First of all, I am really no expert, but can maybe pass along some tips since I've recent gone through the housebreaking thing. It can be difficult and takes a lot of patience. My pup was pretty well paper trained from day one but after a while that got sort of frustrating when he starting dragging pee pads and chewing them and then peeing in the spot where the pee pad used to be. I find that after 5-1/2 months he is really just starting to be more dependable now and getting the hang of peeing only outside. But, I read that pugs can be more difficult to house train. He now seems to have better control to hold it longer, such as when we are gone from the house to go to work. He still has some accidents, but sometimes it's our fault if we're home because we don't realize that he's asking to go out. As he's aged and his fur has become thicker, he seems to be able to spend more times outdoors. That and milder weather really help. I still go outside with him, I'm just protective of him. He gets treats whenever he pees, but only a crumbled bit of his biscuit. One thing too, if you take him outside and he just runs back to the door to go in, pick him up and take him back to the area where you want him to pee. It doesn't always work, but often he might decide to pee the second time. Also, you will find they are easily distracted so if he's about to pee outside and the neighbor comes out of his/her door, puppy might start barking instead of peeing. My pup definitely has to go whenever he wakes up from a nap. In fact, sometimes if it's before bed I'll wake him up to take him out, or if I get up at 3 a.m. I might take him out as well. I sort of keep track and drag him outside if it's been too long. I figure the more he goes to the washroom outside the more it becomes habit and is engrained in him. Today we visited his Grandparents and he did go by the back door to go outside, which is great because I worry about him having accidents inside others peoples homes. Plus I started thinking maybe he's really starting to realize not to pee inside anyone's house. Good luck, hang in there,it will get better, Glen

Is he crated?? In my experience this definately helps because dogs really hate to go where they sleep. It doesn't 'train' them to hold it longer, but they generall choose to hold it because they would really rather wait then wet the bed, until it comes down to it. We kept our beagle in our bedroom in a kennel at night, and we'd get up when she would whine, and put her out. But it didn't take her long. Her real turning point was when we took her and her crate to visit my sister. We all went out for the day, leaving her in the crate. We ended up being out MUCH MUCH longer than expected because we ran into some problems. We were so worried by the time we got in (abt 9 hours later!! I felt horrible) that she had probably messed herself a whole lot. But she hadn't not once, nothing. That was pretty much the end of her accidents in the house, too. She still had a few, but something clicked in her that day, I guess.

First of all you need to rule out a UTI. This could be part of the problem. It does not matter that she can hold it over night, she is not stimulated when she is sleeping. You need to realize that not all dogs are the same in this category. Some get it within a week or less, others take longer. *Pick a system, any system so you and pup wont get confused. This one has a good success record, and it will give you a good start. System. *EVERY SECOND (donÂt argue)! supervision is a must when pup is not crated. Have a leash on her so you can easily grab her and take her out when you need to. Set a timer so you can take her out about every 30-40 minutes, then GRADUALLY (over the course of a few weeks) increase the time you take her out by about 20-30 minutes. Increasing the time by to much confuses the dog. This is a MAJOR mistake lots of humans make when trying to house train a dog. *Immediately after she comes out of the crate, take her out. Stopping to put on your shoes is a major mistake. Get pup used to the commands "go poo" and "go pee". These commands should be a must, they are incredibly helpful when the weather is bad. *If dog doesn't do anything, that's fine, if it does, give tons of praise and give a "quality" treat, preferably one used just for training purposes. Consistency is the key. Dogs are creatures of habit and depend on a repetitive schedule. This is no time to skimp on excessive praise and treats when you are house training. Pup needs to associate being let out of the crate with yummy treats doing itÂs thing and huge amounts of praise. Boiled or baked chicken liver is a great training tool, dogs crave it and you really have their attention when you use it. *Daily walks at least twice a day (about 20-30 minutes each in the same area) are essential for dogs and getting them house trained. Walking gets things moving, dogs love it and it gives them something to look forward to. Try and feed a pup prior 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. *Pups drink huge amounts of water. In theory yours should be able to hold it for (one hour for each month) up to about 9 months. In reality, if a young 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. *You are making a very bad mistake being mad at your pup. When dogs do something wrong, itÂs the fault of the human in charge, not the dogÂs. You are going to traumatize her, make things worse and never get this under control. She simply does not know why you are mad. If you cannot catch her in the act, scold her and take her out, you might as well clean it up. Just a few seconds after the deed, she will not retain why you are scolding her. Using the crate for punishment is another mistake, it will confuse pup because this is supposed to be her safe sanctuary. You need to dig in and decide that you are going to get this under control, and do what ever it takes. Lest, your life will become very difficult. *Your pup won't be considered house trained unless it has no accidents for at least 9months! Also, 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! SG

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.