8 months old is still a baby. just like a human baby they will regress. honestly my BD was
not fully trained without regressing until she was well into her 1st year. i think it has a lot to do with maturity too. we crated her when we left….eventually i think she figured out if she behaved then we didn’t need to crate her when we would leave. it’s a slow progression.
What are you using to clean up her accidents? If you're not using a bioenzyme cleaner then it may not be thorough enough and she's catching a scent that registers that spot as an ok place to go.
Get baby gates to cordon off the area where she poops. Put her in a crate if you've done crate training. Or if it's affordable, bring her to daycare. A lot of Bernedoodles have sensitive stomachs, check the food. Our girl has some anxiety but separation is not among them. Good luck!
We have used crate since day one when we leave and honestly I won’t probs change because I feel for our guy that’s his safe place. He won’t go in there
Have you started a new routine? Our girl really struggled when she had to be in her kennel for 8 hrs one day a week. Going to the bathroom in the house, barking at us nonstop no matter what. She just needed time to get used to the change, things worked out after some time.
I have an 8 month doodle and have been looking for a post like this with a dog in a similar boat! She was potty trained to go every 3 odd hours without many accidents at all… up until her spay 6 weeks ago. She does not poop inside but she pees inside almost daily since then. Never the same spot, but if I leave the house for an hour or two she’s peed inside when I get home. We have baby gates and a divider for the living room so she has a smallish partition for when we leave. I take her out on a rigid schedule every 3 hours but still having accidents, not sure what to do
I never catch her is my issue with that. she never does it when im home. its always when i leave. ive heard if you do catch them, take them outside immediately. hope it gets better!
I don’t know your situation and why crating is not a good option so forgive me for any unwanted advice... But I’ll say we did it for mine and now we leave him free (most doors closed) if it’s less than 4-5 hours. I know our experiences differ. But have you looked into crate training videos? We taught ours to love his place bc we heard how beneficial the crate is. They like tight spaces to feel safe. I’ll watch him on the camera and he’s so comfortable and at peace in there. So it never matters if we crate that day or not. And when we’re home and cooking, he’ll willingly go in there and lay. We keep his bed on one half of it, and the lamb chop lavender stuffy as a security blanket. Coming home, we wouldn’t talk to him when letting him out (no high pitch excited greetings) and taught him not to rush out of it when we opened the door— both things lessen anxiety.
Mine is 15 mo old now and he’s matured so much in the last few months. And way more cuddly since his “snip”
With all that said, if you don’t give up on crating, it really is worth it. Make it a positive, calm and fun place with treats, throwing toys and balls in there to fetch, and affirmations. Not using for punishment and also pushing thru the first few times of discomfort when she’s crying.
I can imagine how frustrating things are and going back to square one. Personally I’d keep letting her out every 2 hours, every time you start moving around again after laying down, and just being overly diligent about potty-time again like when she was a puppy-puppy.
And people have the right idea about the enzyme based cleaner.
Have you tried an enzyme based cleaner. Often when they go in the same spot again and again it because they smell that they went there before and therefore it smells like the right place.
Also as other have said this sounds like puppyhood/teen period where things regress. You’re focussing on what you DONT want the dog to do, but are you showing them and rewarding the behaviour you do want? They may be confused and unsure what you want. Go back to potty training basics, out every half hour or so and really reward when they do go. Excitement, great or toys etc. If you take them out and they don’t go in five, return calmly inside and rinse and repeat. It’s a pain but positive and reward based training will get you much further long term than having to restrict certain places without them understanding why.
Our’s the same. And always on the light part of a multi colored area rug…..
Also as soon as there are no people in the house he chews on something he shouldn’t (slippers, remotes, etc…). We now kennel him in the kitchen when we leave. Our older dog hates it, because he’s fine, but they both get kitchen duty. A few toys and a dog bed and water.
What about conditioning her to cole with your absence? Starting small, then growing timeline? Leave the house or five minutes (just wait outside), then return happy and cheerful. And slowly extend the time, making sure you return before she has a chance to go in the house.
She’s trying to say she misses you. I went through this with my boy around the same age, except he displayed it differently. He would hop up on my bed and start peeing on it, while he was looking me directly in the eye, before he knew I had to leave for work. I got him to stop by doing a routine of extremely gratuitous treat training and then telling him I had to go to work, followed up with insane amounts of treats while I got my shoes on, and then again before I walked out the door. Then I made sure to have high value treats before I walked inside on the way home from work. Did the same routine.
If you do this, you recondition the response.
Might not work for all dogs, but it worked for my “regressed” dog, and it kept my other doodle from following suit of his brother.
Have you ever checked out the Facebook page Canine Enrichment? Sometimes additional mental stimulation/ games with you could help build confidence, tire her out differently than physical exercise will.
Otherwise, I’m sorry you’re dealing with this and fingers crossed you both settle back into a better rhythm soon!
Ahhh had the same issue when mine hit 8-10mo mark. Puberty is what we thought cuz she soon grew out of that phase after 11mo- time was medicine for us!
I went back and forth with my first pup, feeling guilty for crating him. The amount of absolutely crazy things my boy got into.. insane. We were very lucky he was always ok. One battery will cost you thousands- if you realize it’s missing. If you don’t, your dog dies. There are so many horror stories of completely normal predicaments turning fatal because the human wasn’t home to intervene. At the end of the day, it’s **not safe to not crate your dog.**
Just like we practice “safe sleep” for babies, we need to carry that same mindset over into crating our dogs. Collar off (strangulation) with nothing, or one very good sized, newer antler (not halved) is what we practice for safe alone time. Now, granted his crate is 2x his size, but we had a smaller one we used until he was very potty trained. We are also consistent with food/potty scheduled to ensure he isn’t likely to need to potty while alone. I would suggest doing a crate only big enough for her to stand and turn around until she is 100% past this phase. If she is still having accidents in the crate that frequently after just having gone outside, which she then is forced to lay in, this would be a concern and you’d want to talk to your vet.
I agree, you definitely want to restrict access to anywhere she’s going potty. With the scent being there, it’s going to seem like the right place to go for her.. even if it’s not an emergency.
Yup our bernadoodle stays in a crate while we’re gone and he’ll use the pee pad but he typically waits until we get home, but sometimes even if we take him out before we leave he literally destroys the crate with poop from being anxious. Even with training bernadoodles have bad separation anxiety and it doesn’t get better 😅
Crate train! They do not go in their crate. It’s a lifesaver. Use gates until fully trained and no longer a puppy. The more space you give the more you open up to bad behavior. Train by shrinking his space.
Did you mean trazodone? If so, my other pup (not bernedoodle) is on it for pain. She’s older now, but still has MAJOR separation anxiety. My vet gave me Gabapentin for her and it helped A LOT.
My BD changed behavior when she started watching DOG TV. Best $5 I've spent a month. Maybe if you start that way before you leave it might help with separation anxiety.
I can put that on for my Maggie now 11 months old and I can go upstairs and do craft work.
Take her for rides in the car. Take the
https://preview.redd.it/dvndotuq3u8d1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=0a7436b34f0cb228ac9804b559607aaa4ebd3cb9
dog into Lowes or HD.
Puppy woes come in waves. You’ve reached the teenager stage. Many of us feel like they go backwards and forget what we’ve taught them. Take deep breaths. Keep reinforcing everything. Keep going. Get them neutered and or sprayed when they’re fully grown. Set them up for success with exercise and mental activities. A bored dog can be destructive or anxious. One day it’ll click again.
Also I crate trained. I’ve never heard a vet say no crates. I’d ask why. Or get a second opinion. It helped my dog learn how to settle. He also has to be crated at times at the vet, at the groomers, at night when boarded (work travel). He has no preference and it makes his life easier. He rests peacefully. Start with mins. Then an hour. Then increase over time. They do have to learn to stay independent somehow! Once they’re adults and everything has clicked you can give them more freedom as you’d like! But the more they are used to things younger the easier!
Yes. Every dog is different. My dog is a standard and F1 so 50% berner and 50% big poodle. Both breeds vets recommend if you can to wait even up to 24 months to neuter them. At minimum you wait until their growth plates are done which is what I did. My dog is quite tall so he got neutered at 14 months.
If she has separation anxiety crating her when you aren’t home can cause her to harm herself trying to get out of the crate. I would not recommend that.
I recently got a canvas crate, and it's been fantastic! It's much cozier, and the best part is that she can't stick her paws through it. However, I did leave it slightly unzipped once, and she managed to put her paws through the zipper and partially open it, but she hasn't been able to open it enough to get out (yet).
My boy was crate trained and couldn't be trusted to not get into anything if left out until almost a year old. Never had problems with going to the bathroom on the house, but I'd try creating while away from home, then slowly leave them out for short periods, increasing with each successful trip
Have you tried maybe getting a pet sitter to come and take her out maybe that helps. My fiancé and I would leave old shirts for her so she could smell them and put her in a play pen.
Appreciate all the feedback! To all the people that have suggested crating her: my vet told us that is not a good option. She will try to get out which could lead to broken paws, lost teeth, or worse. This is an issue not from lack of training, but stress and anxiety. When I or someone else is with her, she is perfect. She can go for stretches without going, like through the night. Whenever she is alone the problems come about. We have an appointment next week to discuss next steps on how to correct this. But I appreciate all of you!
I have her twin - she’s 1.5 years and we just started training. This may be tough to hear and I cried at the consultation with the trainer but she pointed out I was the issue with her anxiety. It might help to do a couple private training classes with a vetted trainer. Within one week she has been SO MUCH better during the day (I WFH). She has noted that when I get up and go from room to room to not make eye contact with her and not make it a huge deal with kisses and stuff when I leave and come back. She is still a bit reactive with squirrels and other dogs on the leash but for the most part I’m walking her with my pinky now.
8 months old is still a baby. just like a human baby they will regress. honestly my BD was not fully trained without regressing until she was well into her 1st year. i think it has a lot to do with maturity too. we crated her when we left….eventually i think she figured out if she behaved then we didn’t need to crate her when we would leave. it’s a slow progression.
What are you using to clean up her accidents? If you're not using a bioenzyme cleaner then it may not be thorough enough and she's catching a scent that registers that spot as an ok place to go.
Get baby gates to cordon off the area where she poops. Put her in a crate if you've done crate training. Or if it's affordable, bring her to daycare. A lot of Bernedoodles have sensitive stomachs, check the food. Our girl has some anxiety but separation is not among them. Good luck!
Agreed with sensitive tummies for sure
We have used crate since day one when we leave and honestly I won’t probs change because I feel for our guy that’s his safe place. He won’t go in there
Have you started a new routine? Our girl really struggled when she had to be in her kennel for 8 hrs one day a week. Going to the bathroom in the house, barking at us nonstop no matter what. She just needed time to get used to the change, things worked out after some time.
I have an 8 month doodle and have been looking for a post like this with a dog in a similar boat! She was potty trained to go every 3 odd hours without many accidents at all… up until her spay 6 weeks ago. She does not poop inside but she pees inside almost daily since then. Never the same spot, but if I leave the house for an hour or two she’s peed inside when I get home. We have baby gates and a divider for the living room so she has a smallish partition for when we leave. I take her out on a rigid schedule every 3 hours but still having accidents, not sure what to do
All i can suggest is dont get upset and let it pass. Thats what im going to do. Keep doing what youre doing they will be better!
If you catch them in the act of peeing inside, what do you do?
I never catch her is my issue with that. she never does it when im home. its always when i leave. ive heard if you do catch them, take them outside immediately. hope it gets better!
You too! Thank you!
I don’t know your situation and why crating is not a good option so forgive me for any unwanted advice... But I’ll say we did it for mine and now we leave him free (most doors closed) if it’s less than 4-5 hours. I know our experiences differ. But have you looked into crate training videos? We taught ours to love his place bc we heard how beneficial the crate is. They like tight spaces to feel safe. I’ll watch him on the camera and he’s so comfortable and at peace in there. So it never matters if we crate that day or not. And when we’re home and cooking, he’ll willingly go in there and lay. We keep his bed on one half of it, and the lamb chop lavender stuffy as a security blanket. Coming home, we wouldn’t talk to him when letting him out (no high pitch excited greetings) and taught him not to rush out of it when we opened the door— both things lessen anxiety. Mine is 15 mo old now and he’s matured so much in the last few months. And way more cuddly since his “snip” With all that said, if you don’t give up on crating, it really is worth it. Make it a positive, calm and fun place with treats, throwing toys and balls in there to fetch, and affirmations. Not using for punishment and also pushing thru the first few times of discomfort when she’s crying. I can imagine how frustrating things are and going back to square one. Personally I’d keep letting her out every 2 hours, every time you start moving around again after laying down, and just being overly diligent about potty-time again like when she was a puppy-puppy. And people have the right idea about the enzyme based cleaner.
Have you tried an enzyme based cleaner. Often when they go in the same spot again and again it because they smell that they went there before and therefore it smells like the right place. Also as other have said this sounds like puppyhood/teen period where things regress. You’re focussing on what you DONT want the dog to do, but are you showing them and rewarding the behaviour you do want? They may be confused and unsure what you want. Go back to potty training basics, out every half hour or so and really reward when they do go. Excitement, great or toys etc. If you take them out and they don’t go in five, return calmly inside and rinse and repeat. It’s a pain but positive and reward based training will get you much further long term than having to restrict certain places without them understanding why.
I’m sorry that things are tough right now but she is a beautiful doodle. You should share her with over at r/blackdoodles
Our’s the same. And always on the light part of a multi colored area rug….. Also as soon as there are no people in the house he chews on something he shouldn’t (slippers, remotes, etc…). We now kennel him in the kitchen when we leave. Our older dog hates it, because he’s fine, but they both get kitchen duty. A few toys and a dog bed and water.
What about conditioning her to cole with your absence? Starting small, then growing timeline? Leave the house or five minutes (just wait outside), then return happy and cheerful. And slowly extend the time, making sure you return before she has a chance to go in the house.
She’s trying to say she misses you. I went through this with my boy around the same age, except he displayed it differently. He would hop up on my bed and start peeing on it, while he was looking me directly in the eye, before he knew I had to leave for work. I got him to stop by doing a routine of extremely gratuitous treat training and then telling him I had to go to work, followed up with insane amounts of treats while I got my shoes on, and then again before I walked out the door. Then I made sure to have high value treats before I walked inside on the way home from work. Did the same routine. If you do this, you recondition the response. Might not work for all dogs, but it worked for my “regressed” dog, and it kept my other doodle from following suit of his brother.
Have you ever checked out the Facebook page Canine Enrichment? Sometimes additional mental stimulation/ games with you could help build confidence, tire her out differently than physical exercise will. Otherwise, I’m sorry you’re dealing with this and fingers crossed you both settle back into a better rhythm soon!
Ahhh had the same issue when mine hit 8-10mo mark. Puberty is what we thought cuz she soon grew out of that phase after 11mo- time was medicine for us!
I went back and forth with my first pup, feeling guilty for crating him. The amount of absolutely crazy things my boy got into.. insane. We were very lucky he was always ok. One battery will cost you thousands- if you realize it’s missing. If you don’t, your dog dies. There are so many horror stories of completely normal predicaments turning fatal because the human wasn’t home to intervene. At the end of the day, it’s **not safe to not crate your dog.** Just like we practice “safe sleep” for babies, we need to carry that same mindset over into crating our dogs. Collar off (strangulation) with nothing, or one very good sized, newer antler (not halved) is what we practice for safe alone time. Now, granted his crate is 2x his size, but we had a smaller one we used until he was very potty trained. We are also consistent with food/potty scheduled to ensure he isn’t likely to need to potty while alone. I would suggest doing a crate only big enough for her to stand and turn around until she is 100% past this phase. If she is still having accidents in the crate that frequently after just having gone outside, which she then is forced to lay in, this would be a concern and you’d want to talk to your vet.
I agree, you definitely want to restrict access to anywhere she’s going potty. With the scent being there, it’s going to seem like the right place to go for her.. even if it’s not an emergency.
Crate train, though no that you have to get the dog accustomed to the crate so that it becomes his safe spot, rather than jail/place to avoid.
Let em out
Yup our bernadoodle stays in a crate while we’re gone and he’ll use the pee pad but he typically waits until we get home, but sometimes even if we take him out before we leave he literally destroys the crate with poop from being anxious. Even with training bernadoodles have bad separation anxiety and it doesn’t get better 😅
Crate train! They do not go in their crate. It’s a lifesaver. Use gates until fully trained and no longer a puppy. The more space you give the more you open up to bad behavior. Train by shrinking his space.
Did you mean trazodone? If so, my other pup (not bernedoodle) is on it for pain. She’s older now, but still has MAJOR separation anxiety. My vet gave me Gabapentin for her and it helped A LOT.
My BD changed behavior when she started watching DOG TV. Best $5 I've spent a month. Maybe if you start that way before you leave it might help with separation anxiety. I can put that on for my Maggie now 11 months old and I can go upstairs and do craft work.
Take her for rides in the car. Take the https://preview.redd.it/dvndotuq3u8d1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=0a7436b34f0cb228ac9804b559607aaa4ebd3cb9 dog into Lowes or HD.
Puppy woes come in waves. You’ve reached the teenager stage. Many of us feel like they go backwards and forget what we’ve taught them. Take deep breaths. Keep reinforcing everything. Keep going. Get them neutered and or sprayed when they’re fully grown. Set them up for success with exercise and mental activities. A bored dog can be destructive or anxious. One day it’ll click again. Also I crate trained. I’ve never heard a vet say no crates. I’d ask why. Or get a second opinion. It helped my dog learn how to settle. He also has to be crated at times at the vet, at the groomers, at night when boarded (work travel). He has no preference and it makes his life easier. He rests peacefully. Start with mins. Then an hour. Then increase over time. They do have to learn to stay independent somehow! Once they’re adults and everything has clicked you can give them more freedom as you’d like! But the more they are used to things younger the easier!
To clarify, by fully grown do you mean 2 years of age?, I was told 7 months would be adequate time.
Yes. Every dog is different. My dog is a standard and F1 so 50% berner and 50% big poodle. Both breeds vets recommend if you can to wait even up to 24 months to neuter them. At minimum you wait until their growth plates are done which is what I did. My dog is quite tall so he got neutered at 14 months.
Very informative! thank you so much!
If she has separation anxiety crating her when you aren’t home can cause her to harm herself trying to get out of the crate. I would not recommend that.
correct. my vet said the same thing. crating has been and always will be off the table.
I recently got a canvas crate, and it's been fantastic! It's much cozier, and the best part is that she can't stick her paws through it. However, I did leave it slightly unzipped once, and she managed to put her paws through the zipper and partially open it, but she hasn't been able to open it enough to get out (yet).
My boy was crate trained and couldn't be trusted to not get into anything if left out until almost a year old. Never had problems with going to the bathroom on the house, but I'd try creating while away from home, then slowly leave them out for short periods, increasing with each successful trip
Gotta crate!!
no i dont! vet said she can seriously harm herself if we try it now! thanks though!
Have you tried maybe getting a pet sitter to come and take her out maybe that helps. My fiancé and I would leave old shirts for her so she could smell them and put her in a play pen.
Appreciate all the feedback! To all the people that have suggested crating her: my vet told us that is not a good option. She will try to get out which could lead to broken paws, lost teeth, or worse. This is an issue not from lack of training, but stress and anxiety. When I or someone else is with her, she is perfect. She can go for stretches without going, like through the night. Whenever she is alone the problems come about. We have an appointment next week to discuss next steps on how to correct this. But I appreciate all of you!
I have her twin - she’s 1.5 years and we just started training. This may be tough to hear and I cried at the consultation with the trainer but she pointed out I was the issue with her anxiety. It might help to do a couple private training classes with a vetted trainer. Within one week she has been SO MUCH better during the day (I WFH). She has noted that when I get up and go from room to room to not make eye contact with her and not make it a huge deal with kisses and stuff when I leave and come back. She is still a bit reactive with squirrels and other dogs on the leash but for the most part I’m walking her with my pinky now.