Quote:
Originally Posted by Pammy2016  Our little Pammy just turned 4 months old. Like any puppy she has her good days and bad days. Some days she won't go in the house at all, some days she'll go 12 times in an hour in the house (on her worse days). But this past week has been a nightmare.
We let her sleep in our bed for the first time over last weekend because she peed and pooped right before bed. (she HATES her crate at night) She slept like a rock and didn't get up once throughout the night to go. We got up at 7, went right out, and had no problems at all.
But after that day, it's been a nightmare. The next day she went in the house whenever she had to go. Whenever we tried to take her out, she was hesitant and wouldn't go outside, unless we picked her up and placed her out there. Now, she just sniffs around and does her exploring when we take her out. And as soon as she comes in, right to the carpet she goes and pops a squat 
This has been consistently happening over the last week. She has gone in the house 5-6 times more than she has gone outside. We use a spray to get rid of the scent and the pheromones whenever she goes, but she will constantly go to the same spot.
Is this just a phase she's going through? Or is this turning into a habit? Does it have anything to do with her sleeping with us for a night? It's so frustrating, but I refuse to get worked up or yell at her because that can be counter productive. Help!!!  |
At 4 months, you really need to set a strict routine if you'd like to have her potty trained as efficiently as possible. The good and bad days are pretty typical for up to a year old (sometimes longer). But regardless, you still need to stick to a strict routine - be it indoor potty or outdoor.
I say
pick a regular scheduled routine and stick to it. Don't change it. If she's going more on some days, then you need to tweak your regular potty routine to let her potty more frequently. Only after she stops having accidents, then reduce the number of potty breaks each day.
Additionaly, just as important, you
must limit her access areas. If there are areas she sneaks off to to pee, don't let her go there anymore. Unless your eyes are glued on her, don't let her have any access besides her bed/crate and pee pad area.
You can call it a phase..aka the potty learning phase
The only thing you can do to prevent accidents as a habit is to prevent accidents from occurring at all. When you prevent it, she wins, you win, and she'll 'get it' much faster. If you give her the opportunity to have accidents, getting mad and yelling at her doesn't help, and it will only end up taking longer to get her trained up.
Last, understanding that you may feel frustrated, but if you stick to the above two pointers religiously
and have a bit of patience, it's almost guaranteed you'll have a potty trained Pammy soon enough