Hopefully it isn’t submissive peeing. That can be an issue with female dogs. We did not want that for Storm so any accident was treated very calmly with taking her out and saying “potty outside”. We used the same cue whenever she went out, whether she went or not. We hoped she would understand that is what we wanted. Also with young females you have to consider that it could be a UTI even without outright symptoms.

Good luck. I know you will work it out. I think your idea of agility work is really good to give her confidence.

Have you considered umbilical training with Cherie? I found it super helpful when house training Kolchak. After being picked up by a GSD and shook at the park, we had a huge housetraining set back. He’d go out, but he’d be far too tense to pee. He’d come in an 15 – 20 minutes later have an accident! The tether let me monitor when he got antsy and try going out again. Sometimes we’d go out two or three time before he’d actually go, but sne he was tether to my side, there were no accidents in the house. It also had the added benefit of teaching him to look to me for direction when he didn’t know what to do (but the added disadvantage that his favourite spot to be is still right between my feet. If I had a dollar for every time I’ve tripped on him, ‘d be rich.)

Thanks for all your help and support, Mel. I can only assume gaining confidence will help with house training. It just doesn’t seem normal for a dog with frequent outdoor access to hold it so long.

Our relaxing weekend seemed to help. On our morning walk she was freaked out by the empty trash cans but she recovered more quickly and was able to “touch” and sit on her towel a few times.

On the other hand, I’m thankful she’s not always shut down. She does pretty well in the house and loves playing with Honey.

Thanks for the reminder. It might be a little obsessed with making Cherie perfect. 🙂

The calm weekend definitely helped. There’s nothing like a nice break.

Don’t forget that when you’re preparing for your agility trial. 🙂

Cherie came to us with a clean bill of health from the SPCA. She might even been too healthy. If she didn’t hold her urine 12 or 13 hours, she’d be easier to keep track of.

If she could teach me to do the same, I’d probably get a much better night’s sleep. 🙂

Yep, that’s one nice thing about puppies. They are predictable–they need to go out every fifteen minutes. 🙂

Cherie’s unpredictability is rough. She’s peed twice on blankets (they came with her from the SPCA so they might have had a urine scent), several times on the lino in the kitchen. Outside on a walk, she pees on the concrete sidewalk. And she can hold it for 13 hours! Despite having frequent breaks.

I do have some extra linoleum in the basement. Maybe I’ll give it a try.

But probably worst is that she has a crippled back leg so it’s hard for me to know if she’s starting to squat or just walking normally.

No accidents today and only a 20 minute wait after getting up. So maybe we’ve turned a corner. 🙂

Thanks for the encouragement, Jet. I wish you could come over to help Cherie learn the lessons you had to learn with your family. 🙂

Out on the street Cherie can become so anxious that she won’t take a treat at all–not even liverwurst or chicken liver. That part of her brain just shuts down. But keeping her in the house and yard over the weekend seems to have helped. This morning’s walk went much better.

And our morning wait for pee was only 20 minutes. Yay! Sunday, it took her 45 minutes! So that’s progress, right? 🙂

I think she’s finally noticing that Honey pees every time we take her out. Thank you, Honey.