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Potty training trouble

Cuchulainn

New Member
New English mastiff owner and I’m having trouble potty training. Me and my wife have owned a few different breeds of dog, boxer, Australian Shepard, mastiff/pit mix, small mix, begal, and great pieranise/boxer mix, and all of these dogs have been house trained by us we crate train and it has worked beautifully. However with our new pup this doesn’t seem to be working. She will go all night with no accidents from 9:30-10pm until 4:30am I take her potty then and she goes sometimes twice and it’s back in the crate she’ll go until 7:30-8 after that no accidents: and then during the day we take her potty often 1 time an hour minimum and anytime she’s put in her cage she will pee within 10 min and I’ve tried to watch her planning on jumping up the moment she moves and she won’t but the second I leave or don’t pay attention she pees, she has even peed laying down with me watching her. She is only 12 weeks but I’m so confused to this behavior.
 

Big Gus

Active Member
I’m no expert, but have you talked to your vet? Sounds suspicious when she is going while laying down. They may want a urine sample.
 

Cuchulainn

New Member
I’m no expert, but have you talked to your vet? Sounds suspicious when she is going while laying down. They may want a urine sample.
I’m no expert, but have you talked to your vet? Sounds suspicious when she is going while laying down. They may want a urine sample.
She just went in for her 12 week vaccinations as well as a full exam and I talked to him about everything. He said that it sounds like it’s her immaturity as well as her seeking attention. Since starting potty training she has been kept in the crate almost exclusively unless she is outside going potty eating or we have her outside playing which was a change from when we first got her we we’re trying a new technique which was lead training where you keep the puppy at your hip at all times on a leash and take them out any time she wandered or pulled away. And that was working at first but we got super busy with lots of going so we changed to crate training and that’s really where her problems started we’ve discussed going back to that but there’s still lots going on and honestly she needs to crate train for times like this where we need to crate her
 
Talk to your vet, but I would not be too worried about it as you stated the pup is only 12 weeks old. My male boxer would be sitting on his butt and his front legs up (sitting and looking at me) and he would stare at me and start peeing, he eventually grew out of it. I would not be too worried about it.
 

Big Gus

Active Member
I had wondered if there could be a UTI that was causing lack of control. I’ve had dogs that would pee when excited or scolded.
We do both. We bring our pup out on the leash until he’s taken care of business then let him off the leash to run. Usually he is loose in the house and we watch for any signs of the need to relieve himself. My wife is home with him so this works well. If we are busy and cannot watch him he goes in the crate for nap time. We got lucky with Gus. At 8 weeks we were very diligent with taking out after eating and sleeping and at least every 1.5 hours to start with. I believe there was only 5-6 times he lost control and pee’d in the house. At 13 weeks he started going to the door and crying if he needs out.
Not every dog will be the same of course, stay vigilant and calm and all should work out.
 

Boxergirl

Well-Known Member
How old was she when you brought her home? When you take her out, is she supervised? Do you go out with her every single time and have a party and reward when she goes? Does she like her crate? It is a positive and safe place for her? Is the crate where she tends to have the most accidents? When she does have an accident, how to you handle it?

Generally, if there's no UTI involved (and there often is with pups, especially females), all mistakes from pups under six months are owner mistakes. That sounds judgmental, but that's not how it's meant. Pups that age are physically unable to hold their urine more than about three hours when awake. That's variable, of course, but it's the general rule of thumb. Being able to hold urine at night is not the same as holding it during the day. The umbilical method you used is great, but it can be difficult to do all the time. You're absolutely correct that the crate is a good alternative for when you can't supervise fully. It sounds like there's some anxiety going on in the crate. Vets often aren't well versed in behavior issues, so while pup may be "seeking attention" by peeing it's most likely not at all voluntary but due to some anxiety/separation anxiety. When I say that the mistakes are owner mistakes, I mean that at this age it falls to us to figure out what we're missing to help our pups learn what we expect of them. First thing would be to have her checked for a UTI, just to rule it out. Then we figure out what things we can do to help her succeed. The answers to the above questions can help with that, hopefully. I know it's very frustrating and it sounds like you've been very diligent with taking her out frequently. Some pups it just takes some real thinking to figure out what will make it click for them.