# Shayna's In Heat and Having Accidents in the House!



## brendaman

Does being in heat mess up a dog's schedule/body clock as far as housebreaking? Sorry if this is a stupid question. The answer is probably "yes, of course it affects her body clock". I'm just wondering if I'll get back my seemingly housebroken little girl after her heat cycle. She has been going on the carpet in one part of our living room. I usually puppygate her to one of our bathrooms (in it is her bed, pee pads, toys, etc.). This morning, she actually escaped the bathroom, to poo and pee on the living room carpet!

The two weeks before Shayna came into heat were two glorious "Eureka, I think she's got it!" weeks. Shayna had no problem going to the bathroom outside, but going on the pee pad on her own was always a challenge. Sometimes she would go, sometimes she would not. Our dog trainer said that it would probably take 10 months to a year for Shayna to be housebroken and that is usually the case with Maltese (which I have heard and read about). I always envied those of you who have said they had no problems housebreaking their little ones at an early age.

Well, for those two glorious weeks, she would go on her own to the pee pad. In fact, we would leave her for hours on her own (puppy-gated to one floor of our house), and she would go on the pee pad which is placed in a small bathroom. I know we have to be more diligent, but how can I get my housebroken little girl back?


----------



## precious paws

Ten months to a year to potty train? I've never heard of that before. That is a long time.


----------



## jude'n'jools

I dont know how you can get it back apart from starting over & reminding her about going outside & using her pads.

But i do agree, my boys were 95% trained within a couple of months but i could never really trust them to not have an accident & they did now & again. Especially when they got too excited i found that they would dribble pee. When they turned one i noticed a big difference & they have not had an accident in over 2 months now. I trust them 100% now & they get to sleep uncrated in my bedroom. Abbie on the other hand is still crated cause i know she would have an accident but she is great during the day at going outside but only because i leave my door open all day for her to go in & out.


----------



## lorraine

Some of the perfectly house-trained bitches (not Malts but... whatever) I've owned in the past had the occasional accident in the house when on heat. I noticed that during those times they drank a lot more water and had slightly irregular eating habits. So they needed to "vent" much more frequently and at different times than normally.


----------



## wagirl98665

I hate to tell you this, but your trainer is misinformed about it taking a year to
potty train a Maltese. All three of mine were completely potty trained within one
week and that was three different times. I don't know about the other part of your
question, never had a dog in heat, but I hope it gets resolved soon. Good Luck.


----------



## barb

> Some of the perfectly house-trained bitches (not Malts but... whatever) I've owned in the past had the occasional accident in the house when on heat. I noticed that during those times they drank a lot more water and had slightly irregular eating habits. So they needed to "vent" much more frequently and at different times than normally.[/B]


That makes sense. Roxie is 8 months old. She is less than 3 lbs. I had signed her up for puppy school, and I was going to have her fixed right after. But I was waiting to see the vet, just for a check up & some info before I did it. Of course she saw the vet yesterday, and she confirmed what I thought, she had gone into heat. I was worried about her size, and that she is already not a big eater. I was afraid she would lose weight after the surgery. But we were having the same problem. She was very good about where she went potty for a little while, then all of a sudden she started having accidents. Then this. Now that you posted about drinking and irregular eating, she has been doing all that also. Yesterday she wouldn't go to anyone but me. It was a little strange. She usually loves everyone. Even when my husband had her she was struggling to get back to me. I just thought maybe she just wasn't feeling great.

I felt bad. The vet told me the statistics on cancer (which I had already read here), but she thought it would be ok.


----------



## Cosy

Some take longer than others..however, I would suspect a urinary infection if this
has only been happening since her heat. You might want to have the vet check
it out.


----------



## chloeandj

I would say that I didn't COMPLETELY trust Chloe not to potty in the house until she was 10 months old, that is when I gave her complete freedom in the house.

Also, some females mark (just like males) when they come in heat.


----------



## jmm

1. Stop expecting her to go to the pad on her own - she doesn't know this. 

2. Pick one thing and stick with it - either outdoors or the pee pads. If you have a confused dog, make it as simple as possible. You can always add in one of the other later.

3. Put her on a schedule. She needs to eat, go out, play, etc. at the same time every day. If she learns to hold it and learns when she is expected to go, things will be much easier. Make a check list if you have to or set a timer. 

4. Go out with her, praise her and give her a treat every time she goes in the right place. 

5. Confine her if she doesn't go at a scheduled time and try again in 20 minutes. Confine her when you cannot watch her. 

Yes, dogs in heat can act weird....but, I would not tolerate the house training mishaps. You really need to settle on a fixed plan and stick with it strictly.


----------



## bellaratamaltese

Lucy just went into heat today and the few weeks prior to this, she has been a potty nightmare. Like you, I had read about the 8 mos to a year to be completely potty trained and Lucy is 10 mos and still wasn't completely reliable, even before her PMS. Obviously, every dog is different! 

And it was just the potty pads she refused to use, like Shayna. I had her at the maltese speciality this weekend and we did not have any potty mistakes but I took her outside to pee. For some reason, that always throw her back into a routine when we get home and she did use her pad last night. But of course she's in heat now so I have her in an xpen. I am glad I opted to wait on her spaying since she gets to be in the ring now. Well, when her coat grows anyway!


----------



## Tina

I have learned over the years of having intact females in my house, that when girls are in season they mark just like the males do. It doesn't seem to matter if they were house broken or not. They want to anounce to the world that they are available. But I agree with JMM. Stick to a plan and be firm about it. You must be alpha. At least you don't have to worry about the male getting to her. That would be a relief for me. Right now I have 2 girls in season and 4 males in the house. It's crazy around here. Dogs doing things they don't normally do. Constantly on guard to where everyone is. 2 of the males are puppies not placed yet.


----------

