Please could somebody help me. I have a 7 month old Boxer bitch, when she wants to go outside she stands at the front door until we open it and let her out. She then goes and does a wee or a poo while we say "be quick". She is doing very well and keeps the house clean.
The rpoblem is when she goes to bed in her cage at night, she always wets her bed. I take her outside at about midnight and again at about 6am. All i keep hearing is that dogs dont like to lie in their own mess, but she has always done this.
Any help would be very helpful

maybe she really does have a weak bladder .Especially if she goes at midnight and when shes up at 6 ?

Easiest way that I have found and I know not many people would want to do this, but if anybody in the house gets up in the night to use the toilet is to let the dog out as well. Loss of sleep I know, but I have done this with all my dogs when they were pups and most have been clean during the night within 4 weeks of having them. Better than having a baby, up every 2-3 hours for a feed that could take an hour, now thats loss of sleep!!!!

Hi! Jaw
when do you last feed her at night what time??????????
It could be that you feed her to late before she and you go to bed for her to need to 'GO'
Perhaps if she had her last meal about 6/7 PM this would help
(jumping the gun and guessing on time of last meal)

do you let her have lots to drink late in the evening? keep an eye out and restrict how much water is drunk after 8.30. :)

She doesnt have anything to eat or drink after 6pm.
At what age will her bladder be fully developed?

Hi I would think this is rather unkind and not helpful to her kidneys, she needs to have a drink later than this. IMO. tangle

I wouldn't restrict water either
Anne

Does she really have to be quick as your command suggests? Does she get taken back indoors once she has been? This would make her hold on to some so she can go back out later. Just a thought as I had read this somewhere. We have the same amount of time with the pup in the garden whether he has gone or not.

He gets time to play before and after he has been, we do not get many accidents indoors and he is only 3.5 months old. We got him at 2.5 months.

As I said, just a thought but it works for us.

I use the word "be quick" so she knows what she is to do outside and then when she has done it she gets lots of praise, she can stay outside for as long as she likes, she doesnt have to be quick it is just a word that I feel more comfortable using than, do a poo poo or wee wee.
I am very happy with the way I have house trained her and she is clean during the day, it is only during the night that she wets her bedding.

Hi
I don`t think it matters what word you use as it is only a trigger/signal/command to let the dog know exactly what you want him/her to do.We always use the words `be quick` and have done for a very long time.When you are out for the day with your dog I think in a public place its better to have a word unassociated with toileting as a command.Also I have always found larger breeds not as quick as the smaller ones when it comes to nocturnal bladder control.
Carole

Thats no problem, i will put the water out until she goes to bed.

Well, the dog knows to signal you by going to the front door when she needs to do her business. But at night, she can't signal you for two reasons - you're asleep and she's in a cage. Since you ask for advice, this is what I'd do if the dog were in my home: I would train her to come to me or another person first, then walk to the front door, as her signal that she needs to go out. Once she's got that down, then I would not cage her at night, so that she can come to me at night when she needs to go, wake me up and I let her out.

This is what the dogs currently in my home do. The eldest was trained by a previous owner. But the others I trained. Two as puppies, one as an adult (the adult is a Cocker Spaniel I found lost, but whomever had him before had not housebroken him. My best guess is that dog lived in his backyard.) The puppies learned to wake people up in the night when they needed to go by 4 months of age. Prior to that they slept on the bed. Anytime their human needed to arise at night, the puppy was taken out too. And sleep was light so that one noticed too much wiggling about or pawing and sniffing around, to then jump out of bed, ask the puppy if it needs to go out, take it out (no matter what it seems to reply) and tell it to go. Took about a month before the puppies somehow understood that they are to awaken their person during the night when they need to go. EC Kostrubala