Training gone out the window

My little Molly seems to be going backwards with her training....she will not listen to me at all and keeps charging up the staris knowing she isnt allows to add to that she has started to go pee pee in the house which she has not done in weeks. She went twice yesterday evening even on the couch which I though odd.

I am just wondering is she going through a bold spell she is now 20 weeks

A couple of things. First, I'd get her to a vet to check if thisnis a urinary tract infection. Thisnis a common cause of peeing on couches or carpets and repeat peeing in a short period of time. They can be painful as well and females are more prone so you'd want to have her checked right away.

Second - she is only a baby yet and just as a toddler would not remember from day to day what they are supposed to do, neither will such a young pup (and keep in mind that training is an ongoing task and also that a barrier ( eg management!) is a much better option for keeping a dog away from where you do not want her than training ever will be. Many dogs are only 'trained' when their owner is there - very very few will not be going upstairs or other places when you are not there to supervise! ). Also- a pup this young really should not have access to the full house, where she can go wander. Free rein too early is why so many dogs take ages and ages to get housetrained- as so many of us have learned after thinking we were 'done' with housetraining! :lol: - at this age she should really never be out of sight and always in arm's reach. If she has been allowed to wander the couch peeing may only be the first time you have noticed a habit that has gone on when you are not there as dogs quickly unlearn early housetraining skills if allowed to wander and pee at will. Most dogs are not really reliable till age 1 and won't be more than about 70% even at 6 months unless really watched, watched, watched and given very structured housetraining until that point.

If you haven't yet, please download Ian Dunbar's wonderful training and care book After You Get Your Puppy which he has offered for free as a PDF download from the download section of www.dogstardaily.com - it will really be a great help as he goes thru all this step by step and also gives owners a realistic view of what they can expect (and what they need to do! ) to get that well behaved well trained adult dog they want.

Your pup is at a critical age to make sure she gets the right shaping right now, so this is really important structure and management to give at this point in her young life.

Oh yeah- worth noting that other thing we all eventually learn- the problem is never that ' the dog won't listen' so much as it is 'the owner hasn't made the dog understand what is wanted'! :lol: and also training takes time, time, time and repeat practice. Probably the single biggest benefit a dog owner gets from taking their dog for formal training (only to rewards based training though, not where they use leash jerks and punishment) is that the owner learns how to train in the way the dog understands best. And we humans learn how to better communicate with our dogs, which is very rewarding for both.

Frustration with training like this is pretty common as it is really, REALLY hard to train a dog well from home - dogs around Molly's age benefit hugely from a structured class where they get to meet lots of other dogs but also - very important- learn to pay attention to you despite distractions like other people and dogs. This is a more real world scenario for dogs. We often assume too much and expect too much and don't realize we are training with mixed messages etc. Every class I do I learn more and more and also realize what I do wrong so I'd highly recommend a class - she is exactly the right age! I'd recommend www.dogtrainingireland.ie - who give lots of support to cavalier owners and cavalier rescue (and even do the occasional cavalier-only training class for us when there's enough interest!)

Thanks Karlin....we have just finsihed our training classes in dti and was doing really well I work with Molly every evening for around 20-30 mins and she was getting the hang of it, I crate her when I am not around to watch her but never for very long periods of time....alot was going on this week as I got some bad news so I am wondering if maybe she picked up on this and that is why she is gone a little off track.

I did a good training session with her last night and gave her lots of attention. Going to get a baby gate for the end of the stairs ot create a dog free zone!!

The other thing I have noticed she has a rather strong smell off her very heavy. I was at the vet last week with her for a full check up but if I notice more accidents over the weekend I will go back down.

She could certainly pick u on anxiety -- so sorry you had some bad news. :flwr:

If there's a smell -- you could definitely be talking a UTI for example so worth having her checked if there are more accidents. On the other had, girls can get a bit stinky fairly quickly because they do tend to get pee on their hind legs and area around their vulva when they squat. I just give them a little rinse with some tap water every few days when I notice a smell. If they pee on lawn this is easier to manage as the grass blades help lift the fur out of the way and the pee goes down into the ground, but on dirt, pavement, mulch etc the pee tends to get on the fur.

A babygate is a great idea for stairs esp. while she is young and not fully housetrained. I am a babygate fan! :lol:

If your friends are interested in rescues BTW drop me a PM. There's another two cavalier crosses in one of the pounds and many dogs needing homes via the last group that came out of the pound.