Still struggling! 15 weeks of this! What to do!

I usually stay out of the bell-ringing discussions because I don't really think that's the way to go... and it certainly does not housetrain your dog. It teaches a housetrained dog to give a signal - very different. Remember, "housetrained" just means "waits till you take her outside to potty." It does not mean they TELL you they have to go.
 
Sorry if you've gone over this before, but if it was in a bell training thread I probably didn't read it... what have been your housetraining techniques so far? Other bits of info I'd want are where did you get the dog from (what kind of housetraining if any did she have before you got her), and how much freedom does she have in the house?

She was only 9 weeks old when I got her. She was in a play pen with papers at that point. She was born in a shelter and then rescued by an Animal Rescue group. I use a crate, monitor and scheduled water and feeding times. We use the same command to go potty each time along with all sorts of praise and a treat. We live in a small apartment, so she only has access to the living room and kitchen, but we basically follow her around. She will do it right in front of us. No hesitation! What do we do? Just frustrating! Is 6 months of age still to young to expect her to have started to get this?

"Should" is really hard with housetraining because there can be so much variation between individual dogs' timetables... but I would say by 6 months she "should" be making some progress though not being housetrained yet is far from unheard of. How many accidents is she having per day? Is it urine only or poop too? Have you changed your methods at all since she was 9 wks - ie moving from paper training to outdoors (if so, when did you make the change)?
 
I can tell you that my puppy took a while to housetrain. As the 5 month mark was approaching he was still having an "accident" in the house nearly every day and I was wondering if I was doing something wrong. I took him out often, but if I lapsed even 5 minutes he would just go on the floor so I knew he wasn't understanding the concept yet. I realized my specific problem was too much freedom. He was not allowed out of my sight but he was allowed to roam around in our living room & dining room which are conjoined with no door. This was too much freedom and too much room to wander, believe it or not. I began to leash him to my body at all times and after that his rate of improvement was extraordinary! He stopped having accidents and seemed to "get it" soon after that.
 
I think your puppy may be having the same problem. Sometimes constant supervision is not enough - the puppy has to actually be attached to your body. It's almost like being in a walking crate I think, because the "den instinct" seems to apply to this small radius of space that the puppy can't get out of. Yes it seems like a big pain in the butt to have a dog attached to your body at all times... but not as much of a pain as cleaning up pee every day! []

You are having quite a struggle, and I'm sorry to hear you and your little darling are having this trouble. 

I would drop the bell thing completely, like jones said.  It's really more for a dog that is totally housebroken for a while, to teach them a way to let you know it's time to go out. 

Is this the beagle you are housetraining?  If so, you need to know that some beagles can be difficult to housetrain and so extra persistence and time are required.  Have you read the book "What the Dog Did?"  It's a good look at the life of a beagle. 

If it's not a beagle you're trying to train, ignore that last paragraph. 

Go back to housetraining 101--confine the dog completely, give it a gated in space with it's toys and bed.  Take it out every 1/2 hour to start with and heap LOADS and LOADS of praise on it when it tinkles or poos outside.  Do that for a few days and then stretch the time out to out every 1 hour, do that for a while, then go on to 1.5 hours and so on. 

If you see her go in the house, do not yell at her, but get her attention with a good firm "UH," and then gently pick her up and carry her to the outside, and even if she doesn't do anything there, tell her she's good. 

This is obviously going to take a while, it already has.  I'm not sure what is missing in the training sequence.  But, it has to be consistent for days and days to really drill it into her little head. 

Hi everyone, thank you so much for the advice. I did put the bell away, she cant reach it right now anyway and it scared her!
 
To answer your questions, she isnt a beagle. She is a Heinz 57...mom's a chi mix, dad was...terrier or long haired dog. We never did paper/pad training. We have a crate...which is how we trained our other dog.  She does have room to run aroudn within our sight...living/dining room (one big room) and the kitchen. We live in an apt. There isnt really anywhere to "gate her off" in. I tried that once in the bathroom and she dug carpet at the doorway and went nuts in there while were were gone.
 
So if I "tether" her to me.... how long should the leash be? We originally also thought she was doing it because she could smell spots in the carpet from when Charlie was little or something, but she goes in random spots not the same ones, or like yesterday she went on a sleeping bag that has NEVER had pee on it. Or she'll go in the ktichen occassionally on the hard floor and there has never been urine there either. Its mostly urination, occassionally she'll poop inside, but usually urine.

I think that if you catch her in the act a firm NO, then pick her up immediately and bring her outside and give your potty command.  Followed by praise and treats.  Sorry you're having such a tough time with it.  Leashing her to you is a good idea. You're halfway there in that when you do take her out and give her the potty command, she does. So have hope! Some dogs take longer than others, but you'll make it!!!!
Also, make sure you're cleaning her potty spots with a good odor eliminator.  You probably are already, just wanted to make sure to mention it just in case.

I agree w/ all of the other posters, forget the bell, set a schedule instead then when she's trained she will know when to go.
I wrote this article for my breeder because she has older retired show dogs she sells as pets later and they are not trained this really worked well for me. Start all over again here's the link
 
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Hi everyone, I do give her a firm "NO" when I catch her and take her out. We live on the 3rd floor so it takes a few minutes to get downstairs... She gets the whole going outside, but just goes inside...random spots too...she doesnt have one spot that she goes in ...seriously she will go on a blanket...on the ktichen floor..anywhere.

How often are you taking her out? If she's having accidents all the time it means you're not taking her out often enough. It sounds very much like she doesn't "get it" yet, and until a dog gets it the onus is on you, the owner, to be preemptive. Take her out before she has an accident. As for tethering... the leash can be your usual 4 or 6 foot leash, whichever you use.

Being on the third floor makes this tough on you and the dog.  Do you have a porch or patio?  Our door to our backyard steps onto a deck that is 13 steps above the yard, and she is unable to go up or down stairs on her own.  I was having trouble housetraining Misty as a pup, she just wasn't getting it.  Then I got a big idea and bought some rolls of sod and put them on the deck right outside the door, and I left the door to the deck open.  It was a "Eureka" moment to her. 

So, if you have a patio or deck, maybe try some rolls of sod, so the area he's expected to use is easier to access? 

The good news about 3 floors is that I get more exercise than I would otherwise! The bad news it sucks at 5:30 a.m!   She can go up and down the stairs with ease...when she was 3 lbs...had to carry her, but she is 10lbs now and can do it just fine...except in the am. right after waking up...she just lays down at the top and stretches out! I carry her down for that trip! She even understands "upstairs" when we are going back up. I tell her upstairs and she goes up the flight and then looks to me for a "good upstairs".
We do have a patio, but it is SO small that there is no room for sod or even more than 1 person really. Its nuts.

You know what, even though the patio is an itty bitty one, given the amount of trouble you are having getting the housetraining message across to this dog, I'd cover what little patio space you have with a cut up roll of sod.  Put a piece of his poop out there, leave the door open to the patio and you may be surprised.  I remember you mentioning you will be moving before too long?  This may be a solution until then.  Make sure the fencing that is on the patio is "doggy safe" so that he can't squeeze through or under.  

I agree, you can't do this with this pup, it's too hard on both of you until you get her on a schedule and 100% accurate, meaning she is trained by you, you can't do this.