Bassets are a breed that mature slower than many breeds and as a result they have puppy behavior longer and potty training takes longer. Our first Basset, Bubba, was finally trustworthy in the house and un-crated when were not home when he was about 1 and 1/2 years old.
Now we have Bogie, who will be one year old on April 21st and we still crate him when leaving the house and he is confined to the kitchen den area when we are home. He knows to go outside, will ring the bell we have hanging by the door to go out and will do great for days. Then all of a sudden if he gets a chance, when we forget to shut the baby gate, he will walk into the dining room and pee on the carpet. Why, who knows ?? so for now he's not trustworthy either. He will get there one day.
So don't expect to much from your little one. Just have lots of patience, and try to put your Basset on a schedule as Lynne suggested. Also Bassets have terrific noses, and getting all traces of the urine smell out is a challenge, and the smell makes them want to go there. Also I would think eight hours is way to long to expect a four month old to be able to hold it. Usually an hour per month of age or four hours for a four month old puppy is more realistic.
Here are a couple of sites that might help:
http://clickersolutions.com/articles/2001/.../housetrain.htm
http://clickersolutions.com/articles/2001b/bell.htm
This is some information posted by Mikey T in a previous post on potty training.
"Do not rely on a puppy to tell you when it's time to go out. That is expecting too much responsibility and communication at too early an age. It is up to you, the adult human, to know when he needs to go out. Watch his activity level and the clock.
A 12 wk puppy who is busy playing may need to urinate every 15-20 minutes, whereas a resting puppy might go for an hour, and a sleeping puppy can go 8 hours at night. Activity makes urine! Activity makes urine! Repeat this 10 times, slowly. This is a very important lesson for new puppy owners.
...The behavior behind this training: Dogs develop substrate preferences for eliminating. By substrate, I mean what they feel under their feet. In their first few weeks of life they need their mother to lick them to stimulate elimination. Around 4 weeks of age they begin to control this themselves. It is a self-rewarding behavior because it feels good. They associate this good feeling with the environment they are in at the time. This is about the same time they are walking well enough to go outside. If they are taken outside enough, several times a day, during this period of development (4 through 8 weeks) they will associate the good feeling of relieving themselves with the grass under their feet, the sky above, and all the smells and sounds of the outdoors. The tactile experience, the texture under the feet, becomes the cue.
If your puppy does not already have this outdoor experience, then you can provide it for him now, to retrain the "substrate preference" he has already learned. Take the pup out about once per hour. This is after play, eating, sleeping, etc. If the puppy can't hold his urine from the crate to the back door while walking, carry him for the first week or so. After a busy play session, take the puppy out, even if it's only been 15 minutes since he last went out. Physical activity produces urine. Inactivity slows the production of urine. This is why a puppy can sleep all night without wetting in the crate, but will urinate on the floor as soon as you let him out of the crate."
Also go to the "search" area at the top of the forum page and type in "Potty Training" and you wiil find tons of helpful posts.
Good Luck!!
[ April 09, 2006, 09:37 PM: Message edited by: BubbaLeroy ]
