I have another story! This happened yesterday and while it didn't seem funny at first it did after I cleaned the mess up! LOL We laid DS down for a nap and his father put a diaper on him so he wouldn't end up with a wet bed. He told DS that just because he had a diaper on did not mean that if he had to pee or poop he couldn't take it off and go. DS said, "Okay, Daddy." We then went back to our room and watched Trading Spaces and thought about taking naps ourselves. After a while we hear DS coming to our room. He's holding his blankies and when he puts them down, my fiance' sees something on him. He then realizes DS has poop on himself and he asks where his diaper is. I started seeing pictures of the times he pooped and ripped his diaper off and smeared it everywhere. I jump up and dash to his room and scan for a mess. I don't see or smell anything. Then I see the door to the 1/2 bath off of his room is open. I look in there and there is poop on his stool, on the toilet seat in two places and the handle on the toilet and also some in the sink. He had the used some toilet paper to clean up some of the mess and looked in the soap dispenser for some soap but it was out. I start questioning him on where his diaper is and ask about the garbage and he says, "Yes." But there are no dirty diapers in the garbage so were searching for a diaper again. Then we realize that DS realized he had to poop so he went to the bathroom. He took the diaper off and threw it in the garbage and then crawled up on the toilet and held himself on it. He must have sat back pretty far so that's how the poop got on the back of the seat. Then when he went to slide off his butt would have rubbed on the front part where there was more poop. He then must have gotten the toilet paper and wiped himself and gotten some poop on his hand from trying to do that himself, which he then got on the handle when he tried to flush and then in the sink when he tried to wash off. He even demonstrated what he did on the other toilet and it all adds up. He was so proud of himself! I hated having a mess but it has to be a good thing when a almost 3 year old is willing to go and clean up his own mess! LOL I also knew a little boy who thought you could pee anywhere. My father, his girlfriend, my brother and I and the gf's three younger boys were at a local fireman's carnival. We all got on a ride except for the 3 year old. While the rest of us were on the ride, Brett decided he had to pee. He told his Mom and my Dad and her were looking for a porta potty or something. Meanwhile she looks down and there he is peeing right in the middle of the crowd. We don't think anyone saw him though. ~Leslie~

Several thoughts about potty training - things I have learned from experience, reading and other mothers. I strongly suggest you get boys in the habit of peeing sitting down. Here is my rule- when you are at someone's house, you pee sitting down. This is because little boys miss (as do big boys) and who wants to clean up my kid's mess. At public places, I prefer he stands. At home, he can do either one. But mostly my little three year old sits. He doesn't really have the coordination for the standing part yet. Although he does at times drag his stool over and try to do it standing. At some point kids don't want to be compared to babies and don't want diapers. We really have not pushed the toilet training. The only thing we would do is talk about how diapers are yucky and poopy and baby (she's just a year now) wears a diaper. If we caught him pooping in his diaper, we'd stop him and put him on the toilet. This was just to get him to know the feeling of when he had to go. Pretty soon, he'd start telling us he had to go. At that point we let him pick out a package of underwear and that is what he wore except for naps and night time. One mother in our playgroup tried just setting a timer and every hour setting her son on the toilet. That seemed to work great. Another mother I know tried the Potty Training in a Day system. It's more than a day. Recently I read that the average time to potty train a child is about 8-9 months. I'd skip the pull ups. Everyone I know who has used them has had problems with the kids thinking they are diapers. It is more confusing to the kids I think. The day care workers I know say the same thing.

My son was very easy to train for some reason, maybe it was the way I did it so I will share with you some of the things I tried. This may sound gross, but he thought it was cool to see that mommy or daddy had pooped, and he wanted to do it to. Not at all times but I would show him how big mommy was when she did it, and make a really big deal out of it and celebrate, we would clap our hands and sing. He thought it was the greatest and wanted to do it, too. When he did it he would get a snack or sometype of reward. Of course he grew out of it and started to do it all on his own. I would show him that even our cat does it too, but in the litter box. I guess it just kind of cought on.

I don't think it's to late either. Perhaps you should consult your vet before changing feeing habits. You might want to consider what pup is eating also. The present food may not be agreeing with it. Typically, they should be fed every 8-12 hours. I do think it is very important for you to pick a system and stick with that, rather than switch. Switching will only confuse you and your pup. (Perhaps this is a hound thing). Here is a step by step method that worked for me. It also has worked for others. I did do a cut and paste thing, but modified it to your issue. 1. First you need to realize that you are starting to miss or push the edge for prime potty training time for your pup. Also, as I found out, not all dogs are the same in this category. Having said that, you need to start treating pup like it is a 2-3 months old. Dig into pups background and try to find out if it was traumatized. If it came from a pound or rescue league, there is a possibility that it was. Not good for any dog, especially one that is a pup and simply does not know much in potty habits etc. 2. Crate training is essential when trying to house train your pup. If this is an issue, put an old sheet or blanket over the crate. When pup starts to whine or do something you donÂt approve of, LIGHTLY (you donÂt want to scare pup into next year)tap on the crate and firmly say STOP. This command will also help you when your dog is getting into mischief. ItÂs direct and to the point, it stops the pup and it will associate the command with the crate noise. When pup starts to go indoors, you must get itÂs attention so it will stop. If that means using a loud voice, then so be it. NEVER HIT THE DOG OR RUB ITÂS NOSE IN IT. THIS WILL ONLY DAMAGE YOUR RELATIONSHIP WITH YOUR DOG, PLUS, IT DOESNÂT KNOW WHY YOU ARE DOING THIS. Sorry I yelled, but this seems to be a common thing some people do, and it's useless. MOST dogs wonÂt go in their crate. If pup does, for a few days, do not put any blankets on the floor. This should cure that problem. Because you are treating your pup like it is 2-3 months old, you need to supervise it every second it is not crated. Using a leash when it is out is also very important. You can easily grab the pup and take it out when you need to. Crating unless you can watch pup every second will allow you complete control. If you can't catch pup in the act when itÂs doing something wrong, scolding is useless. Pup simply won't know why you are mad. When crating while you are away, try playing soothing music. All dogs love this, especially pups. It keeps them calm. 3. When pup is crated, the instant it comes out, take it outside. Get pup used to the words "go pee and go poop". Praise pup like it is the best dog in the world when it does something. Then give it a treat (boiled chicken liver is best, dogs crave it). Soon, pup will associate doing itÂs thing with a yummy treat. You also need to go very heavy on the praise and treats when pup does anything you approve of (that means, peeing and pooping on regular walks, drinking water, sitting, just laying around, anything that will reinforce positive behavior). You also need to start taking pup out about once every 15-20 minutes (gradually increased after a few weeks)after the initial trip directly out of the crate. If it doesn't do anything, that's fine, if it does, do the praise and treat thing. 4. Pups drink huge amounts of water. In theory yours should be able to hold it for (one hour for each month). In reality, if pup has been playing, it will gulp down lots of water, and just won't be able to hold it for that long. After pup drinks, keep an eye on it. Take it out in about 5-10 minutes and offer it relief. Soon pup will go to the door when it need to go out. Consistency is the key to all of this. You need to plan on excessive praise and treats when you are house training so pup will associate yummy treats with doing itÂs thing. 5. Daily walks twice a day (about 20-30 minutes each in the same area) are essential for dogs. Walking gets things moving, dogs love it and it gives them something to look forward to. Try and feed pup close to the walks. Never free feed unless your vet says to. Pups have a high metabolism. Soon after it eats or drinks, it will need to go out. My pup was 4 months when I got her and didn't know anything. After two months of not being able to get the problem under control, my vet dug into her background. Because she was dropped beside a road with her litter mates, then taken to a pound, then moved to another pound (long story), she was traumatized and completely missed out on any type of house training. I was forced to do what I described and got it under control after about 4 months. Lastly. Your pup won't be considered house trained unless it has no accidents for at least 6 months! Also, as I learned, there is a HUGE difference in a dog that is 4-6 months old and one that is 9-10 months old. They grow inside and out. Once they reach 9-10 months, their bladders are larger and able to hold it longer. Good luck! Keep us posted! SG