Are BC's that smart?

[Shazmnldb]

Hello Everyone,

 

This is my first time here and I love reading everyone's posts. It great to hear stories from others and pick up tips on how to bring out the best of these wonderful creatures.

 

Anyhow, my little girl "Lilly" is 5 months old and completely house trained, however just lately she has started to pee inside at random. My husband and I think it is because she wants to go outside because when she was house training, everytime she had an accident we would put her outside. She is an inside/outside dog but lately the weather has been miserable and she is inside with us a lot. (we don't have a doggy door yet). Could she really be that smart and think like that?

 

 

[Gary_and_Karen]

Welcome to the BC Forum !

 

Border Collies are indeed very smart and it would not surprise me at all if she made that association.

 

Recently between all the extra rain and having to work extra days till a replacement gets hired for a co-worker who had to quit because of moving out of the area, Xena has not had her usual amount of outdoor playtime, (and rain don't seem to phase her, she would play outside in the pouring rain if I didn't mind getting soaked along with her

 

Anyhow my wife told me that recently on days I was at work that Xena would act like she needed to go potty a lot more than usual but maybe actually pee or poop one time out of 5 trips outside, I told my wife Xena probally just misses getting outside as much and acts like she needs to go potty at times just to get outside (reguardless of the weather

 

Somehow you need to train your dog to let you know she needs to go out to potty (before she pees inside) , but don't be upset if it is just an excuse to get outside for a few minutes. I read some people trained their dogs to ring some "jingle bells" by the door (I saw such bells at Walmart in the pet section made just for that purpose)

 

Until you get her trained back out of that you might need to watch her more closely for now for body language that might suggest she is getting ready to find a spot to pee inside, then say "need to go potty ?" and take her to the door and outside. (if you have the jingle bells take her paw or nose to make them ring so she will associate making the bells ring with being let outside).

 

(I was just checking this forum before going back to sleep after taking Xena out for her morning potty, she softly whines to wake me up for potty time)

[waffles]

My first thought was take her to your vet to check for a UTI. If she really is 100% housebroken and is peeing randomly in the house, then if it were me, I would want to rule an infection out. Then go from there and re- house train if no infection.

[Naddi]

The obedience trainer we work with told us that sometime, at around 5-6 months, some pups will "forget" their house training, as if they want to test us. It is mandatory that she understand it is not ok. Accident can happen, but still. Naddi was having little pee accident sometime in her crate a few weeks ago. We went back on showing her it wasn't ok, and now she is back to normal.

 

The bells are a great way to make her learn to tell you she want to go out. Each time you take her out, take her paw and ring the bell. She will associate the bell, with going out and eventually she will ring it with her nose or paw by herself.

 

I wanted to use that trick, but the cat would spend most of the day playing with the bell... so yeah, no bell training for Naddi! We showed her to poke the leash that is hanged near our coat when she want to go out. And usually if we tell her "potty?" and she goes to the door that is a yes lol I can't wait til we move to our house in a few month, and Naddi will finally have plain access to a yard. Right now, I hate the fact of having to make her endure an appartment life.

[Gideon's girl]

If the bell doesn't work for you for whatever reason then several people I know have gotten a Staples That's Easy button and taught their dog to push it to signal wanting to go outside.

[Liz P]

UTIs are common in female pups. Rule that out first.

[Gary_and_Karen]

......that's funny - but a neat idea - take a video of a dog pushing a "that's easy" button and post it on Youtube

If the bell doesn't work for you for whatever reason then several people I know have gotten a Staples That's Easy button and taught their dog to push it to signal wanting to go outside.

[Naddi]

Our fatass cat is so jealous of Naddi, that he's pretty much gonna lay on a button like that to prevent her from pushing it lol

[rushdoggie]

Never attribute to malice what can be explained by biology (or a lack of consistency).

 

Sometimes while developing and growing girls can get a little "backflow" that can result in UTIs. Get that checked, and then I would suggest taking her out with increased frequency and putting her pee on a cue. My guess is she was less housetrained than you thought she was, she just was outside more and so when she had to pee she went outside. She may not yet understand that peeing inside is not acceptable.

 

By taking her out even in bad weather and putting it on cue it helps you teach her that when the opportunity arises, she needs to go. And by being out there with her, you have the opportunity to reward toileting outside very heavily which will help her understand she needs to go outside.

 

Also, be sure she has no access to places she could go when you are not watching. Resist the urge to yell or punish her if up catch her in the act. That can have the effect of making her afraid to toilet in front of you.

[geonni banner]

Hmmm. Could be "that smart," but that doesn't mean that's why she's peeing in the house. My dog doesn't like to go out for pee breaks when it's raining. If there's some other reason for going out - like Frisbee or Wubba - it could be raining cats 'n' dogs and she wouldn't care. But just for a pee break? Her attitude is "I'll hold it." And that's why she has a command to pee. I say "Hurry up." (Because that's what you want to say when the rain's going down your collar, and the wind is finding it's way into your clothes and bringing the rain with it)

 

I say "Hurry up," she pees and makes a beeline back to the door.

 

See, I know how long it's been since she peed, and I don't want to wake up at 3 AM with Border Collie eyes boring into my forehead like a laser beam 'cause now she's decided she needs to go. I live in an apartment, which means get up, put on clothes and shoes and go outside with the dog. There's no open the door and watch through the kitchen widow for me. So she has a "Hurry up" at 10PM when I go to bed - or even if I don't. Then I know she's good 'till morning. Unless she's ingested rotting gopher remains and has the collywobbles. And then don't I just get dressed fast.