have makes it that much harder to get her reliably house trained.


----------



## Suzi (Oct 27, 2010)

Qlatifas said:


> Hello everybody! This is my first time posting here so I hope I do everything right! I have two Havanese/Coton mix puppies, Teddy and Tula. First - I'll try to give some background info about them. I have had them since 8 weeks old and have thus-far puppy pee pad trained them. I chose to go this route because it's winter and I don't want to let them out too much until it's a little warmer out. I will try to potty train them to go outside when they're older but that's beside the point. They have always been pretty good about going where they should - Teddy in particular. But recently Tula has been having accidents all over the house and rarely where she should (in the pen). This has been going on for a little while now and I am not quite sure what to do. If it helps, she was spayed a few days ago and the problem started a little before that. Oh - and I don't know if this is relevant - but between the two, Teddy is the more "dominant" one. Can anyone help/give advice? Thanks!


 I do not know how old she is but my Maddie is about 7mo and she too started having more accidents. Tula may have a bladder problem and the antibiotics and the spay might be contributing to the problem. I herd natural goats yougart is good. But if she keeps it up I would tell your vet.


----------



## krandall (Jun 11, 2009)

Suzi said:


> I do not know how old she is but my Maddie is about 7mo and she too started having more accidents. Tula may have a bladder problem and the antibiotics and the spay might be contributing to the problem. I herd natural goats yougart is good. But if she keeps it up I would tell your vet.


Of course it never hurts to check out possible medical problems, but in this case, she said the puppy started having accidents before her spay. With puppies, the most _common_ reason for accidents is too much freedom, too soon. Sometimes they regress for no reason very obvious to us, but the answer is still the same... restrict their movement when you can't watch them like a hawk until they start doing RELIABLY better in a more confined area. This is true even if there is an underlying medical reason for the accidents in the first case.


----------



## Suzi (Oct 27, 2010)

krandall said:


> Of course it never hurts to check out possible medical problems, but in this case, she said the puppy started having accidents before her spay. With puppies, the most _common_ reason for accidents is too much freedom, too soon. Sometimes they regress for no reason very obvious to us, but the answer is still the same... restrict their movement when you can't watch them like a hawk until they start doing RELIABLY better in a more confined area. This is true even if there is an underlying medical reason for the accidents in the first case.


 I hear you I know i am getting tired of house training being consistent is hard.!


----------



## krandall (Jun 11, 2009)

Suzi said:


> I hear you I know i am getting tired of house training being consistent is hard.!


It's the only way to a consistently house trained dog, though, so it's worth it!


----------



## Barb1961 (May 3, 2010)

Hi! This is my first post here, too. I thought about starting a new thread but thought I'd just piggy-back on this one, since it's sort of the same issue. My puppy is a little older though. 

Dewey is 11 months old. We've had him since he was 9 weeks old. In the last few months, he's been doing great with potty training...until this week. Now he has urinated twice in our bedroom. Both times I was running a bath (for me) and it had been about an hour since he had been out. (I usually take him out about every one or two hours.)

Does this sound like regression to you experienced dog owners or should I maybe call the vet? If it was a bladder infection, wouldn't he be going more places than just the bedroom...and possibly more often than twice in five days?

I'd appreciate your thoughts. This is our first puppy, so I don't have a lot of experience. I must say it's a little disheartening to think you've got the potty training thing down and then experience set-backs. But if it's to be expected, then I guess I will feel a little better about it.


----------



## Thumper (Feb 18, 2007)

There are probably a hundred or more posts on here about regression and housebreaking problems, so it is somewhat common, I know we went through it at about 9 mo-14 months, she seemed to be a bit rebellious and at the time, I thought she was marking over where I had some incidents of marking when I dog-sat for a friend, but I'm not so sure, Gucci is pretty dominant, so I don't think that would be exclusive to submissives/ b-types

One thing I noticed on pad training (and even outdoors) that she didn't like to poo in the same place she pee'd, I'd keep an eye on what yours is doing and where to see if maybe that is why, that quirk tends to be with some of them.

You just have to go back to basics and start housebreaking like the beginning, its no fun, but eventually they 'get' it. 

It was a good 2 years before I really felt like all of the 'accidents' were over, I only know she will go in the house if she is upset that we left her here alone/ like anxiety, or if she has diarrhea and she will try to make it to the door to get out,but there has been a few times she hasn't... Fortunately, we haven't had that runny stool problem for a while.

Kara


----------



## krandall (Jun 11, 2009)

I agree that it's pretty common for puppies the age of yours to go through a period of regression. Go back to more confinement, watch diligently and reinforce good habits and you'll get him back on track. Periods of regression are usually quite short if you get right on them. 

You can always have the vet check him, but usually urinary tract infections cause lots of squatting and straining, even when the dog doesn't need to pee. They my just dribble a little bit.


----------



## jacqui (Aug 7, 2007)

Yes, keep a close eye on her. Puppies always give signals before they pee. They become restless, sometimes circle and sniff back and forth looking for the right spot. This is the time to put the puppy where you want it to pee. And then EXTRAVAGANT praise!


----------

