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Potty training relapses.....common.....not common??? My 5 month old pup was doing so great and now has decided to pee everywhere except where she is supposed to for the last couple of days. Is this common at this stage in life or is she just pissed off at me and being defiant?

It seems a little early for the terrible twos but who knows. She seems to be rebelling at something.
What I would do is go back to page 1 and start over. Pretend she's never been potty trained and start from the beginning. I'm sure you let her know how unhappy you are?
Are there other "new" behaviour problems?
If she seems to be doing fine with everything else, are these truely "accidents"?
If you don't think it's a behaviour problem it may be medical. Urinary tract infection?
only you know your dog best so ask yourself those questions and see where they lead.
Let us know how it goes.

If she's peeing everywhere, excessively or in weird places, it could be possible that it needs to be checked out by a vet. However, my guess would be that since you've been starting to train with Brad's methods, it could be her way of rebelling. So, keep a close eye on her, maybe give your vet a call to see if you should come in, and up the alpha training a bit to see if that nips it in the butt. When we started Brad training Fizz, there was one time that he was inside, he looked at us, and then squatted, and took a big crap on the carpet. I'm sure if he had fingers he would have been flipping us the bird at the same time, so it's possible that it's rebellion, but like I said, give the vet a call too just in case.

She could also be in heat, once again having her checked by a vet would be best but females in heat do a lot of peeing, especially in small doses in an attempt to attract males. Generally females can go in heat for the first time between 5-7 months.
It could also be behavioral.
Meaghan

Well, had her checked by the vet the other day and she is in perfect health. Guess this is just the plain old "screw you mom" that I had kinda thought it might be. We were so far along on the training though that it will make it hard to go back to step one (she's being litter trained and she had just gotten used to the litter). I guess I will just keep plugging away at it and keep giving her heck when she doesn't go where she is supposed to. Doesn't seem to be any other solutions at this point. Thanks everybody for the advice though.

Great news that she's healthy, not so great that she's rebelling, but you've been doing great so far! Keep it up and she'll learn who's boss!

Hi there,

One thing I have noticed with potty training that might help you out is that pups will a have a relapse after you think they've been doing great because you start paying less attention to them. I've really noticed that once I think the pup is getting the hang of it, and start taking them out less and less and watching them like a hawk they often start to go more inside the house, even if they've been doing perfect. I chalked it up to they have not quite got it figured out on their own and need some more time of higher supervision before they quite get the idea that they are only supposed to go outdoors and need to tell you if they have to go out! Keep up with taking them out at regular times and praising like a fool when they go outside, as well as "conversations" if they make a mistake.

Hope that might help you out?

Sarah

I think you all are right and that she is just rebelling. And I know that I am making it harder on her by litter training her. It's just that she is such a smart dog in every other way, I don't get why she can't seem to get the hang of this. She can learn a command in a day.....but can't seem to reliably go to the bathroom properly. Oh well, perseverance is all that's left. Thanks for all the advice though.

What do you mean by "litter training"?
Is this common?

I was wondering about that, too!!!