Hi all, I recently got a dog aged 7-12 months, she's a staffy cross lab or collie. Her previous owners never potty trained her so we are TRYING to learn her to go toilet outside. We take her out 4/5 times a day for LONG periods of time and she most of the time she will go to the toilet but sometimes she doesn't. The main problem is when we go to bed at night, we will shut her in the kitchen go back in 5 mins and she's gone to toilet in kitchen, sometimes all in her bed!! Bearing in mind she gas just been out for an hour or so and when we wake up too she's been. She is fed twice a day, and she will poo 4/5 times a day! I don't want to use crate training method. Please help!!

I'll try to help with advice I used to potty train my dog.

1) Its usually around this age that that dogs will go down to 1 meal a day. Make sure that you're feeding the correct amount (ask your vet or a pets at home nutritionist if you're not sure) and not overfeeding on treats. Feeding your dog early in the evening should mean that any number 2s are done well before bedtime. Getting the food routine right will help you predict the evening toileting a bit more.

2) Theres no point waiting outside for a long time with your dog. You have to watch them like a hawk for the signs (looking distracted, sniffing the floor a lot, walking in a circle...) and then take them outside and say your toilet word.

It's good to associate a word with going for a wee so the dog knows what you're asking it to do - eventually.

If the dog hasn't done anything within say 5 minutes, go back inside and watch them carefully. If they squat, it's worth picking them up and making them finish their business outside so they start to get some praise.

3) You haven't mentioned this - but don't ever scold your dog for having an accident inside. Consider it your fault for not recognising their signs.

4) Make a HUGE fuss of any successful toileting outside - even if you've had to carry them or interrupt them from half going inside.

5) Without using a crate it'll take a lot longer for the dog to be clean during the night - all you can really do is go to bed after the dog has been to the toilet. You need to set up a routine where the dog gets to go to the toilet, and then you leave it for the night, and see to it in the morning.

Theres no easy answer to this as far as I know. It'll just have to happen naturally as the dog learns that outside is the place to go.

How long have you had her with you? It's common for re-homed dogs to regress in house training. What have you been doing so far?

If she's weeing in her bedding where she sleeps, then a crate is unlikely to be an immediate solution. Going right after you leave suggests some seperation issues being a cause, but if you return because she's wee-ed (or right after) then you may accidentally reinforce it. Again I wonder if it's stress causing marking, if she was punished in past for wee-ing in prescence of someone, then the absence possibly causes "relief".

Don't see anything wrong with twice a day, breakfast and tea time feeding, if it's dry food and all fed in evening, then perhaps lots of water will be consumed due to increased thirst during digestion.

One thing struck me - she is pooing 4/5 times a day. What are you feeding her on? With the right food I think it's normal to expect a couple of firm, easy to pick up poos a day. Poppy is fed twice daily with Naturediet and Burns, both considered to be good foods, and occasionally chicken or fish for a change, and she has a nice firm poo once or twice a day. There are some foods, usually the cheaper ones, that do seem to cause problems with some dogs. Maybe worth a search - can't point you in the right direction as I'm a newbie and haven't had to deal with a poo problem.

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Poppy's blog: Poppy's Puppy Tales