Well, it took my Boston a little over a year to become completely potty trained. And honestly even now at 4 years he has the occasional accident. I think 9-10 hours is pushing it even for an adult dog, so it probably doesn't have to do much with her age.

Have you looked into one of those indoor dog potty's that have the astro turf on it? It's more expensive, but would seem more like going potty outside.

Thanks - I'll look into that!

My 6 year old BT has some issues with thunderstorms and will always have an accident if he's home alone when one hits. If I know one is coming and I have to leave the house, I put him in those denim doggie diapers with a super absorbent pad stuck inside (they're a whole lot cheaper than the doggie diaper pads). He loves wearing clothes, so he doesn't seem to mind wearing his "pants" and we don't have to clean up pee anymore. Since his issue is more anxiety than bladder capacity, the diaper solution may not translate, but it's an idea. Good luck to you and your living room carpet!

Thanks - hadn't thought of that option.

Is it possible you can leave her in a place that's not carpeted? What if you left her in the kitchen, for example? Do you have tile? If you aren't going to crate her (and you can get some pretty roomy crates, they are GREAT for training), then maybe leave her in a room where all you need is some pet spray and paper towels to clean up any accidents?

I'm not sure how much puppy pads cost - Gambit had some for a while, but he just liked to tear them up and make confetti. I'm not sure how successful they are. If you check your local listings, you might find a puppy walk service. I know in our area (Toronto, Ontario, Canada), which is a pretty major city and things are EXPENSIVE, for about $25 a day you can have someone come home, walk her and even feed her for a 30 minute visit. That's also something to consider if she is alone 10 hours a day. You could take the puppy pad money and put it towards a pet visit. Or even have someone you know, a neighbor, do it for less money?

Hmmm, yah, that is something to consider...I bet Lucy would just destroy the pad.

Banjo just shreded his, I never had any luck with them. That astro turf potty pad looks cool.

Casey Jones uses a pee pad during the day while I'm at work. But when I'm home, he runs to the door to be let outside to go. He's about 5 years old.

Eloise uses newspapers (she is indoors for about 7.5 hours a day), but prefers to go outside. i was worried, like you, that she would be confused and never want to go outside if she used papers indoors. but it has never been a problem. she tries to hold it, and does 99.9% of the time. but if we are a little late, or if she drank too much water, she will use the newspaper just fine, and never goes anywhere else! so it is possible. we had no luck with the wee wee pads, she just shredded them. newspapers have never been a problem, we have them on tile so we can mop up any wetness afterwards.

also, her ability to hold it got much better the older she got, so the puppy thing does play into it!


Edited at 2010-01-25 07:23 pm (UTC)

Did Eloise ever shred the newspapers?

i think maybe once, but that was it! our breeder paper trained them from the start, so i dont know if that was part of it, but i have heard that Wee Wee Pads just dont work because dogs just want to tear them up. i dont know if it is because they are formulated with that pheremone that makes dogs want to pee on them, or if they are too much like blankets so they want to dig in them or what? its a mystery. i have known a couple people who they work for, but not my dog!

have you thought about litter training? i have heard a lot of people having success with that!