Bishon

Question
Is it too late to potty train a 3+yr old female bishon? She'll go for weeks and then she'll go.  She's worse when my kids have been gone a long time and return from their father's. She's crated while we're at work/school from 8-3 and we allow her freedom the rest of the evening.  She'll be good for weeks and then she'll go, always in the kids' carpeted rooms. Never in front of anyone. We still put her nose in it, spank her and put her out in the yard but it doesn't work.  Also, she wakes me up at least twice during the night between midnight and 4 am to go.  And she scratches at the door to go potty and when she wants me to play with her outside.  I don't know which is which.

Answer
If you are consistent, it's never too late, Danielle. However, you need to stop putting her nose in her mess, spanking, and putting her outside whenever you find that she's pottied in the house. This is probably the reason she does it out of sight now. The only time you should scold her is if you actually catch her in the act, and even then, you should simply do something to startle her so she stops what she's doing, and then immediately take her out and praise her when she potties outside. Then you should smack yourself for not watching her more closely and taking her out when she first started showing signs of needing to go!  ;^)

I recommend that when you take her out to potty, that you do it with her on a 6 foot leash, so she understands what she's out there for. Take her always to the same part of the yard, and when she starts to go, begin repeating a phrase over and over that you want her to associate with going to the bathroom. I tell my dogs  to "Go hurry." When she's done, praise her and *then* let her off the leash to play. She will soon figure it out.

When she's loose in the house, block her access to the rooms she is sneaking off to to potty in. Use baby gates or keep the doors to those rooms closed. Thoroughly clean the areas she's already pottied on with an enzymatic cleaner like Nature's Miracle, to remove all traces of the odor.

She should be able to go all night without needing a potty break, providing you give her a couple of opportunities before bedtime to potty. You may want to consider taking up her water 2 hours before you plan on going to bed, and not feeding her after 7:00. She should be taken outside right before bedtime, and make sure she empties her bladder and bowels, so she will be less likely to need to go during the night.