Puppy Housebreaking Nightmare

[a_daerr]

I am really struggling trying to housebreak five-month-old puppy Truman. We've had him for a month now, and I feel like we've made such little progress, I must be doing something wrong. I am getting so frustrated and confused by all the advice and literature I'm getting. We started off trying to use the crate, then stopped because he was doing so well. He started regressing and going wherever and whenever he felt like it, so we are back to the crate again. Truman's problem is peeing- very seldom does he ever poop in the house. Even though we are going out on average 8 times a day, he manages to pee in the crate at least once or twice a day (sometimes more).

 

Four days out of the week, I go to work. On those days, we wake up around 6AM and go outside. Come inside and eat breakfast, then go out again about 30 minutes later. I come home during lunch to let him out (noon). I give him a Kong with peanut butter or yogurt before heading back to work. Come home at 5PM and immediately go out. Eat dinner, then go out 30 minutes later. Then, we usually go out several more times through the evening and night (8PM, 11PM, and 2AM). On the days I don't work, we still go outside at the same times. He is not crated, and I supervise very closely and restrict him to the room where I am.

 

I feed dry food and give water on a regular schedule twice a day. I noticed that he had been regularly peeing on his dog bed, so I replaced with a towel. That did not seem to deter him, because he began constantly peeing on the towels. I decided to take out anything absorbent, so all he has is the plastic crate bottom (I feel terrible about this). When I come home and find that he's peed in the crate, I immediately take him outside and lead him to his particular spot. I do not yell or give him any correction. When he does go outside, I praise lavishly and give treats while using the words "go pee." The crate gets cleaned every time with Nature's Miracle Urine Destroyer and paper towels.

 

When I take him outside, about half of the time he just stands outside and won't do anything. When this happens, I lead him in circles to try to help him get the point. I leave my adult dog Henry inside so that he doesn't interfere. On the days that I'm not at work, I will bring him back inside when this happens, crate him for 15 minutes, then take him back out again. This process repeats until he goes. The crate seems to be the appropriate size. I considered getting a divider to shorten his space, although I feel the overarching problem is that he doesn't seem to mind sitting in his own pee. He was a kennel dog with several other puppies; I have no clue how clean the previous owner kept his space.

 

He does not seem to enjoy being alone during the day. The problem definitely worsens on the days I work. I tried to remedy this by covering the sides of the crate with a blanket so it feels more "den like." I usually leave the TV on and leave him with lots of toys, chewies, and his heartbeat pillow when I'm gone. He also has a DAP calming collar with pheremones. This does seem to calm him down, but does not help very much with the peeing issue. Henry is not crated; he is very well behaved in the house and has a bladder and bowels of steel. I'm not sure if it upsets Truman that he can see Henry but not interact with him.

 

On days I don't work, we have pretty long play sessions in the yard. He and Henry will chase each other and fetch toys until they're tired. When the weather is okay, we go on leash walks (even though it's winter in PA and not the easiest task with two excited dogs). He goes on trips to several different pet stores at least once or twice a week. On Saturdays, we have obedience class and a long car ride. Every day, he does one or two "mental exercise" training sessions (about 5 minutes long). I try to make sure he is exercised and socialized as much as possible.

 

I feel like I have covered absolutely every base, but very little progress has been made. Is there any advice you can give me to help with this housebreaking issue?

[Batmom]

When are the occasions when you find pee in the crate?

 

Even half a workday is a bit long for a new 5-month-old to go without a potty trip outside.

 

When you say he doesn't enjoy being alone, what does that mean? Best if you can get some serious exercise in before you leave for work and at noon.

[Guest Audeamus]

I'm going to take a wild guess and say that he pees in his crate when he's left in the morning. To me it sounds like it's just a little too long for him right now but as he keeps growing he'll get better. I know how frustrating it can be to have a dog that doesn't quite get the bathroom routine, it took my lurcher the better part of 4 years to figure out he could poop while leashed.

Maybe, if you have a friend in the area you could get your friend to let Truman out in the middle of the eight to noon break (if that's when he pees). Good luck.

[JAJ2010]

How about a little belly band?

[a_daerr]

When are the occasions when you find pee in the crate?

 

Even half a workday is a bit long for a new 5-month-old to go without a potty trip outside.

 

When you say he doesn't enjoy being alone, what does that mean? Best if you can get some serious exercise in before you leave for work and at noon.

 

I usually find pee when I come home for lunch and again when I come home in the afternoon. He was also peeing in the middle of the night, but then I started setting an alarm for 2AM to take him out. Sometimes when I get up at that time, he's already peed. When I said he doesn't like being alone, I mean that he cries and barks when I leave. I'm sure that he settles down after a bit, but I'm thinking that the stress of me leaving is definitely a factor for our housebreaking dilemma. Too bad I can't quit my job.

[gracegirl]

How about a little belly band?

I disagree with this solution.

 

Sounds like you are doing everything right. Puppies require A LOT of patience. A LOT. I think it's a combo of him being upset when you leave, and sims not being able to hold it.

 

I got Fenway when he was 4 months old. He could come to work with me and play with all his doggie friends at work, so long as he was crated in the storage/warehouse area when he was not actively being watched by a human. At least 3 times a week I'd find he had peed his crate, and I know he was being let out more than the three times a day I'd take breaks. He's a puppy. Pee happens. Keep doing what you're doing, you are on the right track. Eventually his bladder control will catch up with his brains and it will click.

[Guest ThunderPaws]

Diesel was a teeny tiny greyhound puppy when I got him. He peed in his crate once or twice a day until he was almost a year old... he was fine until he got excited when he heard me open the house door and then he couldn't hold it any longer. I came home during lunch break every single day. I also had to let him go outside to pee around 2am every single night until he was about 6 months old.

It was a lot of work and frustrating at times, but soooo worth it! Diesel is now 5 and finally slowing down a bit. :-)

Edited February 3, 2012 by ThunderPaws

[galgomum]

You are on the right track, but it does really take time.

With Lehto it also took longer then that and even these days it happens that he really needs an extra outing which he announces by ringing the bells that we have hanging on the front door. (he is 10, almost 11 months now)

 

As for the crate, can you make that more of an ok place to be by giving him a frozen kong with treats inside? At that age a crate isn't fun, it still needs to be made fun.

 

And yes, it is extremely frustrating at times, but it gets better, it just needs time.

My DH thought Lehto would never get housebroken

[Guest verthib]

So he doesn't have to lay on a hard crate and so you can still easily clean it up, can you get him a primo pad? That's a long day to be laying on hard plastic. It's at www.primopad.com. You are doing the right things, as everyone has told you. Just be patient.

[a_daerr]

You are on the right track, but it does really take time.

With Lehto it also took longer then that and even these days it happens that he really needs an extra outing which he announces by ringing the bells that we have hanging on the front door. (he is 10, almost 11 months now)

 

As for the crate, can you make that more of an ok place to be by giving him a frozen kong with treats inside? At that age a crate isn't fun, it still needs to be made fun.

 

And yes, it is extremely frustrating at times, but it gets better, it just needs time.

My DH thought Lehto would never get housebroken

 

This is reassuring. I give him a frozen Kong in place of a lunchtime meal. I crush up chicken doggie cookies and layer with yogurt. Either that or peanut butter with oatmeal cookies. I like experimenting with recipes. Kongs are the best!

[cleptogrey]

i think i posted (in one of the puppy problem blogs) about the umbilical cord method and also taking the pup out to the same spot and walking in a circle and telling them "get busy", "potty", "go pee" or what ever and then giving them a high quality food treat after success. premire, the company who makes the collars, leashes and toys has an excellent training series(i've located it on amazon) for pups. it handles just about every situation and is to the point.

 

i have always found that my dogs house break as soon as they are done teething. i don't even try to do anything until then unless i catch them going outside and then i reward- shaping the behavior. but once those shark teeth are out it's all business. i did install bells on the door since felix couldn't figure out how to communicate that he needed to go potty and would silently squat at the door.

 

felix did get into the habit of going as soon as he ate. that was my doing, i took him out and did the potty walk(even though we have a fenced in yard). 5 years later he still eats/poops/comes back in. do check out the premire series. will see if i can find it. it's worth every penny.

 

http://www.amazon.com/Ultimate-Puppy-Toolkit-Step---Step/dp/0973159103/ref=sr_1_sc_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1328275366&sr=1-1-spell

 

i never left more than a large towel for the puppy when crated, they are young and you need something easy to wash.there is plenty of time for dog beds, when he has his act together. try a washable bath mat for bedding, but make sure it's easy to wash and dry.

Edited February 3, 2012 by cleptogrey

[Guest simile]

Is Henry crated, too? If he isn't, can you crate him next to Truman while going through this phase? It might help with some of the anxiety. Also, it's not uncommon for a dog's bladder to not be fully developed until they're around 9 months old. Jack was pretty rock solid by 4.5 months, but Chloe was almost a year before she was 100%.

 

Good luck!

[BatterseaBrindl]

Agree...he is still very young.

 

You said you leave the older dog inside while you're trying to get the little guy to potty.

I'd try taking both dogs out at the same time...the little one may learn a lot from the older one.

When we introduce a new dog I find the older, confident dogs can help with many training issues.

 

As that old saying goes....'Monkey see, Monkey do'.

[Guest LittleGreys]

Agree...he is still very young.

 

You said you leave the older dog inside while you're trying to get the little guy to potty.

I'd try taking both dogs out at the same time...the little one may learn a lot from the older one.

When we introduce a new dog I find the older, confident dogs can help with many training issues.

 

As that old saying goes....'Monkey see, Monkey do'.

 

I absolutely agree with this! I have had Greyhound puppies of my own, plus fosters. Housebreaking was never an issue with them. I am fortunate that I have a dog door to a fenced in yard, and from the beginning the little ones have followed the big ones outside. Pretty much no training on my part.

Edited February 6, 2012 by LittleGreys

[a_daerr]

Agree...he is still very young.

 

You said you leave the older dog inside while you're trying to get the little guy to potty.

I'd try taking both dogs out at the same time...the little one may learn a lot from the older one.

When we introduce a new dog I find the older, confident dogs can help with many training issues.

 

As that old saying goes....'Monkey see, Monkey do'.

 

I absolutely agree with this! I have had Greyhound puppies of my own, plus fosters. Housebreaking was never an issue with them. I am fortunate that I have a dog door to a fenced in yard, and from the beginning the little ones have followed the big ones outside. Pretty much no training on my part.

 

The problem I was experiencing was that Henry would almost immediately initiate play with the puppy. Play bowing, running in circles, barking... altogether madness. I noticed that when they would start playing, the puppy would seem to forget that he needed to get down to business. I'm a little uncomfortable about a doggie door because we had an attempted break-in once. I've definitely thought about the high-tech ones that open via a sensor on the dog's collar.