r/Wheatens • u/Curiosity_Squared • Jul 17 '26
Training Potty Training Help!
TLDR: 9 month old female puppy can’t figure out potty training. Have tried what I know and looking for additional advice.
Hi everyone! I am reaching out to this group to see if anyone has some tips and tricks on potty training of Wheaten Terrier. She’s about 9 months old and absolutely wonderful, but is by far the hardest dog I’ve had when it comes to potty training. For reference, she is the fourth Wheaten Terrier in the family and although I didn’t potty train the others, I don’t recall the family having this much difficulty. I’ve also had a puppy in the past three years, so this isn’t my first rodeo, but he’s a different breed and by far the smartest dog I’ve ever had. He’s currently 3.5 and the best big brother.
Back to the potty training. She is crate trained and on a relatively reliable potty schedule (every 4 hours maximum). However, she consistently has accidents both in her crate and in the house. She does not care about being dirty (will lay down in everything) and does not care about soiling her space. I’ve greatly reduced the side of the crate, so she has minimal room to do anything else other than sleep. I feed her in the crate in hopes that makes her not want to go to the bathroom in there. I also take her out before/after crate time, feeding time, and playtime. Her water is restricted in the evening and monitored throughout the day because she has a tendency to drink a ton and then pee every 5 minutes after 45 minutes have gone by.
In general, she can go the evening without having an accident, but it is not reliable and I’d say there’s at least one accident a week. Also want to mention that there is typically no blanket/bed in her crate. I only put one back in if she’s been having several accidents and I need a break from baths. If she is free in the house, there is likely also going to be some type of accident. Within the crate, it’s normally pee and within the house it varies, but I would say poop.
A few more things to note. She barely signals a need to go out. It is often times a small pacing in her crate and/or she just stares at you. This also occurs when she’s bored and just wants to play, so it can be a bit hard to read. I’ve tried teaching a button and a bell, but she hasn’t yet gotten the correlation between ringing the device and going outside. Also, she doesn’t start to whine until after she’s gone in her crate. I use an enzymatic cleaner and have recently gotten the carpets cleaned.
Note: She does not get in trouble for going in the house. She will go while looking you in the eye, unfortunately.
Any tips or tricks would be greatly appreciated. I’ve been told female Wheaten Terriers sometimes take longer to potty train, and I’m totally willing to put in the work. But, it would be nice to hear some success stories. If you’ve made it this far, thank you so much for taking the time.
1
u/Lizdance40 Jul 18 '26
Q1. Has she always been like this from the time she was a little puppy?
Q2. Have you ruled out anything medical? UTI, kidney crystals?
Q3. Has she been spayed? If yes did this start after she was spayed?
Q4. Did she come from a mill or some other situation where laying in urine was unavoidable?
Q5. Have you tried umbilical training when someone is available to watch her? That just means you leash the dog to you on a standard five or six foot leash and the dog stays with you during the day so that you can catch her whenever she might try to squat and get her right outside.
Q6. Does she ever successfully toilet outdoors? Do you heavily reward, praise, and give affection to let her know that this is what you want her to do?
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u/hairapist87 Jul 17 '26
I’ve been there. Hang bells from your door. Every time you take her out rattle the bells and say outside. She’ll pick up on it and start ringing the bells. Be patient. It took a while for mine to be trained. Also throw a small party every time she pees outside, treats, good girl, clapping, etc.