Potty Training…the puppy struggle.
One of the most difficult and most time consuming parts of owning a puppy is potty training. Don’t get me wrong, there’s a lot of other really difficult things about owning a puppy…but potty training seems to be the thing that people struggle the most with when they get a new pup. This difficulty can be due to many different circumstances like where the puppy came from, the owner’s work schedule, and even just their anatomy.
I’ve talked about her before (just a few times…okay maybe more than a few), but my dog Fionna had a very VERY difficult time potty training. I did all the things I teach to my clients…letting her out often, attaching her to me on a leash, watching her every move and putting her in the crate when I couldn’t…but she continued to pee on the floor. I would take her outside, she would pee 3 times outside, then come inside and pee 2 more times! And she would show absolutely NO SIGNALS that she was going to have an accident, she would be walking across the room and just squat. I was EXTREMELY frustrated (and so was my husband). I’m not about giving up though, I was determined to train this little nightmare to pee outside only.
I increased the frequency I took her out. Even if it was every 10 min, I would do it. I did this because she wasn’t showing any signals and I needed to stay on top of her bladder. I took her to work with me during the day so I could leave her out and she wouldn’t pee in the crate. I kept my eye on her constantly. I changed her water drinking routine, giving her water in her crate all day so she didn’t have to down a whole bowl when I got home. I was really doing everything I possibly could and she was STILL peeing in my house.
So I took her to the vet. I understand that puppies have accidents more so than adult dogs, but being that she seemed to be unable to control when she had to go and was peeing multiple times when she did go, I had to make sure. Her bill of health was clean so I decided she’s probably just a demon spawn attempting to flood my house with urine and feces. (It’s a joke, I love her…most days.)
I’ll be completely honest with you, I didn’t have a hallelujah moment with her. I didn’t “find a fix” or cure her of anything. One day it simply clicked for her. She just stopped having accidents. It was of course right after I bought a book on how to train dogs that are having difficultly with potty training (I will certainly use this book as a resource though in the future).
I had to do some digging and found a lot of info on bladder control. There are just some dogs who really struggle with bladder control. This is not their fault. Some bladders are just stronger than others. Some dogs have no problem controlling their bladders. I could count the number of times my dog Finn had an accident in my house on one hand…he just had great bladder control AND was very obedient. What I understand now about Fionna is that she was struggling with bladder control. It is clear to me now that she was unable to tell when she needed to pee and when she did she had to go immediately and so she just went wherever she was. This wasn’t spiteful or because she was a demon spawn, this was simply something she did not understand about her body. She didn’t understand the feeling of having to urinate and therefore, could not correlate that to going outside. It was frustrating, but it was also completely normal.
I wanted to tell this personal story because it goes to show that even trainers struggle with their own dogs. And I had to do research to learn and understand my dog and once I did, it helped me to completely look at her in a different way. She’s 5 months old now and barely has any accidents in the house. She had one the other day because I started petting her and got her a little excited and she pittled a bit on the floor and when she realized it, she ran straight to the back door and then right outside and finished. She’s still learning, but she’s come a long way and I’m so proud of her.
