I need help. How housetrained is/are your BC(s)?

[Meg's mum]

Something that was said on the board here today made me wonder just how 'housetrained' everyone's BC's are. What I mean is, how long could you leave your BC unsupervised and out of crate in the house and expect there to be no accident when you returned?

 

My first BC was an older rescue, 7or8 when we got her. She went for three walks of varying length and activity level each day. Morning, afternoon and evening. She would come and put her paw in your lap when she needed to go out and I'd say that about 10-11 hours was threshold with her.

 

My second BC was a young rescue, 11 months old when we got her. She romped over five acres during the day until she was older and became apartment bound. I'd say that 10-11 hours was threshold for her as well.

 

We having a horrific time with Meg, 11 1/2 months old. She will sleep 10 hours easily, be at home 8 hours without any incident uncrated.

But when we're home with her she will spend half the day out of doors, pee on command per the norm and sometimes if my timing and detection of the subtle signals is right poop on command, and then when we aren't looking she will slink away to the upstairs bathroom, the corner of the living room, the corner of the balcony and sometimes right next to you when you're on the computer and poop. All it takes is a moment's inattention.

 

She will also sometimes slink off and pee at the threshold of a doorway.

 

I so rarely ever catch her that it has been an incredible struggle to train her. Up until very recently she's been in day care three days a week where they relieve themselves at will without consequence.

 

We use gallons of cleaner, but I don't always see the pee when its fresh and hubby has given up on cleaners saying 'he doesn't believe they work'. Moreover you can not completely get the scent out of the carpet or the wood floor cracks and you are doomed if the accident is on particle board subflooring. Very chic no? We just haven't had time and energy to finish our hardwood reflooring project.....

 

DH is half serious about diapers which can't possibly work with a Border Collie. The very thought makes me a ittle nauseous.

 

I go through 72 hour periods where I think the next day just may be accident free, and then pow. I can't tell you what a failure I feel like.

 

Meg eats two high quality cans of food and small bowl of Royal Gold as treats. That seems a lot but she dosn't necessarily poop a lot and she's only just now losing some of her greyhound look to an Irish tomboy appearance. She does get water freely by fountain because she will not drink from a bowl unless its a toilet bowl or freshly put down.

 

I've been on this merry go round for so long, and have exercised or been unable to exercise all the normal things. We do not have the kind of dog, house or lifestyle to be able to keep our eye on Meg 100% of the day. I can crate her but not for more than a few hours during the day if I'm home. She's tear at the bars till her nails bleed. She'll rest easily for 4-5 hours if I'm not home however.

 

I suppose what I want to hear is that its hopeless and I need to live with it. That would be less stressful than what I'm feeling right now.

[smileyzookie]

Riven is great, for long hours if we're here. If one of us thinks the other already let her out for instance. I dont trust her if we arent here. Most I'd trust her would probably be around 6 hours alone.

 

I hope people here can help you. I cant imagine how frustrating it would be to keep having that happen!

[bc friend]

It sounds like Meg hasn't completely "gotten" the message on housetraining. If it were me, I would go back to the basics with her. In the house, she would either be crated or tethered to me. I went thru a similar exp w/my lhasa when I adopted him. He was around 4, appeared to be housetrained, pottied outside, was dry in a crate while I was at work and at night but never signaled a need to go outside and I would find "accidents" from locations where he had been in the house. I tethered him to me in the house and when one of the other dogs signaled a need to go out, I would cue Ben that it was time to potty and let him out too. It took about a month (he's a slow, stubborn learner) but he hasn't had an accident in over a year.

 

Sara was potty trained as a young puppy and has rarely had an accident. Katie was housebroken at @ 1 yr in her foster home and has never had an accident.

[Jen Brett]

Jack lets us know in no uncertain terms when he has to go out-licking, running around the room in circles, whining, and the occasional bark. He's been good up until 12 hours or so.

 

However, (and I swear I don't know where he learned this) if he *does* have to go while we're out, he goes in the bathtub. Honestly.

[BCjetta]

Hannah, my BC probably had her last accident in the house when she was 4-5 months old. She can go 12-14 hours loose in the house with no problems and even then doesn't ask to go out. The only thing she wants is to go downstairs and eat her breakfast first before she goes out. She's 8 now.

Turbo, my DH's aussie is another story. He's almost 2 now. He can hold it for 12 hours if he's in his crate. You have to let him out right away when you get up or get home or else he will pee. If you're not fast enough he will pee all over the front entry way or the porch. If he's in the house and its been a couple hours and something gets him excited (like me comming home with the other dog), he will pee. If he's left loose downstairs for more than about 4 hours he will pee but not if he's in his x-pen. Because of his problems, he is never loose alone. If we're downstairs, he's locked downstairs with us, if we're upstairs, he's up with us or in his x-pen. He has been really hard to housetrain even though we've done everything right (taking him out every hour, never letting him be alone, crating him etc). He will however, whine to go out if he has diarrhea or really has to poop. He's only ever had 1 or 2 poop accidents other than the unavoidable diarrhea in the kennel while we're at work the odd time.

[JackoDog]

Jacko had his first accident a couple days ago, but I really think it was our fault. I wasn't home, and H fell asleep with J in the house. When I got home J got really excited, which usually means he "dribbles" a little. Well, apparently he couldn't stop once the dribbles started and it turned into full on peeing.

 

He was nice enough to pee on his rug though, rather than the living room carpet.

 

Normally, we try not to leave him for more than 10 hours, but there have been a couple of LONG times that he does fine, but he's also always crated. We've only had him 4 months and there is no way he can be trusted in the house alone. Shoot, half the time he can't be trusted in the house when he's supervised!

[Kat's Dogs]

Dazzle is a bit better then she should be.

 

She will hold it longer then she really should - just because she doesn't want to make a mistake. So we are talking many many hours here.

 

Because we have the "doggie doorbell" thing and we are home a lot, she gets out plenty - but I do have to be careful if we would ever be gone a REALLY long time, because if she didn't have any way to get outside she would just hold it. So once again, with these dogs you have to be careful about just how well you train them.

 

Good luck with Meg!

[RaisingRiver]

I've left River for 12hrs in her crate when she was nearly a year old. She's only crated while we're not home (which is only because sometimes she's destructo-dog, not because I don't trust her pottying). She holds it all night long which is usually about 10hrs with free rein of house. She whines outside my bedroom door at about 7am each morning to let me know she has to go out. She hasn't had any accidents in the house since she was midway through her 6th month - except the day she had diarreah. :/

[Dal & Mad's Mom]

I had similar trouble with Jewel She was about 9 months when we got her and she wasn't really started training. I had to keep her right at my side for about 6 months if I was too busy I'd miss her cues and she would have accidents. Otherwise she had to be in her crate.

 

I did naps for her and Maddie so If I was doing something that totally required my attention I would let her out and then tell her she had to nap. I'd leave then in the crate about 2 hours

[Carlasl]

I am having some of the same issues with my Aussie, she is 7months old and can hold it for a long time in the crate (longest probably 10hrs in crate), but if she is playing in the house and I don't suggest she go outside, or I miss her subtle hints she will go to the farthest bathroom in the house and go there. But recently she went twice when I was right there and I was able to correct her and take her outside, and we have had no issues since then.

 

I wonder if you just tether her to you for a couple weeks to prevent any accidents if that would reinforce the correct behavior.

[Cheri McDonald]

We have dog doors so our three come in and out as they need. Briar was the only one housetrained when we adopted her. She will go out and potty immediately after eating without being told. Rob had one accident and that was during his first week with us, he was about 18 months old when we adopted him. Buddy had two accidents the first week with us but nothing since, pretty good for an old man that had never been in the house.

[MaggieDog]

Maggie has a bladder of steel lol - at the shelter she'd hold it 12 to 18 hours if necessary. At home the norm is 8 hours, but we've gone 12 a few times w/ no problems. She's like Dazzle too - she'll hold it too long rather than have an accident and she doesn't signal much.

[Anda]

I partialy potty trained my dog arround the third day we brought him home (2 months), and he understood he needed to ask to go out the patio door. It was end of December, and realy cold, so patio was the best solution. We had what we called "poopy pads", some cardboard boxes layed out flat for him to go on them

 

It took another month to not have any accidents in the house, then we had to un-train him to ask to go on the patio, but instead to go ask at the outside door. For about another month he would scratch at the patio door whenever he needed to go out, and we would take him outside on the grass.

 

I think at 3 months we were 90% accident free, with the exceptions of a few times when we were sleeping late or ignored his whines so he decided he will go in the bathroom, next to the toilet. Best choice

 

Now, if he has to go, he lets EVERYBODY know, by whining in front of you and crying. If both Chris and I are asleep, he takes turns whining on each other's side of bed, knowing that eventualy, he has a way better chance of waking me up that Chris This morning I decided to stay home and sleep in late, so he didn't get to go until 10 AM. He did whine at 6.15 when my alarm went off, but then he eventualy settled on sleeping in late as well

[Betsy R.]

My BC pup Tucker is 6 Mos and he has yet to have an accident in the house I just moved into. I have been here about a month. I crated him the first few days but now he has the run of my bedroom when I am at school. The Funny thing is at my Mom's house he would have an accident every time he came in the house, he was mostly an outside dog there, but as soon as I moved here He seemed to realize that my roomates wouldnt approve of doggy pee in the living room . I think I have left him alone for about 7 hours once, but he is left uncrated during the night and has never had an accident even though I have slept 11 hrs several times. I don't know how I got so lucky, I didn't even have to potty train him, he just figured it out!

 

Betsy-Human to Tucker and Jester

[Dixie_Girl]

My dogs also have a doggie door! I love it! And now with 5 dogs, I couldn't imagine how many times I would be up letting one or the other out! LOL Also, when it is nice in the late evening, Jackson loves to lay on the back porch, so he knows he can come in when ever. If it is raining, he will lie on the floor and just stick his head out, using the flap as a cover! Silly boy!

[Tammy525]

When Scout came to us at 15 months he was housetrained with a doggie door. This lead to a few accidents in the house during the first few weeks we had him. He had no concept of go on command, or here is your opportunity, USE IT. The accidents were all right in front of the door and he would be standing by the accident looking miserable when we got home (he completely freaked out about the crate and was reliable in the house so we just gave it up, of course, now since we have the puppy, he gets in the crate all the time!!)

 

It took about 8 weeks of major praise and treats for going potty even if he didn't have to, and he was cured. We didn't want to do the doggie door as there are so many critters where we live. We thought about it though, after about 6 weeks of trying to get him to go on command. But he got it and hasn't had an accident since. The puppy is a whole other story, but she has been on here before and you all were most helpful.

[bc friend]

I should have known better than to brag on Ben (lhasa) not having an accident for a year. It has rained a lot this week, lots of standing wate in the yard, etc. and Ben hates going out in the rain to potty. Last night he kept ducking back inside. Instead of putting in a crate like I should have, I left him loose. Not only did he have an accident but where did he choose to hike his leg and pee? Into my open purse!!! So this a.m. b4 leaving for work, I had to clean out the purse, saturate the lining with enzyme cleaner and put what I could get cleaned/dried in a tote to take to work - just the way to start the a.m. My bc's would never do anything like that!

[Anda]

Oh, that's funny, and sad at the same time In the purse, of all places LOL

 

If Ouzo ever did that, he would wear the purse for a collar for a while

[border_collie_crazy]

I have no idea lol my dogs are never left alone long enugh to really determine that.. my and my moms work scheduals work so well together that its very very very rare for them to be alone for more then 4 hours lol