# Feeling Discouraged with Potty Training



## Shayla Bond (Oct 4, 2017)

It seems we have a genius Vizsla (aren't they all?) that at 4 months knows a plethora of commands and is so well behaved, but he's stillllll having house accidents. 

I blame the trainer for telling us to use puppy pads and ourselves for listening. We didn't want to but we got him at 7 weeks and it was FREEZING outside in Ontario. He got to used to using puppy pads for 3 weeks or so. Then we got a new trainer (didn't like the last one) and she told us to get rid of them immediately, this was around 5 weeks ago. 

Some important information:
- We live in the city and on the second story of a 2 story apartment building, however it's only down the hall and 1 flight of stairs to exit (1 minute max?)
- He doesn't bark or go to the door.
- He's having 1-3 accidents a day. Which simply maybe it's that we need to be MORE adamant or scheduled. Its our fault if he pees, I know this. 
- He goes out whenever he wakes up and after he drinks/eats/plays for a long while.
- My friend also lives in an apartment building but has a balcony. NO JOKE, We were there for 20 minutes and he ran to her balcony door, scratched and looked at us frantic to be let out, peed, and then asked to be back in and did so each and every time. So it SEEMS he gets the idea of telling us. I feel like being in an apartment building and the grey area before ACTUALLY being outside confuses him. 
- He'll pee in the stairwell sometimes if we walk him so I carry him in urgent cases. I'm scared he'll get too heavy to carry before he's potty trained. Our loft building just installed cameras and it's giving me anxiety haha. 

Are there ANY tips for helping with this process or helping him learn to GO to the door? Should we start using a bell (we have one but haven't been using it). Should we be MORE scheduled? Does it just eventually click?


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## lincoln_vizsla (Jan 11, 2018)

Sorry to hear that you have been having potty training issues with your little guy, but I am hopeful that very soon this will all be a distant memory. I potty trained Lincoln on the second story of an apartment building and started him with the pads because he didn't have all his shots yet to be safe going outside. I didn't have an issue transitioning him to outside and he only had a handful of accidents inside, but hopefully the following ideas can be of help.

I'm thinking one cause of the issue could be the confusion with just taking the pads away all at once and not gradually removing them. How good was he at going on the pads? Did you have to put a few pads down or was he proficient enough that he could manage with just one pad down at a time? Did the pad(s) have to be in the same place every time or could you put the pad in different places and he knew that was his place to go? The reason I am asking these questions is because what I know some people have done to transition off pads is to gradually start moving the pad closer and closer to the door with the goal of removing the pads altogether and having the puppy pee outside. For some puppies that step alone sends a signal that now the appropriate place to pee is outside.

I was also wondering if there may have been other dogs in the apartment before you moved in that could have had accidents inside and your little guy is picking up on these scents and incorrectly thinking that it means it is ok to go inside in these areas? Does he always have his accidents in the same area? They have uv lights that aren't too expensive and they show all areas where there is pet urine marking on floors and carpets. You could then use something like nature's miracle to remove any such traces just to stop this as a possible cause. I noticed with Lincoln on the pads that sometimes it would leak through to the floor below so I would clean these areas as well.

Does he have a crate? Or does he have full access to all areas of the apartment? Sometimes accidents can happen because the puppy is given too much access to a home too soon. Because they have such a large area they start to associate one area with being "their" area and the other areas can be thought of as acceptable areas to go potty in. Puppies and dogs don't like to go potty in "their" area so the idea is to start with an area that they associate with being theirs and gradually expand this area to the point that they don't want to go inside anymore because they now see it all as "their" area. When I couldn't supervise Lincoln he was in his crate, which had a divider in it to make the space small enough that he could turn around in it but he wouldn't want to go potty in there. He would then cry when he had to go potty and I would take him outside right away. As he got more reliable at this I would let him have free access to his play pen area as well as his crate and he wouldn't want to go potty in there either so he'd let me know if he had to go. Then I gave him access to the living room and so on.

I'd definitely say having a set potty schedule helps, and should probably work even without reintroducing the pads. With Lincoln I would take him out every 20-30 minutes when he was awake, and straight away after any naps. When outside take him to his potty area, say a phrase like go potty and as soon as he pees give him a high value treat (real meat, cheese, liver treats etc.) and really praise him for going in the right place. He will soon begin to associate peeing in that area with a treat and should reinforce to him that this is where you would like him to go. I did this for a couple of months with Lincoln every time he peed or pooped outside. The reason I did it for so long was a) to really reinforce the behavior of peeing/pooping outside and b) because if you remove the treats too quickly sometimes they can relapse and you have to start all over again.

With regard to not being able to hold it until you can get him outside, hopefully more frequent potty trips should help with this, but even if it doesn't it honestly just seems to be down to bladder control given his young age. Lincoln generally didn't have issues with this, but I know that another puppy in our building couldn't make it downstairs before she would pee. I think this issue will naturally resolve as he gets a bit older and his bladder control improves. You could test to see if he has a UTI, but I don't think it is necessary because it doesn't seem like these accidents are just something that randomly started to happen which would normally be more indicative of a UTI.

You can definitely try the bell and I know people have had success with this, but to be honest I don't rely on Lincoln to tell me when he has to go potty. I take him out every time he wakes up and then every couple of hours he is awake. I don't have to take him out so frequently because he is now 10 months old and his bladder can hold much more, but that is something that just comes with time rather than anything I did.

Sorry that is an awful lot of information to digest! I think the main thing is to control his environment to set up for success. The more successes he has and the more he is being reinforced for good potty behavior the easier I think it will become. I'd suggest the following as a summary:

- limit him to a smaller area of the apartment to begin with - crate, play pen, one room where he doesn't have accidents etc.
- set up a regular potty schedule, which may even be every 10-15 mins to begin with, again to increase his chances of success with a) going outside and b) not having an accident upstairs before he gets there.
- praise him and give him a high value treat when he goes potty outside to reinforce the behavior.
- as he becomes more proficient at going outside you can extend the time between potty breaks, but try small increments at first e.g. 5 extra minutes between potty visits and so on.
- gradually increase his access to other areas of the apartment.

Hopefully the above is of help and please let me know if I can help with anything else. I know it can be discouraging sometimes with our little monkeys, but what I have observed is that all puppies have their thing that they don't always master at first, but with love, encouragement and (much!) patience they will make it 😀


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## texasred (Jan 29, 2012)

Until my puppies are potty trained, I take them outside every 20 minutes when awake. They learn so much faster, if they are not given a chance to have accidents. 
I would use puppy grass, before I would use puppy pads.
Just start setting a timer, and take him out often.


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## Shayla Bond (Oct 4, 2017)

No no MORE information is better than less IMO! He was proficient with only one pad and used those very successfully the short time he had them. He did have some confusion when the pad started moving to the door but we did take them away within two days. We just wanted to follow orders. He knows "outside" like the back of his hand and will pee and poo on cue. Maybe something of note, he does not poop inside. Is learning bladder control an entirely separate concept?

We're also very thorough with our enzyme cleanups and I dont think there was a dog in here previously as its an old warehouse. 

BASICALLY It feels kind of like we've done all the standard line items to no avail. He's out to potty before and after ALL activities (eating, drinking, playing, sleeping) and when we do go outside I act like a psycho on the street phrasing him and giving him treats after he goes which he does on cue. The only thing we could be doing better is the crate for the majority of his time, but because I work from home he mostly just sleeps on the couch while I work. If he gets up it's immediately out to potty before hitting the floor. He's never peed on the couch. He has a crate and a playpen that attaches to it. We live in a loft so it's near impossible to restrict him to a certain "area" unless the pen and it's a huge box basically haha. 

I carry him if he's just waken up in the morning or a long nap, and he walks down the stairs all other times. 

Not sure if this is relevant, he always pees on the floor at like the exact same time of day. 6pm ish after his walk and food and drink. Usually in succession of each other. I think maybe I just need to be on him like a hawk during this time. I feel like its in his brains schedule. 

Another thing is I think he just says f it because he hates the cold outside. "Why pee out there when my hoo haa can be warm in here"? Not a fan of cold, getting him to the door on a cold day even with layers is no easy task. 

I'm honestly just hoping with TIME he will forget about inside if we're adamant about taking him out. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ I just don't want to take him to my partners parents place until he is for fear he'll pee on their bougey rugs. They can't pee inside forever....HOPEFULLY Haha


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## Najo (Feb 16, 2018)

It really sounds like you are hitting all the marks. Just continuing to be consistent is the best you can do. Like you mentioned if you know the time you typically have an accident then you can hover during that time. And I can relate to the thought about peeing inside where its warm!  Keep up the good work and stay positive!


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## Anida (Jun 10, 2016)

Kaylee was pretty awful for the first 6 or so months. It wasn't until the weather warmed up that she quit having accidents in the house. Now that she's older she doesn't care if it's cold outside she just runs and does her business and is right back in the house. Rain there is some more coaxing involved. Just be consistent and continue to take him out often.


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## lincoln_vizsla (Jan 11, 2018)

Because he is more or less doing it at the same time every day, it could be that he has started to do it out of habit. Is it always in the same spot or is it only the time that is consistent? I wonder whether switching his routine up a little bit might help to break him of any possible habit. If he isn't inside at that time, for example, then he wouldn't have the option to go potty on the floor. Or perhaps feed his evening meal in his crate with the door shut so he can't leave his crate to pee on the floor and then take him out straight after he finishes eating? I know it is always suggested to walk first and then feed, but maybe for a couple of weeks to try and break him of any possible habit feed him and take him on his walk after.

I do think it will get better with age. You are doing all the right things with praising him and treating him outside and it sounds like most of the time he knows he is supposed to go out there. His bladder will get bigger and hold more so he won't have to go as frequently, which will help. How often is he fed? Is there anything different about his night time meal that could explain why he pees after that meal?

With regard to peeing v pooping, I'm not sure if it is different in terms of control, but I do know that Lincoln would be far more upset about pooping inside than peeing inside and I don't know why! When he had to use pads he would get so upset if he had to poop, he really didn't want to do it inside. Maybe the smell? It smells bad enough to us so I can only imagine what it smells like to them with their better sense of smell, haha!


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## Lori Neisen Gibbens (Mar 17, 2018)

My Vizsla potty trained in 3 days. This is what I did. 1) she was confined and had puppy pads for first 12 weeks. 2) I took off work for a week and set my watch to beep every 1.5 hours and took her out regardless if she needed to go. 3) if she did go she got a treat and a lot of sweet talk “good girl” and to this day I say “do good girl” and she goes. 4) never ever rub nose, spank or belittle your dog for accidents. A firm no is fine. 5) now mine has a doggy door so it was easy, after the 3 consistent days she never looked back or had an accident. 6) I would simply hang bells on your door and ring them every time you leave so he/she associates a noise for going out and will learn to tap the bells when ready. 

Hope this helps. Lori


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