Another Approach

After four full days of consistently watching, waiting, and taking scheduled potty breaks, Luna is still showing little progress toward being housebroken. She potties well when we take her out, but she still potties inside which confounds us. Yesterday wasn't too bad of a day with only a couple of teeny accidents, but today, despite having just been outside, Luna pooped in the floor. No more had Dad cleaned that up than she took a teedle, too. She does these with no warning whatsoever--no circling, no sniffing, no nothing--just squat and go, which makes our taking quick preemptive measures difficult. We have the luxury of Marc's being able to stay with her all the time, so she is getting consistent training and attention. She eats, plays, and potties on a very regular schedule and is never unsupervised. Marc has been amazing with her. She has had more effort spent with her than any other dog I have ever seen be house broken, but she is making slower progress. Certainly she isn't stupid; she just doesn't seem to "get it."
Frustrated and bumfuzzled, Marc reviewed the articles we have been following (http://www.worldclassgsd.com/Tips_Resources_For_German_Shepherds/House_Breaking_Your_Puppy.htm & http://www.total-german-shepherd.com/PuppyHousebreaking.html) one more time and decided that we needed to go back to the crate (or the "den," as we call it). We had thought that since we were limiting her space significantly, the space in which we were keeping her would function as a sort of den all on its own. Obviously it is not, so we are putting her in the crate between potty and play breaks. We drink and/or eat, potty, play then go back into the den. She had been tolerating this surprisingly well, but seems to have gotten a little frustrated with it this evening. We are heartbroken to have to do this. We want her by our sides, with us, not put in a box, but we don't know what else to do. We're not even sure where you go from this schedule, honestly. Do we eventually give her trial runs with some more space, gradually opening the space we put her in? Will she magically know what to do after a few days of this? We are at a loss since both of us grew up training them "the old-fashioned way" like we were trained as kids, with a spat on the butt when needed. We both continue to research further methods, and I'll call Linda, the breeder, tomorrow to see if she has any recommendations. Otherwise I'll pick the vet's brain later this week when we see her for our first vet visit (other than the opthalmologist).

Meanwhile, big sister continues to get antibiotics for her bladder infection and require a diaper. Though the diaper is the bane of her existence, she is at least slightly happier now that the stinky puppy is corralled and out of her hair. Fortunately, we caught this one early, so she hasn't suffered the nausea and diarrhea that she often gets with this sort of thing. Hopefully having caught it early will keep her from having to wear the diaper as long as well. The diaper can occasionally be entertaining for the rest of us, though. She always things she's tied down when we first put it on and will keep her hind legs still, looking over each shoulder to ask us to free her. Then when she finally figures out she can move, she waddles around and sits down like an old lady. When she catches us not looking, she does a wiggle dance against the closest upright object she can find and tries to get the diaper off. If she weren't so pitiful, it'd be hilarious.