# First accident - what to do? abit freaked out.



## Charleysmom (Dec 6, 2011)

Charley had his first accident on my carpet just ten minutes ago. I don't udnerstand it. I've had him since March - he's never had an accident on the carpet. I'm so upset and worried that it will happen again. I immediately used icky poo on it. I yelled at him and know that I shouldn't have. It wasn't a horiible yell - "what did you do??? bad boy! and I brought him downstairs to his litter pan. he knows something is up.

I felt so comfortable knowing he had never had an acciddent on the floor. I know you're porbably saying - geez. they all do. But it's been 8 months since I've had him and this is the first time.

Ughhhh!!! What do I do? How do I be sure it doesn't happen again? He's litter pan trained although he goes outside at least 95% of the time. Rarely uses his litter box. Our routine was the same. He went out tonight at 7:00. No water after. Time upstairs hanging and playing. And 9:40 there it was. 

How do I be sure this doesn't become a habit? Once is an accident - more than once is a habit.


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## Miss Paige (Apr 4, 2008)

One-Don't stress out-it could have happened for any number of reasons. He could have been playing and the time slipped by-I sometimes think they are like little kids-and get to playing so hard they forget about the potty till it's too late to get to the box or outside. Just watch him & if necessary take him out more often or down to his litter box. 
We have all had the "kids" regress at times-when it happens we just start back a square one-but maybe this is just a one time accident.


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## TilliesMom (Sep 30, 2010)

the past few weeks have been hard around here also.... Tillie had a few pee "accidents" (not accidents, totally on purpose, I'm sure of). Anyway, turns out she had crystals in her urine. I know your situation is different, but, for my own peace of mind I chose to treat it like a slip up in potty training and gated off the hallway that leads to the bedrooms. Just to prevent it from happening again and becoming something she thought was okay.
Just a thought, maybe you can gate off part of the house? and keep a real close eye on him for awhile...?


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## Charleysmom (Dec 6, 2011)

I will do that. Fact is, today it was very wet, slurpy, snowy, rainy, cold and yucky. I just bathed him two days ago, he was lookin' so beautiful and I didn't want him getting all sloppy. So...I didn't take him out as much. Ugggh!! 

I will go back to limiting his free time to one hour after being empty. I'll take him out more frequently. Maybe he was was feeling out of routine? 

It's just sooooo out of character for Charley. I was 100% certain he knew inside was not for potty. It was so great to feel that confidence. Now I feel uncertain but I'll just have to change things up a bit. 

One thing that was different - yesterday Charley had a big bully stick. He chomped that thing right down. Boy is he a chewer. He hadn't had one for months. Anway, this morning he didn't do his usual poop but tonight his poop was so super large - no kidding. Maybe it (the bully stick) affected his bladder too? Is that possible? 

Also, when the weather is bad and we're not out as much he does get super restless. I try to play with him alot indoors but he does get a bit nutsy. Maybe that contributed too?


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## marlowe'sgirl (Jun 17, 2010)

Charleysmom said:


> I will do that. Fact is, today it was very wet, slurpy, snowy, rainy, cold and yucky. I just bathed him two days ago, he was lookin' so beautiful and I didn't want him getting all sloppy. So...I didn't take him out as much. Ugggh!!


You have your answer there. Maybe you didn't get to his favorite pee spot or he thought he had more time. It's not a big deal.

I remember Marlowe's last accident. He was basically accident free after the 5.5 month mark. But at 11 months, the weather got bad (he's a January baby) and so we did a very abbreviated walk before bed. I thought he did his business. While we were in the midst of our pre bed/on the bed playtime (always ~10 mins just to get the last bit of energy out), he suddenly paused and peed - in the middle of the bed while I was watching!! I think he was as surprised as me. He knows how to signal to go out etc. Sigh. It was a one time event. Just a weird out of routine accident.


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## Miss Paige (Apr 4, 2008)

I have "oldster" here and even though they have been potty trained for Years there are still days they have "accidents". If it's raining outside you can be sure my one will NOT Go out-I have hardwood floors and pee pads down. My foster is getting older and I am sure there will be potty problems due to her advanced age-I just don't let it bother me-It all comes with the joy & love they give me each day.


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## gelbergirl (Jun 9, 2007)

oops, an accident. Henry was not fully reliable until just over a year old.


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## Charleysmom (Dec 6, 2011)

thanks for your replies. Going forward I will get Charley back into a his routine so that he knows like clockwork when he will go out. The weather made *me* get sloppy and I was worried about him getting all sloppy outside.


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## misstray (Feb 6, 2011)

Brody went through a short regression phase...I want to say he was around 10 months or a year, but I can't remember for sure...once he peed right in front of me on the carpet...and a couple of time he went to his Ugodog and then went right next to it! I remember thinking, "what on earth is he thinking!!??!!" Thankfully it was a very short thing and he's been really reliable ever since.


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## The Laughing Magpie (Aug 20, 2009)

I have an olderster also, I have found he is very much about the routine, we have a dog door but it has become hard for him to climb the stairs, he has learned in old age to ring the bells, but if I miss his 10:00 pm poop break he will walk in the kitchen and go, also last night I gave him his 10:00 treat did not take him out, thinking he would not go as he went out 15 mins earlier with the others...while I was cleaning up, he pooped on the kitchen floor, young dogs can be affected by a change in routine and now I find the older guys are even more affected. My girl Misty was three when we got her she was not soild until a year...no accidents just could not trust her and I had to always watch her body language. For Charley it may be the change in routine with the weather and time change.


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## Charleysmom (Dec 6, 2011)

We are abck to routine today that's for sure.


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## krandall (Jun 11, 2009)

Charleysmom said:


> thanks for your replies. Going forward I will get Charley back into a his routine so that he knows like clockwork when he will go out. The weather made *me* get sloppy and I was worried about him getting all sloppy outside.


As you've heard from others, it's not unusual for puppies to go through (sometimes several) periods of regression.

...and the other factor is the weather. We thought it was great that Kodi preferred to go outdoors UNTIL the bad weather hit in his first winter. THEn we were sorry that we hadn't REALLY reinforced the litter box. Since then (and especially in the fall, as winter approaches, we STILL make a HUGE big deal praising him for using his box. We no longer say anything about him pottying outdoors, since that is already a "preferred" activity. We actually have to be careful about how we handle him pooping in the box, since he likes his privacy. So if we see him hanging around the box, we casually leave the room. But we can still hear him get in the box and circle, sure signs that he is going to poop. When he is just finishing up, we quietly step back in and give him TONS of praise. It's pretty funny, because he gets VERY excited about the ritual of us piking it up and disposing of it in the toilet... He has to accompany us the entire way, bouncing every step!ound:

Another thought I had...I don't know how large Charley is now, but Kodi became very resistant to using the litter box when he became too big to circle in it easily. We replaced it with a larger one (the large sized Rascal Dog) and his resistance went WAY down.

Another thing that caused resistance and accidents was when we (briefly) switched from wood pellets to the commercial "dog litter". I THOUGHT I was cleaning the box regularly. (with the wood pellets, you can see immediately if they've peed in it even once, because the pellets swell up and break apart) But with the commercial litter, when I got down on my knees one day to sweep up pellets that had been kicked out of the box, the ammonia smell was overpowering!!! The commercial litter is much more absorbent, and the urine sinks down through it. You can't see on the surface that the dog has used the box. I switched back to wood pellets, and he started using the box reliably again.

So, I guess my message is, obviously you want to keep accidents to the minimum, because unlearning takes longer than learning. But a single accident isn't the end of the world, and you AREN'T a "bad doggy parent"! And there can be a number of things that can contribute to accidents, especially with young dogs, whose understanding is tentative. (and Tom says it's ALL habit, with very little understanding for well past the first year) You are probably spot-on with your assessment of the weather contributing to his accident, but I thought I'd mention a few of the other "pitfalls" that caught Kodi and me!


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## Charleysmom (Dec 6, 2011)

Hi Karen

thanks for your reply. made me think about a number of things. charley and I had actually been out of routine for a couple of days - but we're back on track. I don't know about you but when it's really cold and wet outside I'm not up for the long walks etc. That combined with Charley has really established a preference to potty outside as opposed to his litter box. The litter has remained the same - no changes there. But I notice that he rarely uses it. But your suggestion to really praise him when he does is a great suggestion. I will always have the litter as a backup but of course Charley needs to look at it as backup too. So thanks for that. I hadn't thought that I should be praising him for that. Although, for the most part, I'm not around when he uses the box. But, I will applaud when I see him use it. (Charley knows that applause means he's done something very good)

regarding the size of the box, Charley isn't a circler. When he potties he just goes in and squats. Poopy is a little different though. he seem s to need more room for that. 

this was a good lesson for me. Routine Routine. Must stay to the routine.


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## Charleysmom (Dec 6, 2011)

good news !!! no accidents since that one a few weeks ago. I guess it was just a fluke (phew!) but a good lesson. Never let up on the routine. I can see that Charley does great with a dependable routine too. We had a routine before the accident but it's very fine tuned now. I feel like I really know his schedule. he's such a good boy.


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## Suzi (Oct 27, 2010)

yea Charley!


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