Need help! A baffling potty issue

Sparkle · Mar 30, 2014

Abby is now 10 months old. She was doing pretty well with potty training. An occasional accident in the house, but not often. We don't use her crate often, but I do put her in there occasionally just to keep her used to it. It's in the LR and always open. She has now decided that's her spot to pee. I just walked into the LR & she's done it again! I just had her out to potty 15 minutes ago and she did nothing. Came in, went into her crated & peed. I remove the tray & disinfect it each time, then spray it with Nature's Miracle to remove the odor. If she's in the crate for a period of time, she doesn't potty in there. And she never goes into Kallie's crate & pees. What would make her start doing this all of a sudden? And more importantly - how do I stop it?

krandall · Mar 30, 2014

For the time being, I wouldn't give her free, in and out access to the crate. Either she's in it, with the door closed, or out of it, with the door closed. Don't give her the opportunity to make that mistake. We were just talking, in another thread, about how many older puppies have a set back or two in potty training. They usually come around pretty quickly if you can keep the new behavior from becoming a habit!

Sparkle · Mar 30, 2014

Now why is it I can analyze something to death, research, etc. and the answer is right in front of my nose!! Thanks for pointing out the obvious, Karen.

So do you think she needs more crate time to establish this as her home, not a pee pad?

krandall · Mar 30, 2014

I don't know whether I'd just arbitrarily crate her… especially if she's not used to it. But you might want to feed her in her crate with the door closed, and/or give her really yummy special chew treats in her crate with the door closed. Kodi is crated overnight and several times a week when we are at the training center or a trial. He has ALWAYS been confined (first to his ex-pen, later to my office) when we are out of the house. So for him, his crate is just a cozy hang-out. You don't want her to think of it as a punishment. And food is always good for getting that message across!

Who knows how she got this idea in her fluffy little head. Sometimes (often!) we can't figure out WHY they start a behavior, we just need to figure out a way to interrupt it before it becomes a habit.

Suzi · Mar 30, 2014

Is Abby spayed? If not she maybe coming into heat. Mine have a problem around that time. And Zoey was 10 mo when she came into heat.

Sparkle · Mar 31, 2014

Suzi, yes she's spayed. I'm guessing that it's just that age of defiance thing. No signals at all, just walk into the crate & pee.

krandall · Mar 31, 2014

It's really NOT defiance. It's just that the habits that you want to instill in her aren't fully set in stone yet. For the first two years or so, good potty training is ALL about developing good habits, making it easy to be right, and hard to make a mistake.

Pucks104 · Mar 31, 2014

Great suggestions all! You might also have the vet check for a UTI. Sometimes if they have one they will potty in unusual places.

Sparkle · Apr 1, 2014

Update, I've kept the door to the crate closed and there's been no potty accidents anywhere. I'm not giving her free access to it for a while to see if that breaks the habit. Thanks for the help. I'll let you know if this works!

krandall · Apr 2, 2014

:whoo: Good luck!

Need help! A baffling potty issue

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