I'm grateful for this thread and the imput from those of you who have been through it already. Bailey is coming up on three months (12 weeks tomorrow), and her response to housebreaking is spotty (no pun intended - but it does describe it well).
I take her out as soon as I get up in the morning, and there's no problem with her peeing quickly. We've started giving her treats for that, and almost as quickly as I'm telling her "good potty" she's running back to me for her treat. I've learned to give her a little more time, though, because she will often stop to pee 2 or three times within 5-10 minutes. Maybe she's just breaking it up for more treats!
Then we come in and I feed her. We usually go back outside about 15 minutes later and most of the time she'll poop pretty quickly - within a very few minutes.
The rest of the day is a problem. She never goes more than 2 hours without a potty break (unless she is asleep - then she's taken out as soon as she wakes up). Sometimes we will be out with her 15-20 minutes with no response - then she'll squat to pee on the floor within minutes of coming back into the house. Can't decide whether to cut her some slack for being a baby or chalk it up to juvenile defiance. Either way, she's so darned adorable it's hard to get or stay mad. |