What truly helped me with Eddie and Ivy was that I had read somewhere if they are out of their crate...and you can not totally focus on them...keep them on a leash.....so I did that and hooked the leash to my belt and they could never sneek off and go.....worked super for me...Stacy

The lack of diarrhea does not eliminate the possibility of EPI. There have been cases of low TLI in clinically normal patients. Some breeders are checking TLI as health screens prior to breeding, and eliminating carriers. Also some friends (both of whom are vets) adopted a very thin GSD several years ago. While she tested negative for EPI, she did much better on the Eukanuba diet for GSDs. Didn't have your dog's problem, but can't hurt. Speaking of diet, can you please mention again what you are feeding her? I think that even though being outside the crate will require increased diligence from you, that it will improve your dog's quality of life immensely. An hour walk every day is excellent. Retraining is an excellent idea. Check out my own personal experience in the "stupid owner can't train smart Rottweiler" thread. Over the course of 2-3 weeks, retraining worked. I tethered her and the 2 times I caught her pooping in the house and picked up and took her outside, it made an impression. Literally picked her up and took her outside. I hope everything turns out soon.

What a beautiful baby and what great work you are doing, elly_nj! I am not certain why you are so sensitive about people remarking on not being able to foster...I get these comments ALL the time as I foster kitties...I cant tell you how many I fostered ...more than 80 I currently have 3 7-week olds, and a nursing mom with 7 one-week olds...I am watching the little guys grow up with their nursing mom, and I know it wont be easy to give them up when they are old enough to go into adoption program... But, I know that soon after space opens up and I am ready for another foster, there will be foster babies and adults waiting It is a common and quite normal question and I think people mean more of "great job" than "cant believe she is able to let this puppy/kitten go" Truth is, most people CANT foster...for a lot of reasons, because fostering is a HUGE sacrifice - emotionally, financially, time-wise I tell people, in response to this question: It is selfish not to give an adoptable animal up...It is selfish to think about my feelings in the situation and it is selfish to not foster if the main reason is "not being able to let go"...I would be very selfish if I kept the kitten I fostered - because I wont be able to help dozens that could come after this one... Fostering is a huge sacrifice...

Hello, I understand how frustrating it can be to potty train a new puppy. But remember that your little one is like a two-year old child. If they even know themselves that they need to go potty, they don't know it for long before they have to go ! Here are my words of advice, FWIW ... 1. Feed and walk the puppy on a schedule. Do not let the pup outside and just expect her to potty herself. Go out with her ON A LEASH, stand still, no playing or entertainment, until she pees/poops. Then throw a big party, lots of praise and treats. And THEN she can go play for a bit. This way you make sure that she empties herself before going back into the house. A baby her age will probably need to pee at least once every three hours, so I would set a timer for every two hours just to make sure. And always (just like potty training a child), take her out after waking up and after eating. 2. Clean up any accidents with an enzymatic cleaner like Nature's Miracle or Petastic. Urine smells are persistent, and signal the puppy to PEE HERE ! Enzymatic cleaners are specially formulated to break down the smelly components in urine. 3. Never, ever, ever, ever, EVER spank your puppy. (An aside - NEVER call your puppy over to you, then spank her. Excellent way to teach your puppy that "she calls me, then she spanks me". Trust me, you want your puppy to learn that coming when called only means terrific things. One day, you might just need that emergency recall !). That teaches her to be scared of you when there is pee/poop around. This very quickly teaches dogs that they should sneak away and pee/poop somewhere away from you. And yes, I know that they "look guilty" when you discover their accident. But dogs, even very young puppies, are amazingly good at reading our body language and facial expressions. Let me tell you a little story about this ... I raised my Lab from puppyhood, and have never spanked him, and very rarely even raised my voice at him. One day I came home to find that someone had parked their car across my driveway, and I couldn't get into my garage (I live in a big city where street parking is scarce). I was furious. When I got into my house, I couldn't figure out why my dog was slinking around, looking incredibly guilty and worried. I thought "why is he acting like that ? has he done something that he thinks is naughty ?". I checked the house, everything was in order, and then I started to laugh. He totally read my grumpiness at the parking situation, and was acting anxious and appeasing. That's what dogs do. No different when you get mad about pee/poop in the house. (To finish the story, I burst out laughing at myself when I realised why he was looking all "guilty", and he almost heaved a huge sigh of relief ! and bounced around giving me his typical Labby greeting :-)) 4. I would strongly recommend (if you haven't done this already) enrolling in a puppy kindergarten class. If nothing else, you get other new puppy owners to share your stories with and will commiserate with you, and hopefully an experienced trainer who can help you with potty training and other training questions. Good luck with your pup. I thought my Lab pup was quite quick to pick up on potty training, and I would say that he was 90% reliable by 4.5 months and 100% reliable by 6 months. Remember that you have a young critter that you hopefully will have for the next 15+ years ... try not to get angry with her, she is trying to learn your rules.