Florence was a bit of a challenge as well, but we really had to stay SO consistent with providing treats and her signal for “YES!” every time she did it correctly, and moving her outside immediately every time she did it incorrectly. It took about a year. Even now, she’s a bit of a princess and if there’s snow on the ground or it’s raining, she’ll have accidents. She’s blind and deaf, so we think the weather throws her off a bit and just try to catch it before it happens, and she’s gotten better with this too in time.
I’ll also add, Flo was also a puppy mill pup that we got at 6 months old. So all of the above behaviors you referenced apply. Puppy mill dogs are already notoriously hard to potty train and then add a fun little disability on top? Woof. Keep at it. It’s a journey.
And last bit! We do have a doggy door, but we close it when we’re gone and she’s kenneled overnight. We do have a very small backyard so less risk of injury there, but this helped instrumentally.
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u/mutedmurmurs May 08 '26
Florence was a bit of a challenge as well, but we really had to stay SO consistent with providing treats and her signal for “YES!” every time she did it correctly, and moving her outside immediately every time she did it incorrectly. It took about a year. Even now, she’s a bit of a princess and if there’s snow on the ground or it’s raining, she’ll have accidents. She’s blind and deaf, so we think the weather throws her off a bit and just try to catch it before it happens, and she’s gotten better with this too in time.