Oh i am so frustrated again this morning, my 8 month old GR pup has peed in the night again! I am getting so frustrated with her, at her age, still not being housetrained! I let her out last thing before I go to bed and first thing in the morning and still I find a pee by the door in the morning. Ok, it's not every day, she had been faultless for 2 weeks but now she's started again over the past 3 days. I was told that bitches are worse than dogs regarding housetraining -only had dogs before. But I'm fed up with it now because she's got no excuse and I know she CAN hold herself long enough at this age. Grrrr!
And I'm not even mentioning the destructive behaviour which is still going on too...

Has she had a season yet? Hormones in a young bitch can send them backwards at this time. (in some older ones, too ;-) ) I have found that once a bitch has had her first season she tends to realise that she is no longer a puppy and all the training finally sinks in. :-D

Retrievers can be very distructive until they grow up so bear with her, she will come through it. She is also starting the 'Kevin' phase where all training seems to take a backward step. You just have to go back to basics with her.

Your dog is still a pup... I really wouldn't get worried and worked up about it! I don't feel you can be impatient with her just yet! They go through so many phases, hormones raging, growing up, but still being a pup... It's not easy for the dog either.

I found that although my spaniel was house trained by about 6 months, he had a couple of relapsed until he was 11 months old and has been rock solid since then!

The chewing is again something perfectly normal at her age! Give her plenty to do, lots of stuff she can chew etc. and it will be kept to a minimum! Don't forget, she is probably also going through her second teething stage as her molars are starting to settle in, which will make them chew more again...!

You might also want to look at her diet... has she eat different foods over the last three days? Could she even have a urinary infection? Has anything in the environment changed? New people, building works, new routines etc.

But in the main, she is a baby still, give her time and a chance to grow up! :-)

Vera

Do you use a crate for her ? I have found that crates are a godsend if used wisely. If you havent maybe others could tell us if this could be introdused  now to help both chewing and housetraining if so it willhelp you to feel happier.
I have had three bithches and 1 dog .Apart from the toy breed we have now I would not say there was any difference in the age of housetraining and also all three of the larger breeds have been trained to comand and to go in one place in the garden
It just seems frustrating as it is dogs can vary. Our toy breed is only mostly reliable and will still go in the house if I am not very careful to let her out very frequently ( oh yes and the weather is good enough!)

When you clean up her pee in the morning dont even look at her, or speak or react in anyway. I know its hard trust me i do it myself somedays. Come down clean it up without a peak and ignore her. What exercise is she getting when and how long do you walk her for? is there a usual routine to her walks and feeding etc? where do you walk her does she have any off lead walking?

Louise

I second the crate idea.  I've used one for my working cocker pup and have not had a single night-time accident since I bought him home at 8 weeks.  I had to take him out into the garden once or twice the night for the first three weeks, but after that, he could do 8 hours without going to the toilet.

My GR now 10 years was basically clean and dry by 5 months, however on occasions there could be the odd accident particularly around the 8 to 9 months then low and behold her first season came at 10 months. Maybe your girl is starting a similar thing.

Your girl is still very young and as mentioned is now a 'Kevina', mind you I reckon GR's are permanently silly ;)
Just have patience with her, ignore the accidents just clean them up, I'm sure in time she will be a good girl.

As far as destruction is concerned, can't comment there cos with all of the Kongs, filled balls, bouncy, chewy, squishy, draggy, wobbly things in my house a door knob or skirting board seems to appeal more :( mind you the GR doesn't eat the house now it's the new young ones

I made a huge mistake by using the puppy pads and i feel now in hindsight that this exasberated my problem in toilet training my boy when he was younger. If basically said to him that it was ok to pee in the house.
I purchased a crate and he went into that at around 4-5 months old for a few weeks, he was clean and very good. I thought i cracked it and stopped using it. Back to square one again. He was clean around the 7 month mark. Being a large dog it did mean large amounts of pee to clean up.
My friend who has a GSD had very similar problems as well in time it took for her boy to be house trained. She also used the puppy pads

We now have a 9 week old Lab who yes does make mess, but not a lot, he is not crated and doesn't have any paper or puppy pads down. He is able to hold for a few hours and i feel we have made more progress with him in a week than i did with my boy in months.
My next Berner will be crated from when i get him.

Don't dispair it will come together and you'll soon forget this part and something else will come along to avert your attention.

Hi Gaelle
Ive had many girl goldens over a span of 30odd yrs and never had a problem toilet training them,i did have one golden boy and he was hard to toilet train. so i think it just depends on the dog its self personally.

My younger girl i have now is just 2 and i had problems with her being destructive as a pup untill she was about 18months then she just stopped and not touched anything again.
It is a pain i know when they do it....we used to have to empty the kitchen before we left...table,chairs,etc then she started on the kitchen floor.
My hubby refused to do any decorating untill she grew out of it, its all done now,thank goodness.
Hope for you she becomes clean soon,im sure she will.

Oh thank you guys! It makes me feel loads better. I suppose I was just having an off day!

I can't think of any change in her routine which may explain her going backwards. I know she was terible over Christmas when my family stayed and was just peeing all over the place like a 2 month old puppy! But since then she had settled back into the routine.
I walk them in the morning before work and she usually has a big poop then and a wee. She usually has another one in the garden a bit later. Then she poops and pees again when I come back and take them on a longer walk (some off lead) and has another 2-3 pees in the evening (after tea and before bed). I sometimes let her out in the garden in the middle of the night if i myself get up to relieve myself! She usually is like clockwork and it has work pretty well. But now, even the poops don't come as expected and she won't actually do much during the walks.
I understand that it may be linked to hormonal activity and as a female myself, I can totally relate to that!! So I'll just be patient and wait. She hasn't had her first season yet.
By the way, I never scowl her when i find the puddle, I usually let her out and clean while she's in the garden or playing with my other dog in the lounge.

As for destruction... It's getting better, but I anticipate any mischief! The room where she's kept is 'crated' with panels of my guinea pigs' metal runs! She's got lots of chews and toys while i'm at work... But digging the walls still seem more attractive!

I would go with a crate, I used to look after my friends spaniels and one of them would pee every night, they did it at her house too, so I started to crate them and didnt have a problem after that.

I don't really want to start using a crate now. I have 2 dogs and i hate the idea of one being caged while the other is free. Besides, she would probably go MAD in it knowing her. I know they play together and sleep together when I'm away, the idea of splitting them... I should've done it from the start. Now... I'm a bit reluctant and it's an expensive purchase... Hmmm don't know...

Another wee this morning despite getting up twice in the night and going to bed late. No excuse.

I know a lot of people don't like to, but would it be an option for her to sleep in your bedroom at night?

I didn't have one nighttime accident with Esme (or Hattie/Winnie) because I was always aware of when she wanted to go out. At 8 weeks she was crated, next to my bed, but within a few weeks she was free to roam the bedroom and no accidents happened. I just let her out when I heard her pacing.

I would say Esme was very easy to housetrain generally and I can count the number of accidents in the house she had on one hand. I never put down newspaper or puppy pads and am with puppies all the time which does help greatly.

There is an excuse :-) she is still a baby!

She may well be on her way to coming into season or lots of other reasons.  Could something be spooking her at night, could she have a UTI.  You are dealing with it the right way by not telling her off and just clearing it up but you sound quite cross and frustrated about it and she may well pick up just from your demeanor that you are upset with her.  Try and relax about it, it will come right, just give her plenty of opportunity to do the right thing, go back to puppy basics if necessary, going out with her every time and being on hand to praise her when she goes.  When you get up in the night are you going out with her, don't interact just take her outside and wait for her to do her business and then lots of praise and then straight back inside and to bed.

Just be patient :-)

Gaelle, I have a male that was not trained to use a crate. When I brought in a young bitch I bought a cage for her. He used it more than she did! He loved the crate, and still does. :-) If introduced correctly you shouldn't have a problem introducing her to one. I also have a 21 month old bitch that has to be crated when she is in season. She loves it. Again, she was not brought up with it from an early age, though she did use one in the car. Give it a go, you might be pleasantly surprised.

You can get one at quite reasonable cost, the right size here: http://www.ukdogcrate.co.uk/ is only £39.99

Ebay has them cheaply too.

Thank you all.

Yes I think I'll just give her more time. The breeder had warned me against bitches being worse in her opinion regarding housetraining. And since she's been a bit of a challenge on every level -compared to other GRs, I guess that's just her.

Another reason I'm not keen on the crate is because I have a very large canvas one already and when I tried to introduce her to it... she just chewed it! Now the zip is broken and it can't be closed anymore. She was panicking everytime i was trying to close it and scratching at it. I know i'm sure that with a bit a training she'd be fine, but the experience put me off and now i've got a brand new canvas crate that is virtually useless.

Gaelle,

I thought I should share this with you! My almost 7 month GR bitch pup just came home from a walk and did a large puddle in my garden room! She has been clean day and night since she was about 4 months, so it just shows they are still babies really at this age.

Earlier today, in the same room, she had pulled up two carpet tiles and chewed the backing off one!

You are not alone! :)

Oh thanks bestdogs!! Makes me feel so much better! :)

Hi, I'm no expert but maybe she's less inclined to use the crate because it is canvas, My pugs is a metal/wire one and she can still feel a part of everything even when she's in it coz she can still see everyone, although i only shut the door at night or when i go out,but she has been fed,watered and slept in it since we got her. The only time she ever makes a fuss to come out is in the morning when she can hear us all starting to get up but she's gone bout 8 hours then so she's ready to go outside!I hope you find a solution any way.
Trish

Canvas crates aren't very secure, and IMO should only be used with calm, trained dogs (for a bit of privacy at unbenched shows, for example) and not for training puppies.

I agree with JG about canvas crates. I have one that my boy will happily stay in, but the girls? Forget it ;-) It is a bit tattered and torn, whereas the metal crates are fine and will last for a lot longer. The only down thing about metal ones is the weight :-) Trying to carry one in the pouring rain into a dog show when you know you then have to go back for the dogs........ why do we do it??????

Have to agree matal crates for puppies and chewers or any dog that might try to escape.

Canvas ones only for when you are rivht thre with dogs used and happy being cratd.

Great in hotel rooms at night.