[Erin]

Yes. Loki is totally housetrained. He rings his bells when he needs to go out. He is still only 18 months so I don't ever expect him to hold it while in the house alone. If he rings the bell, we go out. If we leave the house he goes in his crate. I suppose if he really has to go, and he rings his bell - multiple times! - and if no one lets him out after 10 minutes or so he won't hold it, he'll pee by the door. Obviously we don't let that happen, but it has once or twice and it was my fault. I thought he wanted to go out and play and he did have to go. He rarely rings it to just go play, so I have learned to believe him! He will also get very insistant and SWAT at the bells, then run over to me and give me an evil glare and go back and swat at them again.

But seriously if a kid was standing there saying "I have to go potty" and you ignore him, he will wet his pants too. Loki has some issues that make him need to pee often so I am adjusted to that. I do consider him to be trained. He knows when he needs to go, he lets me know, and he waits patiently by the door for someone to strap his leash on and let him out. Most importantly, this transfers to other people's houses. He has never had an accident at my parents or at my in-laws. We show him where the door is, and he runs to it when he needs to go out.

Now, when he was like 7-8 months old, before we got the bells, he had no idea how to ask us to go outside. He would maybe sit by the door or scratch and if no one heard him he would go pee on the carpet. I also believe that he simply did not have enough control either, because he would wake up from a nap and pee immediately, on his way to the door. It turns out he has some medical issues and he is on drugs for the nighttime incontinence, but I think his bladder was very immature as well. I just remember it was a VERY frustrating time. He'd go a week with no accidents and then BAM he'd pee on the carpet. I felt like he would never get it. But we'd go back to the crate and be more consistent and then one week went by, and the another, and then a month, and then 3 months with no accidents...

Also interesting, many people have issues with their dogs pooping inside. Loki was stopped having inside accidents with #2 a LONG time before he stopped peeing in the house. Again this is probably due to his bladder issues. But we also went through nearly 7 months of diarrhea every few weeks until we solved that problem. And he still did very well with pooping outside. If he has to poop he will do everything to let me know! He will cry and ring his bells and come and get me. I can't tell you the last time he pooped in the house. More than 6 months ago. And that was a fluke because before that it was like 3-4 months with no accident.

ETA: Loki has been crate trained (like accident free in his crate) since he was about 6-7 months old. Again we had problems with the diarrhea and drinking issues, but still. He now has a big crate and I trust him in there for up to 5 hours. I don't ever leave him longer than that, but during the day I bet he would hold it if it was a emergency and no one could let him out. Most days he's out roaming while my husband is in his office (at home) working. He sleeps all day and lets my husband know when he needs to pee! So he is sort of unattended most of the day, and he is completely trustworthy.