Night restlessness and potty training

Question
We got our little Maltese about 4 months ago and were told that she was 8 years old and was once a breeding dog.  She had no papers and we didn't even know if she had her shots.  (I immediately got her to the vet to be looked over, she got shots and had to have 8 teeth pulled, her mouth was SO rotten!)  When we first got her anytime anybody would come near her she would cower and piddle (although most of the time she never left her kennel, but the door was always open)  She has become much more used to people and is just the sweetest little dog and no longer piddles out of fear.  But recently she went into heat (we weren't sure if she was fixed, so the vet told us to wait and see) since she went into heat she has been keeping us up ALL NIGHT.  She doesn't whine, just a low growl proceeding to a bark if I do not respond to her.  (she doesn't need out to potty, she has food, water, etc.) since she can't jump into our bed I lean over and pick her up or I get up and she proceeds to run away.  I go find her, bring her into bed, she lays for for about 1-5 minutes, gets up and jumps out of bed... goes to explore the house and comes back minutes later (this continues ALL night long)  I have began sleeping on the couch because its easier to get to her (I have even slept on the floor so she can always be close to me but it still happens) the only thing that seems to calm her is me holding her and sometimes just looking at her (and not trying to sleep, I have to be up like I am during the day) she only acts like this at night.  I try to keep her awake during the day but it can be difficult.  She doesn't play (doesn't know how) we go for walks to get exercise though, and she follows me to every room of the house (every morning when I get out of the shower she is waiting for me on the otherside of the door.)  after our sleepless nights she begins to calm down around 7 or 8ish in the morning at that point she will go to sleep so I can sleep.  Even if I keep her up all day this still happens, I don't know what to do for her and I feel so bad!  The vet gave me some Alprazolam but that doesn't seem to be doing much.

to add insult to injury she was never fully potty trained.  We have been working with her since we got her but she doesn't seem to show any interest or understanding of what is going on (we can't use treats because there is nothing she likes.  She eats her dog food, which is the adult formula of Blue Buffalo and that is it... she does show an interest in people food sometimes but we never give it to her)  I will take her out at night (for like 10-15 minutes because she has to sniff and pee everywhere) I will go brush my teeth, come out and she has peed and pooped. (she also eats her poop if she poops in the house and we don't notice it soon enough, which is something I just dont understand... it will happen soon after she eats her dinner sometimes, so I know she isn't hungry)

We tell her she is a good girl anytime she goes potty outside and we clean up spots while making her sniff them if she potties onside while telling her bad.  I then take the soiled cloth outside, make her sniff it, and tell her good girl.  We even have a bell on the door that we ring anytime we take her out (she is not a big barker so we though maybe it would help her to let us know if she wants out)

I know this is a lot so any advice/help on anything would be greatly appreciated! :) thank you! :)

Answer
Hello, Courtney. It sounds as if your dog came from a puppymill or a backyard breeding operation. Poor girl. Bless you for giving her a loving home.

Her night time behavior has me stumped as well. I'm not sure exactly what is going on there. Is she still in heat now? What if you put her in a crate next to your bed at night? Have you tried that? What if you left a night light or a radio on (softly) at night? To be honest, I truly have no idea what the issue is. I'm sorry.


I hate to be so blunt, and I don't mean to offend, but your approach to potty training is all wrong. Have you read the information on my house training page, located at http://housetraining.angelfire.com ? If not, I would recommend that you do. You need to go outside with her on a leash, walk her around for up to 5 minutes, and go back inside (keeping her on the leash in the house) if she has not done anything. That way, as >>soon<< as she starts to show signs that she's about to potty in the house, you can take her right back outside. Once she potties outside, you can remove the leash when you bring her back in if you like. Do not - I repeat, do NOT - scold her/make her sniff the spots if she goes potty in the house. This teaches her nothing, except that if there is pee/poop in the floor she gets fussed at. She does not realize that she's getting fussed at for pottying on the floor 2 minutes ago. You MUST catch her in the act for any amount of scolding to be effective, and for house training purposes, scolding really is useless. What you should do if you catch her getting ready to squat is to make a loud sound that will startle her (making her stop what she's doing), and then get her outside, praising her happily for doing her business out there. If you don't catch her doing it, just clean it up.