Hey fellow AmStaff owners,

So I adopted my new baby (2yo amstaff pit bull mix) and she had 3 accidents in the 3 days I've had her. I want to understand if I'm not taking her out enough or what you recommend I do to avoid it in the future. I will preface it that she is very cuddly and sweet and has hung out in the crate super chill when I had to run an errand. As well as be super relaxed in the car when I've taken her with me on errands.

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Accidents in the house:

First of all, she's in heat. They did not spay her prior to putting her up for adoption and as soon I brought her home she started her period (or perhaps the day before).

Second, I got her Wed night. Thu I was alone with her all day. Fri I had a girlfriend come by. She dogsat her for 15 min while I went to get food. She said the dog sat at the door and waited for me. After my friend had to leave, I went to a store for 15 min and when I came back my baby had peed in the middle of the living room. Luckily she had diapers due to the period. Later I had to go across town for another errand for an hour and she was in a crate the whole time. I got back to a very chill relaxing doggie. I did however drop in on my Alexa twice during the errand to call her a good girl and have her hear me.

Third, Saturday I had a prior commitment with some friends that we had waited for weeks for. So I had them over. She was super friendly and lovely but at some point kept trying to cuddle the one person who's not a dog person so I took her to my room and closed the door. She peed again.

After cleaning it up, I took her out where she obviously didn't need to go anymore but I wanted to make sure. After everyone left a couple of hours later, I was in the bathroom and I see her smelling where she had peed before in the bedroom and about to pee again. I interrupted it this time and took her outside again.

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Some extra details:

Her previous foster used to take her out at 8am, noon and 8pm. I work very late (from home) so the 8am is hard on me so I've been trying to take her out at noon, 8pm and around 2-3am when I go to bed.

I'm a completely new doggie owner so I need all the help I can get. I will definitely go get training but given that she's in heat and wearing diapers and getting spayed next week, I thought I'd wait until all that's done with.

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So here are my questions:

1. I want to get her comfortable in the crate always (or alone at home). How do I achieve that?
2. I want to get her on a new potty schedule. Should it be 2 or 3 times a day? (She's 21 inches tall) Some friends have said to get on a strict schedule from the start but given that she's on her period, should I take her out more? What is the best way to get her on my sleep schedule and potty breaks on my schedule?
3. I was told she was housetrained but was that not the case or do I not know how to read the signs that she needs to go?
4. She always wants to go out, so it's hard to tell when it's a necessity and when she just is bored and wants outside. She's not a barker at all so is there some other way to know?
5. She only poops once a day (around the same time). Is that normal?