[Aikeiko]

My BF and I have a 7 month old Schnauzer mix. She has been fixed. We have been trying to house train her since she was old enough to begin so. We live in an apartment building and it has a back yard type area we take her to.

We take her out every 1-2 hours. Sometimes she does 1, sometimes 2, sometimes both and sometimes neither. We bring her back in and she goes on the carpet. We don't yell at her, we tell her it was an accident and we clean it up.

She never lets us know when she needs to go out or when she needs to go.

Any help would be loved since finding presents on a white carpet isn't desirable =(.

And as far as health conditions, the vet gives her a clean bill of health each visit (the next one is in six months).

[ptilley]

Our 5 month old male ShiShon will sneak off any chance he gets and hide and "leave us gifts" no matter how good we are about taking him out hourly!

[Lunareclipse]

Crate training! Some dogs do better not pottying in the house when you crate train them. Most don't potty where they sleep.

[lange]

I also crate train until the dog is completely house trained. I think there's less room for error which then makes house training quicker & easier. But there's also people who don't like using crates..not really sure how they house train though..

[cigwyllt]

I just supervised Manny all the time I was awake. It was really easy because he wanted to be beside me all the time anyway so there was no chance of him wandering off and toileting out of my sight. If your dog is very independent I imagine it would be more difficult.

I haven't done it myself but a friend of mine found umbilical training worked well for her. She kept the dog tied to her waist (leaving both her hands free) and took her outside every hour or so. Again, I guess that is not something you could do with a large dog but it is another alternative for those who are not happy with crate training.

I don't have the heart for crate training but if it is done right it does work well.