Swimming-duck

So I'm not really at the point of tearing my hair out or anything. We've only had her about 3 1/2 weeks, so I know we likely have a long way to go in terms of potty training. But I do want to be sure we're headed in the right direction. All of her poop is going outside, with the exception of 1 poop accident like a week ago. But the pee - oh man. We were down to 1-2 pee accidents a day. Today she's already had 2 this morning! I'm rushing her out constantly - she pees a lot - she doesn't seem to hold it for very long. So I set the timer to take her out. I had been doing 40 minutes and she was doing pretty well with that. I had gradually increased it. Today I tried 2 hours, but after the morning we've had I've backed it down to 1 1/2 hours. We've done the treat/bellyrubs woohoo this is fun thing for peeing outside. I'm not doing this everytime now. Sometimes I just send her out, especially if it's one of those phone ringing, baby crying, boy leaping off the couch sort of moments. This is also due to being back at work and hubby being back in school. But I do go out and stay out until she goes when I can. So she's still being intermittently reinforced for potty outside.

I'm wondering about her feeding and how that could also be impacting potty training. I've never done free feeding before, but when MaeMae came she was still underweight, so I really hesitated on picking up her food after a set time. She takes the entire morning to eat her breakfast and it usually takes her several hours to eat dinner. She's filled out since being here, so I'm wondering if I should start picking up her food after a set time. I am a bit nervous about that though since her breed can be prone to bloat. I don't want to do anything that would encourage her to scarf down her food too fast. Also, her water is always out. I've heard never to restrict water and I've also heard to restrict it some while potty training. Thoughts on that? Should I set her water out only at set times during the day and put it away the rest - would that help?

The other thing that's a problem is that she doesn't seem to make any effort to tell anyone when she has to go. She had a doggie door at her foster home so she was able to come and go as she pleased. Sometimes she barks at the door and I think she has to go and rush her out only to find that she's barking at a dog outside. Sometimes she barks at the door and pees a few minutes later if we haven't taken her out. Sometimes she doesn't make any attempt and just wanders either into the kitchen or the daycare room and pees before anybody notices. So I don't feel like she's conveying a clear signal. Or if she is conveying a clear signal, I'm NOT getting it! I've thought about those poochie bell things that you hang on the door that you can train a dog to ring. Problem with that is if it's low enough for a dog to reach then it's low enough for my kiddos to reach. I would think it would lose it's association with going outdoors to potty if kiddos were ringing it all day long. I'm sure I could tell the kiddos to leave it alone, but trying to train a bunch of kiddos to leave a fun jingly bell alone would be much harder than trying to find another way to potty train Mae!

Oh...and we did wonder about a UTI since she pees a lot, but a couple of times we've been gone for 3-4 hours to run errands and we come back to her in the kitchen (where we gate her when we're gone) and NO pee!

So anyways, I'm all ears here!

Pricey

How old is she? Hector was a breeze with the poops like you it was the pees that were tricky, sometimes I don't think he even knew he needed to pee but it depends on her age.

As for feeding I'm not a fan of free feeding I leave hecs food down for 10 to 15 mins then it goes away, I don't think it's good to encourage grazing but that's just my opinion.

Swimming-duck

She's nearly 2 1/2. I'm not really into free feeding either. The only reason I initially did it is because she was not finishing her food within 15-20 minutes and she was underweight. Had she been at a normal weight when we got her I probably would've picked it up anyways and figure that she'll learn. But I was nervous for her to lose too much. Now that she looks healthier I think I'd be willing to do this and see if she catches on.

Pricey

Then I think you are doing the right thing with her feeding, see how she gets on with it.

Esther

what is interesting about this is that charlie brown, being from the exact same kennel, save 3-4 "nervous stress pees," has never had an inside accident. now the nerves and the wont come when called and the scared of his own shadow--those are our challenges. I just find it interesting that they're so different in that respect. but keep in mind they were outside their whole lives. I was too, ableit in better conditions. That said, I came to my furever home in feb and wasn't completely housetrained until maybe october. Bassets can be slow learners in this area and from what we can all tell (at our house anyway) is that if they've never been inside at all the first year or two of their lives it can take even a little bit longer. patience. structure. routine.

eclairs mom

We adopted Eclair a year ago, she is 2.5 too. She was not housetrained from what I could tell. One year on, she is much better but still not perfect. If I leave her more than 4 hours (whis doesn't happen often) I'm guarranteed to come home to a puddle or on occasion a poop by the patio door.

She knows she's done something she shouldn't, just won't hold it and we religously take them out supervised before they are ever left.

Its a million percent better than it was, but she's learning and trying. Just stay on top of her, possitive reinforcement.

We never quite know a rescue's story!

Swimming-duck

You know what's interesting. Mae comes when called and her skittishness is definitely still there but seems to be rapidly disappearing. Mostly she's great going in and out the door - was only scared her first day or two here. Every once in awhile she seems hesitant to come in the door, but that's usually because she's stubbornly pulling me towards the driveway (where we head when we go for walk)! And wow - I'd heard that bassets were powerful. My corgi was VERY STRONG when pulling on a leash despite his size. I think she might be stronger. He was a spastic puller and did it constantly. She only sporadically pulls and it's like this slow and deliberate lean when she does - it's kind of funny actually! Anyways, that has nothing to do with potty training - lol! How old is Charlie Brown? I'm sure it's in another post but I can't remember.

I did figure it would take awhile. I guess I just want to make sure that I'm headed in the right direction.

What do you guys think about restricting water while potty training? I thought I'd heard that it was never a good idea to restrict water, but then I saw somewhere else that it's a good idea to restrict it until basset is 100% potty trained. Do you guys have an opinion on that?

jaylii9

I house trained our 3 year old rescue this year so I understand that this can be a challenge! Only recently have I noticed that Libby goes to the door if she has to go to the bathroom. We have had her 6 months and this behavior is not consistent, but if wanders over to the door and stands there even for a second I make sure sister goes outside! She is house trained now even though she does not usually go to the door.

One rule of thumb is don't let her out of your sight! Don't let her wander into another room and have an accident. When she pees in a room alone without anyone redirecting her outside she thinks it's OK to pee in that room. Use gates etc and always keep her in the same room as you! I would also crate her when you can't be with her in the house or you are out.

I would also take her out frequently. We always let libby out of the same door and tell her "potty". When she goes out and is doing her business we tell her "good potty"! I'm sure our neighbors think we have a few screws loose. When I let her back in she gets a treat.

I suggest that if she goes to the door start being consistent with letting her out and giving the command "potty". Praise when she does potty etc

Oh and I think bassets are slow house training learners. Libby had an accident in October but that's because she is a diva and refuses to go out in the rain. Now I stand on the deck and make her venture out into the rain!

Libby also had an accident a couple of weeks ago out of the blue. Not sure why, but we are continuing with our house training mission!
Good luck, she'll get it!

Buttercup

If she's going pee every 40 minutes I'd definitely have her checked for a UTI, better safe than sorry. Otherwise, praise, praise, praise when she goes outside, don't wait until she's done but wait until she's nearly done so she knows why she's being praised. Maybe even find a VERY special treat that she only gets when she potties outside. I'd also confine her when you can't watch.

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Mikey T

while a doggie door can be a convience it is not an asset in "housetraining" a dog because two critical eliment are remove that is the i need to go signal and the ability to hold it which is not required when they have access to a doggie door. I would never assume a dog that does not ahve accidents with a doggie door is really house trained.


as for the signal that is often where house training falls apart rather than hoping the dog figure something out that you understand as i need to go out it is often faster and easier to teach a signal and one of the easiest is to ring a bell
see House Training: Ring My Bell!


Defication is ussual the much less common problem that is because eat food cause a peristalsis which general lead to the need to go so dog eats take dpog out dog goes very stright forward . Urination on the other hand is much dfferent not tied to when the dog drinks but when the dog is up and about an active dog needs to go much more frequently than a rest or sleeping one.. It is not unusual for a puppy to need to go every 10 minutes when it is active people don't realize it is that frequent so when the puppy are up you need to take them out very frequently