Brandi_S's advice column

I'm a mother of 2 boys who are 13 months apart. Talk about a handful. I'm a wife to the best husband I could have ever dreamed of.
I'm one of the very blessed.

I have Bipolar 1 Disorder. I hate taking all these medications and always going to doctors appointments, but life is too short to let mental illness get the better of me.

Often times life is a challenge, and nobody knows that better than me. I wake up wondering if this is going to be a day my illness overpowers my meds, and either sends me flying like a bat out of hell, or leaves me laying on the couch like a wet dish rag.

Thank all that is good in the world that I have an excellent support system at home.
I'm one of the lucky ones.

I'm honest, and that can either be a perk or s flaw. Depends on how you choose to look at it.
I like to see it as a perk, because it's better to hear the truth than to be told candy coated bullshit.

advice

We have a 19-week-old female standard poodle. We are having problems housetraining her. We got her at about 14 weeks, and we thought that she was trained not to go potty in the house within two weeks. but recently she started going inside the house. It's not because she can't get outside... No! It's happened several times that we will let her out four times within an hour, and then she'll wet inside the house a few minutes later, in plain view. We had trained her to ask to go outside when she needed to go, but she only asks to go outside now when she's bored. But the thing that irks us is we know she can hold her water! We can leave her in her kennel for three hours at a time while we go somewhere, and she won't wet in there. But we come home, let her outside, and five minutes after she gets back inside, she wets! We put her in her kennel and punish her for it, we take the smell out of the carpet, but she still goes inside! What caused this and how can we stop it?

She isn't going to go in her kennel unless she has no other choice. A dog won't go potty on their own bed no more than you would.

House breaking a dog is no easy task. It takes a lot of time, patience, and cleaning of indoor accidents. A 19 week old puppy is still learning a lot of other things, and potty training just can't happen in a matter of 2 weeks.

Do you go out with her? She shouldn't be allowed back in the house until she has done her duties. When she is locked up in a kennel, she can't run, so she goes outside and runs and plays. Give her plenty of time to run, play and go potty before letting her back in.

The smell is still there. She can smell it, even though you can't. Try spraying the area of the carpet she tends to go with Hartz Stay Off spray. (Link below so you can see what it looks like.) You have to spray every 24 hours until she understands she can't go there.

When she goes in the house, don't lock her in the kennel as a punishment. She doubtfully knows why she is being put there. Instead, as soon as she goes indoors, put her nose down to smell her mess, tell her "NO! Potty outside!" then take her outside and repeat "Potty outside!"
Be firm and consistent or you will get nowhere.

http://www.activedogsupplies.com/177010.html?productid=177010&channelid=FROOG

ygs-29/f