[Bonnie]

Hi Everyone! I introduced myself earlier this week as a new owner of an 11 month old beagle named Copper. I found Copper through an ad in the paper. The previous owners had purchased him from a breeder, and had crate trained him. However, they were honest with us that they werent able to housebreak him. but we figured we'd have better luck as we have more time with him during the day to work on it. SOOOOOO, we have had him almost a month. We had him neutured almost two weeks ago. Our schedule is as follows: In the morning I take him for a walk when I walk with the kids to school, then he spends the rest of the day with my husband at work, then I pick him up when I am done with work and the kids and I walk him home. We have a fenced in yard and the kids play with him outdoors if the weather isnt too crummy (I do live in Washington State after all!) and after dinner, the kids go to bed and Copper cuddles with my husband on the couch while he watches TV until we go to bed about 11:00. Then he goes willingly into his crate, gets a treat, and sleeps well all night. He never has accidents in his crate. (One of us takes him outside every 2-3 hours all day long, and more frequent in the evening. ANd we PRAISE PRAISE PRAISE him when he goes outside!)We have a puppy gate and he is only allowed in the family room/kitchen area of the house. There are two times when he has accidents and I figured out what to do about the first time, but not the second. The first time is when we all leave the family room/kitchen area, such as when my husband and I put the kids to bed. THis usually takes about 20-30 minutes as even though our kids are 8 years old we have a family tradition of reading a Read Aloud book each night to them when they are in bed. It seemed that each time we did this I would come downstairs to find a little puddle waiting for me. After a couple times of having this happen I figured out that Copper doesnt like us to all leave him alone downstairs. SO now when we leave the room I put him in his crate - and the problem is solved! (Except all the barking he does when he is in the crate - but thats a whole other issue!) The only other time he is crated is Sunday morning for about 4 hours, and at various random times through the week when both my husband and I are gone at the same time, but he really isnt in his crate very much. He is so spoiled with lots of love and attention all day long! ANyways, the second time he has accidents is really random as far as I can tell. This evening I took him for a walk after putting the kids to bed. He came inside and I played with him for a while, then sat down at the table to do some work while he went and lay on a blanket on the couch. THe next thing I know is my husband came in the room and announced HE peed! and sure enough - he did it again! He did it on the blanket on the couch! I just dont get it! THese random times just dont make sense to me. Was it because he wasnt getting my undivided attention? The blanket was just recently washed (he had peed on it once last week too) so I know he didnt smell anything on it. It seems that these random accidents are usually in the evening. Sometimes on a blanket, sometimes on a couch and sometimes on the floor. I know this is a long e-mail, but maybe there is some clue in his history or our daily schedule that could help us. The accidents are all pee, no poo. Any ideas are welcome!

 

[Toby & Lucky]

Well, first of all, Copper is beautiful!!! Secondly, I am also house training an older pup and it is the exact same thing here! He has random accidents just when I think we are past having accidents in the house! It sounds like you are doing everything right and for as new as Copper is to your home, I actually think it sounds like he is doing pretty well. Lucky does the same thing if I leave him alone too long (in his opinion!) gated in the family area. Hang in there and keep doing what you are doing. If his accidents continue to happen on the blanket, then I would definitely put the blanket away, maybe the wash isn't getting the smell out enough to him. Since he wasn't completely trained to begin with, be patient, he is getting used to his new home!

 

[weed30]

Quote:then sat down at the table to do some work while he went and lay on a blanket on the couch. .... and sure enough - he did it again! He did it on the blanket on the couch!

Any time you can't give him 100% attention, then you will have to put him in the crate or tether him to you with his leash so he can't wander off. Loop his leash through a belt loop -- you want to feel when he tries moving away. And he definitely shouldn't be on any piece of furniture alone if he isn't housebroken. He's not peeing because he doesn't get attention, he's peeing because he has to pee and there's nobody there to let him know he needs to do that outside every time.

Good luck, it ain't always easy!

 

[jassy]

Bonnie, I e-mailed you this morning but I just want to say he is adorable. No wonder you couldn't resist that little face!

 

[Bonnie]

It's me again, Copper's owner. He's had to more accidents since I wrote my very long post last night. First, mu husband left him on the couch sleeping to come help me figure out how to add the picture, and Copper peed on the couch again. The second was this morning when I got him up, he had peed in his crate! Not much but a corner of the towel was soaked. My husband said that he has noticed that the towel has been wet other mornings and had just thought that Copper had been slobbering, but I smelled it and it was definately pee! So now what do I do? Has anyone ever heard of a dog that just can't be housebroken? Maybe I should have a vet check him out and make sure he doesnt have a physical problem. I take him outside in the evenings every hour or two since that is when most all of his accidents are. Since he's almost a year old, he should have the bladder control to hold it longer than this, right?

 

[meg's mum]

Hiya, welcome, just wanted to say that most bealges do take a while to house train. Meg was about 1 year before we could trust her, so bear with him, he will get there, honestly..

good luck, and by the way, sounds like you are doing everything right, it just takes time, time and more time
x

 

[Murphys Dad]

About the towel and constant peeing in the crate and couch; have you tried using anzimatic detergents to get rid of the scent? You may not be able to smell it after cleaning, but Beagle's noses are much much more developed. You can also try equal quantities of water and vinegar to get rid of the smell, and clean whatever stains there are due to his peeing.
Be patient, Beagles take longer to house train.