Hiya all,

We have a 10 week old Border Collie......we've had her from 7 weeks. She can go right through the night (caged) without any accidents, obliging us with a nice firm poo and a large wee when we take her out in the garden first thing. She gets taken out for toileting regularly, especially after naps and meals - again doing all the right things.

However, often she'll be out in the garden with us, or just roaming around looking for things to destroy and will come back in, quick sniff and before you know it wee!.....we always clear it up and use a deodoriser and it's always different places.

Are we expecting too much at her age?.....a friend who has reared 3 or 4 BC's insists that we should scold her and rub her nose in it - followed by a period of exile outside, but we're not keen on this.

Any advice much appreciated ( also donations of kitchen paper, preferably by the lorry-load)

Scrums

lol i also get through a bit of kitchen paper when Blue has an `accident` :) his 11 weeks now and he too goes through  the night and during the day his always going out to do his business and sometimes he will go a few days with no accidents, then you walk into the kitchen and see theres a little yellow puddle! lol
But i agree i would definately not rub his nose in it or anything like that, when Blue does have an accident i blame myself for not being there to let him out the back door as when he does want to go out, normally he will sit by the back door and stare at the handle lol
I do think tho that sometimes they just forget, even if they have just been outside, their only little babies bless them and over time they do learn :)
I think its going to be a few months yet before he will be totally toilet trained, im not sure when it is roughly that pups gain proper bladder control, is it 4/5 months??

I think it was Ian Dunbar who said that the only thing that was achieved by rubbing a dog's nose in its excrement when it had mistakenly eliminated indoors was to insert carpet fibres and waste products into the nasal passages.

Curiously no one recommends this "method" with babies/toddlers who are learning to go without nappies,,,,,,,,, hopefully!

:D :D :D :D

lol ive lost count of the amount of times my 2 yr old sons been in just pants and forgets his not got his nappy on and comes running in going `mummy i weed on the carpet` ARRGGHHHHH!!!  *grabs cloth, disinfectant and the fabreeze*
Kids and dogs eh! who`d have em?! :)

Dont forget developementaly pups cant control their bladder/bowl until 16 weeks-ish.
Using harsh methods like scolding her can bring problems all of their own, which can be much worse ......

its just a case of patience and persistence im afraid my youngest dog is 7 months old on wednesday and has only just realised that if he needs toilet he gets let outside.. i have never scolded him for accidents in the house as the look on his face when i reach for the cleaning stuff is enough to tell me he is sorry .. most dogs do not like to dirty their living environment and feel bad enough about it without being reprimanded.. i found that if my boy had an accident i just took him outside and stayed with him until he did his business .. sometimes this takes a while .. but then when he finally does i made lots of fuss of him telling him what a good boy he is .. and it seems to have finally paid off :D:D   up until last few weeks i had gone through a carpet and endless kitchen roll :O i was pulling my hair out thinking that he was never going to learn even with influence of the other 3 dogs even now if its raining he wont go outside and thats when we have the odd accident.
at 10 weeks old its still very early days for your little girl but with alot of patience and hard work she'll get there eventually :D

Hi Scrums,

It's still very early days for your pup. Their bladder muscles are still not fully developed to enable them to hold it in for long periods of time. This is particularly hard when they are out and about walking and running.

My pup is 11 weeks now and I still get accidents - not her fault - mine for not getting her outside every hour. You will find that housetraining will be alot painless if you always go out with your pup. Just as you see her about to do it, say 'go busy' or whatever word you want and praise her gently 'good girl busy' as she is going. Then after she has finished give her a small titbit.

I had my pup from 8 weeks and the first 3-4 days (in the very early hours in the morning) she thought the reason we were outside was to play, but after 3 weeks, she now seems to understand that when we are outside and I am saying 'go busy' it's for her to eliminate and the quicker she does it the quicker she will get the titbit. She now does it within a minute of me taking her outside. However, don't expect this when there are distractions about, so take her out when the kids are not in the garden.

The other important thing to do is to place her back in her crate if she hasn't gone outside. Leave her there for 30 minutes or so and then take her back outside and repeat the process. Once she has eliminated, you can give her access to the house for about 45 mins to an hour and then take her out again or place her back in her crate if she has not eliminated.

This will just speed up the process a bit, but really you just need to be patient, don't worry about the accidents, just enjoy her puppy play - they grow up fast :-)

All the best,
Patty

P.S. Make sure you are using a cleaner specific for cleaning up dog pee and poo. Household cleaners do not do the job and it will still smell like a toilet to her.