Hi
I know this topic has covered many times but i would like to know why she is doing this and why has it got worse???
Mabel is 10mths old and before her season at 8mths she wasn't too bad - just had a pee indoors every 3 days or so. Since her season (and during it) she wee's indoors most of the time now, I have 4 other dogs and they all use a dog flap which Mabel has been trained to use as well except she's decided not to bother going out! house training as a pup was good, i went out with her every time and used the 'be busy' command which she does still understand. I never scolded for accidents indoors and still dont.

I have gone back to sort of basics with her and every couple of hours put her out the dog the flap and tell her to be busy but she waits for me to go away (once i see she's jumped off the box and gone off) comes back in and wee's! If i sit by the flap after a while she will wee but does it on the step down box, she doesn't even bother to get off it. tonight i kept putting her back out through the flap after her dinner and she immediately came in so i put her back out through it again and again,  thinking that she must have been i left her then to come in, when i went back into the kitchen 5 mins later a big wee was waiting for me.

Why does she do this? what could be the main cause? It is really getting my husband and i frustrated with her.

Hi Lorripop
I would suggest that you go right back to basics and actually go outside with her and keep encouraging her to "be busy", then lots of praise when she does and back inside.

With the other poster on this - back to basics and it's essential that you go outside with her so that you can ensure she associates your "be busy" command with actually performing otherwise she may well think you're just saying "bye for now, see you back in here shortly" ;)  As soon as she starts to wee / poo then say "be busy" and follow up with lots of verbal praise and if it helps the occasional random treat!

It will click with her but it seems as though for now she hasn't learned to make the association of what you expect her to do so wrap up and get out there with her - every time :)

good luck, Teri

Mine has had a couple of accidents over the last few weeks aswell and she also uses a cat/dog flap and I know she's trained.. I just put it down to the weather. Maybe as it's gotten colder your pup doesn't like going outside in the freezing cold and rain and thinks its easier to just go indoors. 10 months isn't very old. She'll just have to get used to the winter!

Also the Fireworks may affect dogs who don't show obvious signs of fear.

Thank you all for the replies - we have gone right back to going out with her though she is rather stubborn and likes to take her time when she needs to pee! Have also gone back to shutting her in the cage at night. So far no pee in the house but she does have to be watched!

Hi Lorripop
Well done - and I'm pleased that it's working :)  This isn't the best time of year for housetraining a pup, is it?  My Aussie pup is 4 1/2 months, and I go out into the garden with her to make sure she performs before she comes back inside.  She gets rather easily distracted otherwise :)  I'm sure I dislike the horrizontal rain much more than she does!
Carina

Can imagine the rain makes it rather difficult to train pups!!
I think some people make the mistake of assuming pups have grasped what they should do and therefore cut back on the training/praise etc. For example, dog shows it is going outside for a wee so we assume it has mastered it, only to find a few weeks later it is toileting in the house again. How long should you perservere with training basics in a pup before you be sure it is second nature to them???

How long should you perservere with training basics in a pup before you be sure it is second nature to them???

My first puppy I took out until he started to ask to go out for himself. I still went out with him at times to praise and reward and he was very quick to become housetrained. He gives one bark by the back door to let you know he needs to go out now. He will also perform on command which is very useful :)

My second youngster was in a rescue kennels for nearly a month and he was house trained before he went in to rescue but had forgotten a lot of it when he came to us. I went back to basics with him and treated him as I would a tiny pup. He was slower to train than our first dog and the only sign that he gives that he needs to go out is he will walk up to the back door and sniff at it. We have to make sure that we give him the opportunities to go out as his silent approach only works if we are in the same room as him. He knows the command for performing and tries his best (unless it is raining and then he has to be taken out by someone :D ).