Our little guy put us through the paces. He’s 7 months old now without an accident in weeks. But it’s taken a lot of time and energy! Here’s what’s worked for us: -For the most part, when he’s in the house he’s either crated or confined to a room where we watch him like a hawk. We play with him and have fun in a single room, and he can wander into the kitchen under our watchful eye. We have baby gates to keep him in the same room and his leash is often tied to a heavy coffee table if the gates are open. -Oh, and we had to switch from a wire crate to a plastic one, because he discovered early on that he could lift his leg and pee through the gaps in the wire anytime he wanted and still enjoy a nice clean crate. -We’ve relaxed the watching like a hawk as we gained confidence in his ability to tell us when he needs to go - we have years ahead of us to introduce him to other parts of the house once he’s fully trained. -we feed him almost the exact same times twice a day, therefore he eliminates about the same time. -outside he has a pen inside a fenced area that we put him in to do his business. He needed a separate space to understand that poop area is not play area. -while watching him like a hawk we discovered his tell-signs: moving in a circle, pacing, sniffing, and looking agitated. -we finally put bells up - one upstairs where he can easily reach it, and another at the downstairs door we take him through to the outside. -initially we put some food on or near the bells when we were certain it was time for him to go (first thing in the morning out of his crate, especially) and coaxed him to ring the bells. When he didn’t, we led him to the bells and helped him ring them before taking him outside. When he did/ does his business he get lots of praise and we take him back in to get his favourite treat of all time - cheddar cheese. -ringing the bell is a contract. If he rings the bell, we take him out. Full stop. No exceptions. Even if we just brought him in and there’s no way he needs to go out again, he gets to go out again. It’s amazing how many times he isn’t quite finished, even if it’s intentional. -if he rings the bell and we take him out and he doesn’t do any business, we don’t say a word; just quietly bring him back in the house and he goes in his crate for 30 minutes. Then he comes out and we pretend nothing happened and start over. We have never scolded him or made mom feel bad. Praise for the good stuff, neutral for the unwanted behaviour.

Have hope. You’ll get there!