toilet training

hello every one I'm now having trouble with tia ( for those of you that don't know she's a staffy i took in just before x-mas she wasn't being treated very nice) she keeps doing her business in the house and instead of it getting better its getting worse despite us taking her out and praising her when she does do it outside for example i got up this morning let her out for about 10 mins she then come in i went upstairs and she number 2'd in the sitting room so i put her back outside about 15 mins later i went back upstairs and she number 1nd in the hall way since this morning she has done it about 4 times its starting to really get us down

Hi Karen if I remember correctly Tia is an 18 month old rescue dog who was ill treated. I would guess she has never been correctly house trained in the first place.
If this is the case you need to teach her what you required her to do with kindness and patience, she won't just know what to do automatically . If she was punished for soiling in her previous home she may also be confused and fearful of relieving herself .

You really need to start from scratch as you would with a puppy and that means taking Tia out and staying with her, she needs to go out very frequently to begin with at times when she most likely needs to go out , after sleep/food/play/excitement and about once every couple of hours until she gets into a routine.

As she is an adult dog take her for a short walk , she will be stimulated by the exercise and the smell of other dogs. Take some tip bits with you in your pocket and when she relieves herself give her lots of praise and a tip bit. Try not to return to the house until she is 'empty'. If she has 'done both' being an adult she shouldn't need to go again for a few hours.

You can also teach Tia to relieve herself on command by adding a prompt word when she is in the middle of relieving herself so that she learns to associate the word with the action, I say 'beclean' , then don't forget the praise and give a tip bit the second she has finished . Pretty soon she will learn relieving herself outside is rewarding and brings a treat and your praise. Gradually phase out the treats but continue to praise.

Make sure the soiled areas in the house are throughly cleaned with biological washing powder to remove the scent of previous accidents. Remember never to scold or punish her if she does have an accident, doing so usually makes the problem worse.

As she is an only dog, you may need to allow your yard to get a little messy until she gets the hang of it... If you clean up in the house, but then clean up in the garden when she goes, she may get mixed messages... "So where am I allowed to go?" Just until she's got the hang of it, try not picking up 'everything' in the garden, leave a poo or two so she can sniff about and praise her when she sniffs those areas.

Patience patience patience. Selkie took ages to house train, so I know what you are going through, she was my only dog when I got her and 6 months old. She used to just look at me blankly when I was trying to praise her outside, or when I told her off inside, just couldn't get her to understand that I might be talking in any way about her business. She would look at me like "What?? I have no control over this?!"

She'll get it. They always do, just give it time and repetition...

How is the training going? We are in a similar situation with George... Although he is slowly getting the hang of pooping outside rather than inside.
I hope it's going well