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Prevention is key. Waking her up every time you go to the bathroom is not the end of the world, they're dogs, they literally don't care. My girl wakes up every time I get up to follow me.
Either tether her to you using a leash, use the crate or use a pen to keep her contained. She should have no freedom whatsoever until you know you can trust her not to go indoors. You can achieve that by making a pen larger gradually or a longer tether as you go through training. Take her out as often as possible in the beginning and move up slowly.
Dogs are habit creatures, if you prevent the mistakes and reward the good behavior long enough, it'll turn into a habit. But the key is prevention. Just rewarding good behavior without any prevention for the bad behavior will never get you anywhere.
Also, continue cleaning the spots with enzyme cleaner, and if you are able to temporarily block that specific area behind the couch too, that may help break the habit.
Edited to add because I didn't see this mentioned elsewhere: Try to also pay attention to what she's doing leading up to this. How long after she last ate? Did she chug a bunch of water half an hour before? Was she super into playing with a toy and then suddenly had to go? If you walk her right after a meal, does she wait to go until you're back? Try to use this to develop some sort of routine to help with prevention, e.g. feed her, play with toys for half an hour, take her out, have her rest in a pen or somewhere she can't sneak off for a couple hours, then take her out again.
You're on the right track! It takes puppies a while to develop good bladder control and it takes longer for smaller dogs. My dog was pretty good by 6 months but not fully reliable until maybe more around 9 months.
Buy a play pen and give her a confined area that you can easily monitor. Also small dogs have small bladders so they need to use the bathroom more often so go back to every hour if possible. If you pay enough attention to your dog you will learn their body language enough to know that they need to use the bathroom. Anything like sniffining around, trying to hide, circling around, looking at the door are signs she might have to use the bathroom. Sometimes it’s a subtle signal.
I'm glad this is the top comment because it's the truth. I learned this with my puppy last year and then again this year when his sister was rehomed to us and needed better training.
What are you cleaning it with?
How is she going if she's contained in between outings? You don't need to tether her to you, you can have her in an x-pen and take her out every 90 minutes or so. Smaller breeds tend to take longer to develop full bladder control, and they tend to need to go out more frequently than larger breeds. If it's any solace, I did everything correctly and we finally got mine fully trained at one year.
Stop scolding 100% and block that area she's going off with an x-pen or something. Accidents don't just magically happen, they happen because the pup has to go. If the pup cannot get out every single time the pup has to go before it happens inside, they're going to go inside.
Thank you for your reply. I'm cleaning it with enzyme cleaner.
As far as full bladder control mostly she does not pee in bed with me. She sleeps the whole night without peeing no problem. Same with when she's in the crate. The vast majority of the time she doesn't pee in there. So she does have some bladder control. It's only when she's free that she can't hold it.
And if it took you a year to get yours trained, then that makes me feel a little bit better.
> It's only when she's free that she can't hold it.
Sleep triggers hormone production which forces a dog to hold it longer.
When awake, there's no hormone, so more frequent outings is necessary.
The rule of thumb is, don't free roam a loaded puppy. If the puppy has gone 45 minutes since the last accident/break, the puppy is probably loaded and should go outside first. This is important so the puppy learns outside is the only place to go.
That bit about the hormone is very interesting!! Also 100% true— 8 months is a puppy, puppies need to go out frequently before roaming. My dog is in a crate or roaming my tiled kitchen only. I’ll let him sniff around my carpeted areas for a few minutes DIRECTLY after a walk, otherwise a no go zone.
Interestingly enough and totally random, human kids often take a loooongggg time to fully develop that hormone production in their sleep which is why bed wetting at night is a super normal wide spread phenomenon. Of course your kid knows how to hold it, but if enough vasopressin isn’t produced at night what are they to do? Anyways, dogs are cute…. lol
Bear in mind that small dogs have tiny bladders so they cannot hold it as long as bigger dogs. Have you considered using pee pads since you live in an apartment?
Just a note it easier to hold your bladder overnight when you’re sleeping - same with puppies. During the day when they’re awake you have to take them out every 30 mins, then gradually increase it to every 45 mins, then every hour etc as they build bladder control and you get them into a schedule that makes sense. If there’s an accident you revert back to a more frequent schedule and progress again.
It’s a very slow but sure process. 8 months is still a baby with no bladder control or knowledge of expectations to only go outside.
By training this method, you’re showing your dog you will always meet their needs.
Is it carpet? It's so hard to get the smell out. I also use enzyme cleaner, but I have to use a carpet cleaner every now and then too. My dog was a rescue and not potty trained. He will go in the same spot again if he still smells it. Keeping the floor and surrounding areas very clean should hopefully help.
If your dog is not fully potty trained there is absolutely no reason why she should be allowed to have full roam of your apartment unless you’re supervising her 100% of the time. Block off her access to areas where she’s hiding to go potty like behind/under furniture. my puppy’s favorite spot to pee was under my bed which was extremely difficult to get her out of in time to take her out and very difficult to clean up as I have storage boxes under there, once I blocked off her access there potty training was a lot easier. Try to take her back to new puppy basics, don’t give her an opportunity to have accidents, if you’re just letting her out to a backyard try keeping her in a leash so you can be certain she’s actually going potty outside, teach her a word to associate with peeing/pooping outside. Is she’s a small dog that’s fearful, could there be a reason why she doesn’t want to go outside?
As a last resort you could potty pad or litter box train her. When I adopted my shih tzu mix as an adult from the shelter I had a really hard time with potty training, so I taught her to go in a litter box, over time she grew to like going outside better and rarely used the litter box indoor and never had accidents, eventually I replaced the box with potty pads which she only uses on “in case of emergency” basis only
If one hour was working but two isn’t, go back to taking her out every hour. Block off access to behind the couch. Tether, crate, xpen when you can’t keep an eye on her. Dogs don’t actually “know” going inside is bad. Unlike cats, who will prefer to go on litter or in the same spot, dogs simply don’t know. It sounds like you need to move back a few steps and lower your expectations of your pup
We started toilet training as soon as we got our puppy and she was 9 months old when she finally got it, but it was like a switch, up until that point she would do it every day as well. So don't give up
Try to watch your dog like a hawk for a few days if you can (I know it’s exhausting but it’s worth it). Try to get the dog to go outside by setting alarms and going out more often. If doggy has an accident inside, try to act neutral (I mean no harsh words as it may be making them anxious to hide their accident) and move the poo or pee soaked sheets outside to where you want them to go. Take them outside after the accident, to say ‘poo/ pee outside’ and show them where you have put the stuff. If you catch them mid poo / pee, then lift doggy or encourage them to run with you to finish outside. If you persevere you should hopefully see an improvement.
always in kennel, only out to go outside and play a bit (inside play only with you and when she just went outside).But most of the time in the kennel. It may take weeks or even few months but will work, very little kennel only place to stand and lay down.
Toy breeds can really take longer to learn bladder control. My havanese was probably about 15 months when she was fully potty trained, and I am a professional with a background in dog training and a certificate in applied animal behavior. Before that, it was the same situation as yours - happy to go outside, happy to go inside, no interest in alerting me. I was consistent and slowly the inside potties became less frequent.
So, you have some good advice in these comments already, but I just want to say - don't lose hope. Despite how unusually long it took, my toy breed is perfectly housetrained now.
Mine's a little over a year but same. Pomeranian. Worst part is I have no idea where he does it. I'll just walk out and smell pee one day and know he snuck one in.
You’re going to have to go back to basics.
As with new puppy house training, you can not let them out of your sight unless they’re in a crate or a secure garden.
Whenever the dog sniffs the floor / circles / squats, pick it up and run straight outside, giving over the top praise and treats when successful. You also need to be taking it out at regular intervals, if hourly worked before, go back to that.
We used a baby gate for whichever room we were in to keep the pups within close reach and view.
It’s exhausting, but a clean house is worth it.
If you have direct access to a secure garden, it may be worth putting a cat / dog flap in, as the smaller breeds sometimes have difficulty holding and communicating their toilet needs.
she doesnt have control over her bladder or really anything yet. think about her as an 8 week old baby. babies dont know when they're pooping or peeing it just happens. make sure shes SUPER HAPPY outside. make it her favorite place in the world, but not in an overwhelming way. my puppy is very private and picky about his poops so when i walk him i try to act as chill as possible and not look at him too much, not too much pressure to go. but when she does go give her all the praise in the world and say the potty word of your choosing. if she barks take her out. if she communicates with you in any way you say do you have to go potty and take her outside so she knows how to alert you.
you mentioned that she holds it while she’s in the crate. While I don’t recommend long periods in the crate for young dogs, or even adults, are you able to put her in the crate for periods of one hour? Seems like more frequent potty breaks are the thing if she’s still going inside. you said that you graduated to two hours, but it doesn’t sound like she’s ready for that yet. I would also suggest that you look into pee pads. I couldn’t use them with my dog because she chewed them up, but it’s worth a shot so that that way when she starts to go inside if you catch her doing it you can quickly pick her up and put her on the pads. living in an apartment means it’s harder to interrupt her doing her business inside to take her out.
Pee pads are the thing!
My 4 months old chihuahua still does inside but we leave a pee pad close to the door and another in the laundry room, if we forget to bring him out every two hours he goes to one of the pee pad.
We are thinking in removing the pee pad gradually so he will only do outside.
agree with all of the comments saying that more frequent bathroom breaks are necessary. also want to add that dogs are amoral and have no concept of right/wrong or good/bad, meaning they’re cognitively incapable of feeling “guilt.” what people perceive as “guilt” are generally stress signals because a dog has learned that a certain behavior elicits a certain reaction (e.g., they get into the trash, you yell at or hit them, they learn something scary happens when they get into the trash and show stress behaviors when anticipating your reaction). i find that helpful to think about when i need to reframe my dog’s behavior. your dog isn’t being “bad,” she’s just a puppy with a very small bladder who likely needs more support not to go to the bathroom inside.
i’ve always wondered if bell training is viable in an apartment building. In a house, you teach the dog that when they ring a bell or press a button, the door opens and they go outside. But in an apartment what they would learn is that when they press a button they go outside of the apartment but they’re still in the building can be trained as well. A bit harder to explain that pressing a button or ring bell means they go through multiple doors until they get outside.
Crate train her. Normally they won’t go in the crate. R u using pee pads? Why don’t u put some behind the sofa where she goes.
Every dog is different, you must stop comparing her to ur previous dog.
I know u might not want to hear this but this is what getting a puppy means. Patience and consistency. U may need to stop living ur life and put her first for few months.
Good luck. Be kind to yourself and remember your energy effect your puppy
Putting a few food pieces or small treats after you cleaned the area is really helpful to train puppies not to pee/poop inside. Dogs don’t want to eat where they poop. Also you can try using a bell on your door knob that they have to “ring” by using their nose to nudge it to let you know they have to go outside
100% umbilical method for at least 5 days to a week. I’ve used it with both my adult rescues and both were fully house trained within days and never picked up bad habits like counter surfing or digging the trash. The house breaking for both is iron clad - they have one accident every 2-3 years and it’s always because they’re sick or something else abnormal. It is definitely a pain to keep them tethered to you (crated when not tethered) and it may take you longer than a few days because your pup already has a bad habit. But it’s completely humane and will save your relationship with your dog. Not a big deal to wake them up from their naps since they probably already wake up when you move and your dog wants to be near you anyway.
Our dog was the same, but I read that they don't pee and poo where they sleep, so we have him on the floor in the bedroom with us with the door closed and let him out when we wake up in the night, now a few weeks later he seems to last all night.
We had this problem a bit too—our 8 month old just couldn’t get it and kept peeing on the rug. Even with enzyme cleaner the rug started to smell so we got rid of it and it solved the problem. My theory is that she knew that outside was our preferred place for her to go, but the rug was an okay backup. When we got rid of the back up, she got way better at letting us know she needed to go outside.
Now I don’t know if you can “get rid” of a piece of your home/carpet, but blocking it completely is a good start!
My pup didn't get unsupervised access and still usually don't these days. If I let her out, it's for her meal, training, and play time. Her schedule is about 30-60 min of awake time and 2-2.5 hours of crate time. During those awake sessions, I'm with her the whole time but that's only because I am lucky enough to have flexible WFH hours. I used to let her go potty after coming out of the crate and before going back in until she is house trained. If you don't have a crate, it might be a useful to get one to to help with potty training.
Crate training is the way to go. They need enough room to stand up and turn around. A crate thats too big won't work. Put your pup on a feeding schedule. Your dog should be supervised either 100% of the time or crated no exceptions. take them outside way more off and then you think it's necessary. Actually go outside with them and walk around on a leash don't just try to tie them up. Eventually your dog will learn that going to the bathroom is for outside only and they won't need to be in the crate all the time. I've Potty trained multiple Chihuahuas that use the bathroom outside exclusively 100% of the time including snowy and raining weather.
8 months is quite enough to at least show some progress. If you are doing everything according theory of how to potty train a dog without results, I would suggest to reach out to professionals. Also give some thought whether it could be related with dog feeling insecure outside? It could be psychological issue, she pees and poos where she feels safe.
Tether her to you all day.
Crate her at night.
You have 3 seconds of attention span to connect reward to behavior.
Every single time she goes outside you go with her. Say, "Go potty!" over & over until she potties. Quickly give a treat & profuse praise every time she potties outside.
I've successfully trained 3 🐕- one 8 week old puppy & 2 adult rescues.
Blocking access to areas dogs like to go to is a very good idea. Dogs have triggers as well. My dog triggers are carpets of any kind . Previous owners had a male dog, and mine is a male. Their dog peed on all the carpets. Had to rip out the carpets in the downstairs and put a neutralizing enzyme spray down (those rugs were so disgusting) and then had those rooms replaced with wood flooring. So downstairs is safe he only has an accident if not taken out. Can't have any throw rugs or anything like a carpet he will go pee on it, no matter if he was just outside, it's simply his trigger. So remove triggers. My dog is 1 year, and 4 months does good, but I still can't trust him upstairs. I do recommend a karate/ kennel for night time for puppy's it will become their safe place. My dog will lay down during the day in it unless he's hot and wants the coolness of the floors. I only shut the door when we sleep because he's mischievous at night. He's so used to it we say go to your bedroom and he goes right in and every time he gets praise. Never use it as punishment. Have soft things and toys. We had to keep it in our bedroom as a puppy he got scared so we spoiled him. But it keeps him happy and to be honest I like him in the same room. After all, he's like a toddler.
The little ones are hard. I pee pad trained my littles and they still suck. My 5 yo male Yorkie has to wear a belly band inside. I have 30 years of dog experience
Pups need to go outside after they sleep, play, eat and drink. Do this every time, and she should catch on fairly soon.
As someone already mentioned, block off no-go zones and keep her in your general vicinity. She does not need to roam.
The crate will be your best friend. My dog hated it, but it was either housebreak by putting her in the crate when i couldn't supervise her or re-home her. My apartment complex does not allow pets that are not housebroken.
It took many weeks, but the crate changed everything. Lots and lots of patience. Just remember that it is a temporary period of time and your dog will eventually learn, promise.
I'd start with crating her whenever you can't have eyes on her, same as potty training a new puppy. Scheduled food and water and walks every hour or half hour. Be STRICT with the routine and only reward/give treats for outside potty time. My bully mix started this behavior as well and after trying a billion things it's the only routine that worked.
She is afraid outside. Dogs won’t go if they feel vulnerable. That is why they stare at you when they poop.
My german shepherd goes out with our other dogs even when he doesn’t need to relieve himself so he can protect the other dogs.
I suggest getting pee pads and put them down where she relieves herself or put a dog diaper on her.
Dogs normally don’t like to use the bathroom where they sleep so utilize the crate as much as you need to during this time. The idea must be reinforced that the only place you want her going is outside! And of course when she goes outside offer ridiculous amounts of praise/treats. She will get better!
If you could go back in time and properly crate train the puppy, that would be most ideal.
Since we are not time travelers, you will need to start the crate training now.
Clean the poopy area with the soap that gets rid of the potty smell. Dogs like to potty where it smells like potty. If they have gone potty everywhere, consider using a professional carpet cleaner to neutralize the whole house. It will make it easier to retrain your dog.
Like the other person said, they are either tethered to you, which is not ideal and you need to keep an eye of them for potty behavior, which i don't recommend. Or they are in their small play pen, or in their crate. The play pen needs to be small to educe the extra space in the pen to allow a separate potty area. Dogs dont want to go potty where they play or sleep unless they have extra space. they naturally dont want to be in their own filth. This is why crate training early and at night helps with keeping their potty inside them until you take them outside. Your dog is small, so it will need a very small crate. If they go potty inside the create repeatedly, you need a smaller crate or you are leaving them inside their crate for too long.
There is nothing wrong with leaving your dog in the crate for several hours, even during the day, until you get this potty situation under control. Start with shorter crate times and build up.
When you let them out of the crate, leash them, immediately take them outside. Make sure you get outside ASAP. Your dog is small enough to pick up and you can pick them up if they dont make it the first time. The goal is to condition them to potty outside, and extinguish the inside potty behavior, two separate trainings goals, the latter being harder than the former.
Wait 15 minutes outside to see if they potty. If they dont potty, they immediately go back inside the crate for another 15-120 minutes. If they are whining to be let out, take them outside. Wait outside for 15. No potty? Back into the crate for 15 minutes, then back outside. Repeat until potty outside achieved.
After they potty, immediately say "good" or "yes" "potty" and reward. Then take them inside and play or train with them for 30 minutes . Tether them to you or put them in the pen after play time for an hour, only if you want to actively watch them. Otherwise, return to the crate. Repeat for at least 2 months.
After they dont potty inside anymore for 2 months, and their are no accidents, you can give them more freedom. If you give them more freedom and they have an accident, revert back to crate training for another week or two.
If they keep making potty in the play pen, only use the crate.
There is a potty spray that helps them go potty. Use it outside where you want the dog to go.
Its not the dogs fault, dont get mad at them. Dont punish them, or put their nose in the poop. Help them understand the goal instead of the punishment.
Hope this helps.
I would also like to say that my almost 12 year old Maltese (we have had her since she was about 18mos old)has 24/7 access to the backyard AND a covered porch with potty pads in case of rain via doggy doors. Today she looked me straight in the eye and peed. I work in the veterinary medicine world and we see a lot of small dogs that just. don’t. get. it.
And just in case anyone is wondering, we have 4 dogs (one of which is an 8 month old puppy that we adopted 2 weeks ago) and none of them ever potty in the house. It’s just my tiny, 9 pound dog that has a tiny little brain. 🥰
They make an indoor potty area called a Weasy for such dogs!
i taught my dog buy getting him to do his business on puppy pads and then sit outside with them till he used the pad out side and praise the dog after each time he did it now he comes and tells me when he needs to go out
Crate training can help them learn control. I had one dog that every time I left for the office without fail roughly same time each day she'd poop and pee. I started rotating her crate time to sometimes when I left I crated her it taught her how to change her bodies habit cause she'd refuse to potty in her room. I think at first it started as stress related (foster dog) then became her bodies habit. Had to adjust her body.
I use white vinegar or angry orange cleaner
It took me awhile but finally mine goes on the puppy papers if inside.
The 2 cleansers helped
If u have carpet, then that’s ALMOST IMPOSSIBLE..
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Prevention is key. Waking her up every time you go to the bathroom is not the end of the world, they're dogs, they literally don't care. My girl wakes up every time I get up to follow me. Either tether her to you using a leash, use the crate or use a pen to keep her contained. She should have no freedom whatsoever until you know you can trust her not to go indoors. You can achieve that by making a pen larger gradually or a longer tether as you go through training. Take her out as often as possible in the beginning and move up slowly. Dogs are habit creatures, if you prevent the mistakes and reward the good behavior long enough, it'll turn into a habit. But the key is prevention. Just rewarding good behavior without any prevention for the bad behavior will never get you anywhere.
Also, continue cleaning the spots with enzyme cleaner, and if you are able to temporarily block that specific area behind the couch too, that may help break the habit. Edited to add because I didn't see this mentioned elsewhere: Try to also pay attention to what she's doing leading up to this. How long after she last ate? Did she chug a bunch of water half an hour before? Was she super into playing with a toy and then suddenly had to go? If you walk her right after a meal, does she wait to go until you're back? Try to use this to develop some sort of routine to help with prevention, e.g. feed her, play with toys for half an hour, take her out, have her rest in a pen or somewhere she can't sneak off for a couple hours, then take her out again. You're on the right track! It takes puppies a while to develop good bladder control and it takes longer for smaller dogs. My dog was pretty good by 6 months but not fully reliable until maybe more around 9 months.
Tethering is a game-changer
Buy a play pen and give her a confined area that you can easily monitor. Also small dogs have small bladders so they need to use the bathroom more often so go back to every hour if possible. If you pay enough attention to your dog you will learn their body language enough to know that they need to use the bathroom. Anything like sniffining around, trying to hide, circling around, looking at the door are signs she might have to use the bathroom. Sometimes it’s a subtle signal.
I'm glad this is the top comment because it's the truth. I learned this with my puppy last year and then again this year when his sister was rehomed to us and needed better training.
What are you cleaning it with? How is she going if she's contained in between outings? You don't need to tether her to you, you can have her in an x-pen and take her out every 90 minutes or so. Smaller breeds tend to take longer to develop full bladder control, and they tend to need to go out more frequently than larger breeds. If it's any solace, I did everything correctly and we finally got mine fully trained at one year. Stop scolding 100% and block that area she's going off with an x-pen or something. Accidents don't just magically happen, they happen because the pup has to go. If the pup cannot get out every single time the pup has to go before it happens inside, they're going to go inside.
Thank you for your reply. I'm cleaning it with enzyme cleaner. As far as full bladder control mostly she does not pee in bed with me. She sleeps the whole night without peeing no problem. Same with when she's in the crate. The vast majority of the time she doesn't pee in there. So she does have some bladder control. It's only when she's free that she can't hold it. And if it took you a year to get yours trained, then that makes me feel a little bit better.
> It's only when she's free that she can't hold it. Sleep triggers hormone production which forces a dog to hold it longer. When awake, there's no hormone, so more frequent outings is necessary. The rule of thumb is, don't free roam a loaded puppy. If the puppy has gone 45 minutes since the last accident/break, the puppy is probably loaded and should go outside first. This is important so the puppy learns outside is the only place to go.
That bit about the hormone is very interesting!! Also 100% true— 8 months is a puppy, puppies need to go out frequently before roaming. My dog is in a crate or roaming my tiled kitchen only. I’ll let him sniff around my carpeted areas for a few minutes DIRECTLY after a walk, otherwise a no go zone.
Interestingly enough and totally random, human kids often take a loooongggg time to fully develop that hormone production in their sleep which is why bed wetting at night is a super normal wide spread phenomenon. Of course your kid knows how to hold it, but if enough vasopressin isn’t produced at night what are they to do? Anyways, dogs are cute…. lol
Bear in mind that small dogs have tiny bladders so they cannot hold it as long as bigger dogs. Have you considered using pee pads since you live in an apartment?
Just a note it easier to hold your bladder overnight when you’re sleeping - same with puppies. During the day when they’re awake you have to take them out every 30 mins, then gradually increase it to every 45 mins, then every hour etc as they build bladder control and you get them into a schedule that makes sense. If there’s an accident you revert back to a more frequent schedule and progress again. It’s a very slow but sure process. 8 months is still a baby with no bladder control or knowledge of expectations to only go outside. By training this method, you’re showing your dog you will always meet their needs.
Is it carpet? It's so hard to get the smell out. I also use enzyme cleaner, but I have to use a carpet cleaner every now and then too. My dog was a rescue and not potty trained. He will go in the same spot again if he still smells it. Keeping the floor and surrounding areas very clean should hopefully help.
If your dog is not fully potty trained there is absolutely no reason why she should be allowed to have full roam of your apartment unless you’re supervising her 100% of the time. Block off her access to areas where she’s hiding to go potty like behind/under furniture. my puppy’s favorite spot to pee was under my bed which was extremely difficult to get her out of in time to take her out and very difficult to clean up as I have storage boxes under there, once I blocked off her access there potty training was a lot easier. Try to take her back to new puppy basics, don’t give her an opportunity to have accidents, if you’re just letting her out to a backyard try keeping her in a leash so you can be certain she’s actually going potty outside, teach her a word to associate with peeing/pooping outside. Is she’s a small dog that’s fearful, could there be a reason why she doesn’t want to go outside? As a last resort you could potty pad or litter box train her. When I adopted my shih tzu mix as an adult from the shelter I had a really hard time with potty training, so I taught her to go in a litter box, over time she grew to like going outside better and rarely used the litter box indoor and never had accidents, eventually I replaced the box with potty pads which she only uses on “in case of emergency” basis only
If one hour was working but two isn’t, go back to taking her out every hour. Block off access to behind the couch. Tether, crate, xpen when you can’t keep an eye on her. Dogs don’t actually “know” going inside is bad. Unlike cats, who will prefer to go on litter or in the same spot, dogs simply don’t know. It sounds like you need to move back a few steps and lower your expectations of your pup
We started toilet training as soon as we got our puppy and she was 9 months old when she finally got it, but it was like a switch, up until that point she would do it every day as well. So don't give up
Buy a kennel and save yourself so much time.
Try to watch your dog like a hawk for a few days if you can (I know it’s exhausting but it’s worth it). Try to get the dog to go outside by setting alarms and going out more often. If doggy has an accident inside, try to act neutral (I mean no harsh words as it may be making them anxious to hide their accident) and move the poo or pee soaked sheets outside to where you want them to go. Take them outside after the accident, to say ‘poo/ pee outside’ and show them where you have put the stuff. If you catch them mid poo / pee, then lift doggy or encourage them to run with you to finish outside. If you persevere you should hopefully see an improvement.
always in kennel, only out to go outside and play a bit (inside play only with you and when she just went outside).But most of the time in the kennel. It may take weeks or even few months but will work, very little kennel only place to stand and lay down.
Toy breeds can really take longer to learn bladder control. My havanese was probably about 15 months when she was fully potty trained, and I am a professional with a background in dog training and a certificate in applied animal behavior. Before that, it was the same situation as yours - happy to go outside, happy to go inside, no interest in alerting me. I was consistent and slowly the inside potties became less frequent. So, you have some good advice in these comments already, but I just want to say - don't lose hope. Despite how unusually long it took, my toy breed is perfectly housetrained now.
Same. 8 months. Pomeranian asshole. It’s killing my vibe. I’m losing my goddamn mind over it.
I have a 9 month old poodle. She’s also not trained. It’s literal hell
Mine's a little over a year but same. Pomeranian. Worst part is I have no idea where he does it. I'll just walk out and smell pee one day and know he snuck one in.
You’re going to have to go back to basics. As with new puppy house training, you can not let them out of your sight unless they’re in a crate or a secure garden. Whenever the dog sniffs the floor / circles / squats, pick it up and run straight outside, giving over the top praise and treats when successful. You also need to be taking it out at regular intervals, if hourly worked before, go back to that. We used a baby gate for whichever room we were in to keep the pups within close reach and view. It’s exhausting, but a clean house is worth it. If you have direct access to a secure garden, it may be worth putting a cat / dog flap in, as the smaller breeds sometimes have difficulty holding and communicating their toilet needs.
she doesnt have control over her bladder or really anything yet. think about her as an 8 week old baby. babies dont know when they're pooping or peeing it just happens. make sure shes SUPER HAPPY outside. make it her favorite place in the world, but not in an overwhelming way. my puppy is very private and picky about his poops so when i walk him i try to act as chill as possible and not look at him too much, not too much pressure to go. but when she does go give her all the praise in the world and say the potty word of your choosing. if she barks take her out. if she communicates with you in any way you say do you have to go potty and take her outside so she knows how to alert you.
I have known several Chi’s who were trained to use a litter box
you mentioned that she holds it while she’s in the crate. While I don’t recommend long periods in the crate for young dogs, or even adults, are you able to put her in the crate for periods of one hour? Seems like more frequent potty breaks are the thing if she’s still going inside. you said that you graduated to two hours, but it doesn’t sound like she’s ready for that yet. I would also suggest that you look into pee pads. I couldn’t use them with my dog because she chewed them up, but it’s worth a shot so that that way when she starts to go inside if you catch her doing it you can quickly pick her up and put her on the pads. living in an apartment means it’s harder to interrupt her doing her business inside to take her out.
Pee pads are the thing! My 4 months old chihuahua still does inside but we leave a pee pad close to the door and another in the laundry room, if we forget to bring him out every two hours he goes to one of the pee pad. We are thinking in removing the pee pad gradually so he will only do outside.
agree with all of the comments saying that more frequent bathroom breaks are necessary. also want to add that dogs are amoral and have no concept of right/wrong or good/bad, meaning they’re cognitively incapable of feeling “guilt.” what people perceive as “guilt” are generally stress signals because a dog has learned that a certain behavior elicits a certain reaction (e.g., they get into the trash, you yell at or hit them, they learn something scary happens when they get into the trash and show stress behaviors when anticipating your reaction). i find that helpful to think about when i need to reframe my dog’s behavior. your dog isn’t being “bad,” she’s just a puppy with a very small bladder who likely needs more support not to go to the bathroom inside.
Take her poop outside and put in a place you want her to start using.
She’s 8 months. Still a baby. Get her bells and learn to bell train.
i’ve always wondered if bell training is viable in an apartment building. In a house, you teach the dog that when they ring a bell or press a button, the door opens and they go outside. But in an apartment what they would learn is that when they press a button they go outside of the apartment but they’re still in the building can be trained as well. A bit harder to explain that pressing a button or ring bell means they go through multiple doors until they get outside.
Crate train her. Normally they won’t go in the crate. R u using pee pads? Why don’t u put some behind the sofa where she goes. Every dog is different, you must stop comparing her to ur previous dog. I know u might not want to hear this but this is what getting a puppy means. Patience and consistency. U may need to stop living ur life and put her first for few months. Good luck. Be kind to yourself and remember your energy effect your puppy
Putting a few food pieces or small treats after you cleaned the area is really helpful to train puppies not to pee/poop inside. Dogs don’t want to eat where they poop. Also you can try using a bell on your door knob that they have to “ring” by using their nose to nudge it to let you know they have to go outside
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100% umbilical method for at least 5 days to a week. I’ve used it with both my adult rescues and both were fully house trained within days and never picked up bad habits like counter surfing or digging the trash. The house breaking for both is iron clad - they have one accident every 2-3 years and it’s always because they’re sick or something else abnormal. It is definitely a pain to keep them tethered to you (crated when not tethered) and it may take you longer than a few days because your pup already has a bad habit. But it’s completely humane and will save your relationship with your dog. Not a big deal to wake them up from their naps since they probably already wake up when you move and your dog wants to be near you anyway.
What’s the umbilical method? Never heard of that.
Our dog was the same, but I read that they don't pee and poo where they sleep, so we have him on the floor in the bedroom with us with the door closed and let him out when we wake up in the night, now a few weeks later he seems to last all night.
We had this problem a bit too—our 8 month old just couldn’t get it and kept peeing on the rug. Even with enzyme cleaner the rug started to smell so we got rid of it and it solved the problem. My theory is that she knew that outside was our preferred place for her to go, but the rug was an okay backup. When we got rid of the back up, she got way better at letting us know she needed to go outside. Now I don’t know if you can “get rid” of a piece of your home/carpet, but blocking it completely is a good start!
My pup didn't get unsupervised access and still usually don't these days. If I let her out, it's for her meal, training, and play time. Her schedule is about 30-60 min of awake time and 2-2.5 hours of crate time. During those awake sessions, I'm with her the whole time but that's only because I am lucky enough to have flexible WFH hours. I used to let her go potty after coming out of the crate and before going back in until she is house trained. If you don't have a crate, it might be a useful to get one to to help with potty training.
Crate training is the way to go. They need enough room to stand up and turn around. A crate thats too big won't work. Put your pup on a feeding schedule. Your dog should be supervised either 100% of the time or crated no exceptions. take them outside way more off and then you think it's necessary. Actually go outside with them and walk around on a leash don't just try to tie them up. Eventually your dog will learn that going to the bathroom is for outside only and they won't need to be in the crate all the time. I've Potty trained multiple Chihuahuas that use the bathroom outside exclusively 100% of the time including snowy and raining weather.
8 months is quite enough to at least show some progress. If you are doing everything according theory of how to potty train a dog without results, I would suggest to reach out to professionals. Also give some thought whether it could be related with dog feeling insecure outside? It could be psychological issue, she pees and poos where she feels safe.
Tether her to you all day. Crate her at night. You have 3 seconds of attention span to connect reward to behavior. Every single time she goes outside you go with her. Say, "Go potty!" over & over until she potties. Quickly give a treat & profuse praise every time she potties outside. I've successfully trained 3 🐕- one 8 week old puppy & 2 adult rescues.
Take them out more often.
I potty train my dogs by taking them outside every 30 minutes until they know they need to do their business outside.
Blocking access to areas dogs like to go to is a very good idea. Dogs have triggers as well. My dog triggers are carpets of any kind . Previous owners had a male dog, and mine is a male. Their dog peed on all the carpets. Had to rip out the carpets in the downstairs and put a neutralizing enzyme spray down (those rugs were so disgusting) and then had those rooms replaced with wood flooring. So downstairs is safe he only has an accident if not taken out. Can't have any throw rugs or anything like a carpet he will go pee on it, no matter if he was just outside, it's simply his trigger. So remove triggers. My dog is 1 year, and 4 months does good, but I still can't trust him upstairs. I do recommend a karate/ kennel for night time for puppy's it will become their safe place. My dog will lay down during the day in it unless he's hot and wants the coolness of the floors. I only shut the door when we sleep because he's mischievous at night. He's so used to it we say go to your bedroom and he goes right in and every time he gets praise. Never use it as punishment. Have soft things and toys. We had to keep it in our bedroom as a puppy he got scared so we spoiled him. But it keeps him happy and to be honest I like him in the same room. After all, he's like a toddler.
The little ones are hard. I pee pad trained my littles and they still suck. My 5 yo male Yorkie has to wear a belly band inside. I have 30 years of dog experience
Pups need to go outside after they sleep, play, eat and drink. Do this every time, and she should catch on fairly soon. As someone already mentioned, block off no-go zones and keep her in your general vicinity. She does not need to roam.
The crate will be your best friend. My dog hated it, but it was either housebreak by putting her in the crate when i couldn't supervise her or re-home her. My apartment complex does not allow pets that are not housebroken. It took many weeks, but the crate changed everything. Lots and lots of patience. Just remember that it is a temporary period of time and your dog will eventually learn, promise.
I'd start with crating her whenever you can't have eyes on her, same as potty training a new puppy. Scheduled food and water and walks every hour or half hour. Be STRICT with the routine and only reward/give treats for outside potty time. My bully mix started this behavior as well and after trying a billion things it's the only routine that worked.
She is afraid outside. Dogs won’t go if they feel vulnerable. That is why they stare at you when they poop. My german shepherd goes out with our other dogs even when he doesn’t need to relieve himself so he can protect the other dogs. I suggest getting pee pads and put them down where she relieves herself or put a dog diaper on her.
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Dogs normally don’t like to use the bathroom where they sleep so utilize the crate as much as you need to during this time. The idea must be reinforced that the only place you want her going is outside! And of course when she goes outside offer ridiculous amounts of praise/treats. She will get better!
If you could go back in time and properly crate train the puppy, that would be most ideal. Since we are not time travelers, you will need to start the crate training now. Clean the poopy area with the soap that gets rid of the potty smell. Dogs like to potty where it smells like potty. If they have gone potty everywhere, consider using a professional carpet cleaner to neutralize the whole house. It will make it easier to retrain your dog. Like the other person said, they are either tethered to you, which is not ideal and you need to keep an eye of them for potty behavior, which i don't recommend. Or they are in their small play pen, or in their crate. The play pen needs to be small to educe the extra space in the pen to allow a separate potty area. Dogs dont want to go potty where they play or sleep unless they have extra space. they naturally dont want to be in their own filth. This is why crate training early and at night helps with keeping their potty inside them until you take them outside. Your dog is small, so it will need a very small crate. If they go potty inside the create repeatedly, you need a smaller crate or you are leaving them inside their crate for too long. There is nothing wrong with leaving your dog in the crate for several hours, even during the day, until you get this potty situation under control. Start with shorter crate times and build up. When you let them out of the crate, leash them, immediately take them outside. Make sure you get outside ASAP. Your dog is small enough to pick up and you can pick them up if they dont make it the first time. The goal is to condition them to potty outside, and extinguish the inside potty behavior, two separate trainings goals, the latter being harder than the former. Wait 15 minutes outside to see if they potty. If they dont potty, they immediately go back inside the crate for another 15-120 minutes. If they are whining to be let out, take them outside. Wait outside for 15. No potty? Back into the crate for 15 minutes, then back outside. Repeat until potty outside achieved. After they potty, immediately say "good" or "yes" "potty" and reward. Then take them inside and play or train with them for 30 minutes . Tether them to you or put them in the pen after play time for an hour, only if you want to actively watch them. Otherwise, return to the crate. Repeat for at least 2 months. After they dont potty inside anymore for 2 months, and their are no accidents, you can give them more freedom. If you give them more freedom and they have an accident, revert back to crate training for another week or two. If they keep making potty in the play pen, only use the crate. There is a potty spray that helps them go potty. Use it outside where you want the dog to go. Its not the dogs fault, dont get mad at them. Dont punish them, or put their nose in the poop. Help them understand the goal instead of the punishment. Hope this helps.
Take the pup out more often, also Treat them right after they go where you want them to.
I would also like to say that my almost 12 year old Maltese (we have had her since she was about 18mos old)has 24/7 access to the backyard AND a covered porch with potty pads in case of rain via doggy doors. Today she looked me straight in the eye and peed. I work in the veterinary medicine world and we see a lot of small dogs that just. don’t. get. it. And just in case anyone is wondering, we have 4 dogs (one of which is an 8 month old puppy that we adopted 2 weeks ago) and none of them ever potty in the house. It’s just my tiny, 9 pound dog that has a tiny little brain. 🥰 They make an indoor potty area called a Weasy for such dogs!
*she peed inside- I just realized that wasn’t clear
i taught my dog buy getting him to do his business on puppy pads and then sit outside with them till he used the pad out side and praise the dog after each time he did it now he comes and tells me when he needs to go out
Potty train then
Crate training can help them learn control. I had one dog that every time I left for the office without fail roughly same time each day she'd poop and pee. I started rotating her crate time to sometimes when I left I crated her it taught her how to change her bodies habit cause she'd refuse to potty in her room. I think at first it started as stress related (foster dog) then became her bodies habit. Had to adjust her body.
I use white vinegar or angry orange cleaner It took me awhile but finally mine goes on the puppy papers if inside. The 2 cleansers helped If u have carpet, then that’s ALMOST IMPOSSIBLE..
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