For some reason, she felt empowered.....and didn't need to control you with the potty issue. For a lot of years, kids learned not to soil their pants well before the age that is the norm these days....do you suppose we have suddenly evolved into a species of creatures with late maturing bladders? Do you suppose your great-great grandmother washed on a washboard the diapers and other clothing, or her children for 4 years?...2 or 3 at a time?....and stoked the fire and made her bread etc? I know my children pottied themselves by 2 years.....and I know my brother and I did.....and I know that my grandmother said her children were trained before 2 ( my brother is 10 years younger....and my grandmother lived with us...so she expressed her opinion.....a lot!) It seems that Freud started the whole "anal retentive" thing. We used to put a child on the potty at 6 months for a little while at a "certain time" each day. If by chance, they performed....the bells and whistles all went off! But...it got them used to the potty....and I used that time to put on my face, brush my teeth and curl my hair. Now it seems we are afraid of scarring a child's psyche by putting them on the potty too young.....but not afraid to give them Karate lessons at 3. A child that has never worn a disposable, nor a pair of waterproof pants will be very uncomfortable when wet. And you'd be surprised at how fast they catch on to how nice it is to always have a warm, dry bottom. I think that after...or about...age 2 it becomes a control issue.....the child is using the potty issue to have some control. I belive it's the same sort of thing that sometimes leads teen age girls with parents who are perfectionists to become anorexic. It's the one area of their life over which they have total control.....when to eat and when to poop. I suggest finding another area of her life to control....like total choice on what to wear.... But....please don't misunderstand.....I wouldn't want to return to the cloth diaper, wash board days for anything!! Linda C

My son's Potty Time book is his favorite, like all kids he loves repetition, sometimes we'd read that book 10 times in a row before he'd be ready to move on to something else else. A few weeks ago he told me that he wanted to wear "big undies" just like the boy in his book. Remebering what my Grandma said "once you start, you can't go back, no matter how messy it gets", I let him spend the day in his big undies. He only had one accident, and 3 weeks later I can only count a handle full of times that he's had a potty accident, including at night and at naptime. Now poopy is a totally different story. I've timed him, and it seems a few minutes after eating luch is his "regular" time. I can set him on the potty and we'll read books or play with cars, and he refuses to go. For some reason the little man will not go poopy on the potty chair. I've even stopped caling it a potty chair thinking that maybe he was taking it literally, now it's the "Big Boy Toilet". I guess patience and perseverance will win out. I know he's not going to graduate from college without being properly toilet trained! BTW - At this point I refuse to be like my mother and resort to bribery, but I must admit she convinced both of my daughters in one weekend to use the potty with a pack of Juicy Fruit!!!

I teach dogs to ring the bell when they have to go out. I know that sounds hard but it is very simple. Hang a large bell from the nob of the door you want him to use (I bought a large sleigh bell at the craft store) and hang it low enough that he can reach it with his nose. I also use operant conditioning to train, all positive with click and reward. ok, this is what you will do; have a treat ready, call him to the door, ring the bell and then immediatly open the door tell him "good boy" and give him the treat yes, even though your the one that rang the bell. Do this often. Your teaching him that ringing the bell means the door opens. It took about 3 minutes working with Gus to learn to ring the bell when he was 3 months old. I have a bell inside and outside that Gus uses. I hope that helped you, I know it sounds hard, but it's really not. Depends from dog to dog how long it will take for them to learn this. We don't give them enough credit, they can learn amazing things. Kathy Picture of my dog Gus below Here is a link that might be useful:

gpwuster-Let me ask you a question and I don't mean this in a hateful way.Can YOU "hold it" for 9 hours? To answer your question,yes,you are expecting too much of him to hold the poop and pee that long! First of all,Monty is still a puppy.I think it is unfair to the dog to keep him crated for 9 hours without a break. That's just my opinion.Could you possibly have someone come in during the day and let him out or maybe you or DH could come home for lunch and let him out? Also,small dogs should not be going 9 hours without food because of blood sugar issues.They need to eat several small meals during the day. Another solution would be closing off an area with a puppy gate (not a closed door).Maybe a laundry room,bathroom or some other small uncarpeted area in the house for him during the day.Place the opened crate,(prop the door open with something heavy) food,water,a few favorite toys and a puppy pad in the enclosed area.I know there is a lot of negative advice about the puppy pads,but when the choice is for the puppy to be locked in a crate for 9 hours a day as opposed to being in a secured area with a puppy pad,in my opinion the puppy pad is better.If he can hold it all night and has never peed/pooped in the crate at night I don't think he will start.I know that all dogs are not the same but I have a 13 year old female Chi that potties on puppy pads when we are not home but when we are she runs to the door and bounces around when she needs to go out.She doesn't pee anywhere else in the house.She doesn't use the puppy pad when someone is here to let her out so that kinda debunks the theory that they will think it is ok to pee in the house if they are pad trained!LOL I am at this moment training a tiny 7 week old Chi-weenie (less than 1 1/2 lbs) to go on the puppy pad.I have had her 3 days and she is already going to the pad by herself to pee.We are still working on the poop thing but she is learning fast.We also take her outside and she does her jobs as well.I am disabled and can't take her outside.She only goes out when DH is here to take her,so pad training is the only other option.She is crated only at night and when we are going to be out for a few hours during the day.She has never peed or pooped in her crate.I'm not saying this is the greatest solution or that I won't be here tomorrow with the same problems others are experiencing.Just that this is what is working for me,so far!LOL