i’m scared she’ll never be fully potty trained

[u/odd_salamanderr]

she’s 8 months old. we’ve been doing great, i take her out every 3 hours and she asks to go outside. it’s been weeks, maybe months without an accident. i know she can hold it for up to 8 hours, she does it when she’s in the crate and during the night. but today she asked to go outside, and i didn’t immediately get up as i was finishing up some work and within 5 minutes she peed on the floor. i know it’s my fault for not getting up immediately, but she should also be able to hold it for a while even when she feels the urge. i’m worried we will never get her fully potty trained, i’ve been following all the advice and tips and she just won’t hold it for more than a few hours

[u/madrobber_9]

You're overthinking this. 8 months and she's asking to go out, that's the actual win here. The accident happened because you didn't move, not because she can't hold it

She's still a pup, the signal-to-bladder pipeline is basically a direct line at that age. Give it another few months and she'll figure out the buffer zone

[u/danielsemaj]

Telling you she needs to go, bliss haha. My pup finished his lunch yesterday and immediately emptied his bladder on the kitchen floor without even moving a step

[u/DogGroomer1996]

I felt this with my 9m/o std poodle. She's three now and it's a distant memory! I thought it was an issue for small dogs, but bigger dogs have a harder time holding their bladder at that age too. We currently have an 11 m/o West Highland, and we're crossing our fingers there won't be having any more accidents!

[u/CantTouchKevinG → u/DogGroomer1996]

Poodles can be such dickheads about house training though. My std was such a dink. He finally figured out our house was not for pottying in, but then decided every other building was fine. It was a long road. He's 8 now so that road ended a long time ago but I'm pretty sure I was single handedly supporting the employees of Lysol disinfectant and Bounty paper towels 😂

[u/Selective_Somewhere]

“She just won’t hold it for more than a few hours”. I’m not sure how this is a surprise for an adolescent dog? I pee every few hours, too! And I can hold it longer when I’m sleeping.

[u/Sinsst]

Holding it in 3 hours during the day is already too much for an 8 months puppy.

You say that she can hold it for up to 8 hours... You can hold yourself overnight for 8 hours but have you tried doing the same during the day when you're active? This is what you're asking of your 8 months pup.

[u/Beneficial_Theme_823]

You’re definitely not alone with your doubts. I too am going through the exact same thing. I wish I could help but I’m no better off myself.

[u/happycavalier5]

The fact that she let you know she has to go outside is great and It has to be immediate to go out. If she signals and you weren’t able to take her, you should’ve put her in her crate for a few minutes. It would lessen the likelihood of having a big open space to go to the bathroom

[u/Kilgore_Trout_99]

I adopted adult Mexican street dogs. It seemed impossible but we got there. Took a couple months of hardcore training tho

[u/imagei]

If there’s progress then occasional accidents at this age are normal, and if they’re becoming less and less frequent then don’t worry at all. I think mine had the last one at 12 months ( same situation as yours, I ignored the signals for a while ), after over a month without, I was greatly disappointed 😅

[u/overzealous_dentist]

everything feels like it'll never happen until it suddenly does happen and then you never think about it again! don't stress

[u/goldengal36]

Have you tried setting a routine where you taue her out between walks to wee at predictable times? I'd take my adult dog out first thing 8am, again at 11am, then around 2:30, 5 and 8 before bed. Everyone's routine varies but if you want a more regular pattern of her weeing outside then take her outside regularly so she can rely on you vs you relying on her to prompt you.

If you don't always follow up on taking your puppy when she signals, she can't be expected to always hold it, she isn't a mind reader that you intended to take her in the next few minutes. Dogs require consistent responses.

[u/ImmediateCu_t]

Omg I thought this was about a human child

If she can hold it for a long time, I suspect she's holding it for a long time and only alerting you when it's urgent