Relapses in housetraining happen. You may notice these at particular times, such as when your puppy hits sexual maturity or goes through the growth and development stages in which he gains greater awareness of the genuine perils in the world (fear periods, as described in Chapter 16). Other times you might get caught in traffic and be unable to get home in time. Or there may simply be too many people in the house for your pup to discern his biological needs. Whatever the reason, you'll have accidents, and accidents usually lead to brief setbacks.

The best thing to do is to simply go back a step or two in house-training. Put your outings back on a schedule, and you'll find in less than a week you can usually catch up on any time lost in the relapse. The same is true of an adult dog. However, try not to let these happen too often. Otherwise your new boxer, puppy or adult, might interpret your inattention to mean that potty training is not all that important to you and proceed to potty wherever he feels like it.