Puppy Training Q&As

Dear Ed: I have a huge problem (or it is to me anyway). I have a 3 1/2 year old neutered Chihuahua who is marking my whole house. I assume that marking is different then just peeing in the house. It's not like a puddle in the middle of the room but rather on the corners of everything. I searched your site for an answer and could not find anything on the subject. 3 family members have acquired puppies (and live separate and apart from us) but frequently visit and bring their puppies...

I have a pomeranian/poodle mix puppy who is going on 7 months old. My husband and I have tried to house train her and she still keeps peeing everywhere. If she gets excited she just pees all over everything. Second of all, she has a huge chewing problem and we don't know what else to do. She chewed a hole in our couch arm and ate all the stuffing and the other day she chewed a dollar coin sized hole in our love seat. We put a sheet over it and we left today for maybe 1-2 hours and came ho...

My Japanese chin puppy is 11 weeks old. I am trying to teach her to eliminate outside. So far she is doing OK when I am with her as I take her out every 1-2 hours and after her naps. She will go when I am outside with her. At night, we have to go outside once every 2-3 hours as well. Can she hold for more than 1-2 hours at her age as I read several advices that she should be able to? If I leave her in the crate for more than 2 hours, she will eliminate in the crate. I left her in the garage i...

I have a quick question. I have a almost 2 year old Lab/Pit mix and I crate her while in work since she has what I am assuming separation anxiety since she chewed my furniture each time I tried to leave her out of the crate and I left the house. I emailed before questioning that problem but she is fine when I am home, does not destroy anything, so I don't know how she can break from it if it is done when I leave the home. Besides that, I want to know how long is too long to leave her crated. ...

We just got a puppy this past weekend. I have barely slept and ate, but it's getting better, especially after I found your web site today. We have been using a crate (made it smaller yesterday so it's more den-like) and today is my first day back at work. It's a short day today and tomorrow and then Thursday I'll be gone 8 hours but we're going to hire a dog walker for a few months. Anyway, he's very good with going outside, because I take him out often. He only needed to get up on...

I have a 12 week old boxer pup. I've had her almost 1 month and have her housebroken from peeing in the house, but sometimes I will find poop in the house or catch her in the action. How can I stop this because it is harder then the pee breaking is. A lot of the time I will take her outside to go to the bathroom and she will pee but not poop, then when we go back in the house she will go poop. Usually she will go in the basement and poop {and sometimes pee} but that is still unacceptable. Als...

Hello. I have an 8 week old Goldendoodle puppy who I have been crate training. When I first got him he was perfectly happy going to the bathroom in his crate and then sleeping in it. I got him on a routine of going outside and he is doing better. I put a litter box in his crate for him to use during the night and during the day when I am at work. He does a great job using it, and not going on the floor of his crate. My question is, is this preventing him from learning to hold it? Is it ok...

We have an 8 month old female pug (Dande) and a 7 year old female pug (Daisy). We are having difficulty house breaking her. Our vet indicated she was closer to 7 or 8 weeks of age (instead of 10 weeks as told when we purchased her) and this may be our problem. Dande is crated during the day when we are at work and other times when she will not potty outside. Our biggest problem seems to be getting her to let us know when she needs to go out. She is very skittish about everything - empty b...

I have a five month old male Chihuahua I have had him for several months now and I have taken on the mothering role, I have him on a routine that I thought he had gotten used to, but there are times that he urinates in his crate even after I have taken him out. How old should he be before I give him more freedom, I love to have him play but I have three children and can't always keep as close an eye on him as I would like. How do I know he is done relieving himself? Toni & Gizmo

Having the worse time housebreaking my puppy - have tired recommended time outside, diapers. She stills pees and poops in the house - I watch her like a hawk but she beats me, and is quick about it - we don't put her in a crate - because she also does it in there, she pee's in her diaper. She doesn't pee on a regular time intervals, I tracked it by time and sleeping patterns - I am confused and trying to patience with her. I know she isn't acting out and trying to be disobedience but I ca...

We have a six months old cockapoo that we got when he was 10 weeks old. We crate trained him from the beginning. He cried for a couple of nights but then took to it just fine. When I take him out of the crate, I take him outside and he will pee on command. I take him inside and give him free time in a confined room such as a kitchen or family room or on a leash. He will then go in the house again even if it has only been 10 min since he was outside. 90% of the time he had an accident in th...

Dear Mr. Frawley! I hope you can help me with a problem I am having - your advise on your web site. to new puppy owners has been excellent and seemed to help others very much. We have an adorable 3-1/2 month old cairn terrier puppy that we got at age 9 weeks old from a wonderful breeder who really took amazing care of her dogs. Our puppy has been doing very well but seems to have a problem with peeing in the kitchen where he is confined during his play time. I am home with h...

My continued research carried me to your great web site. Female senior citizen and first time dog owner purchased a female Imperial Shih-Tzu (the shadow), 6 weeks old - now 5 months old. She is very precious, smart, funny, lots of personality, etc. For many reasons I wanted to train her to 'go' inside in a potty box. I am using an in-home trainer. He used the leash training first and is now going into off leash training and she is doing great in those regards. My big problem...

We bought a Mini Dauschand puppy when she was 8 weeks. I also have a standard who is 11 and is not doing so well with her health. We got her about 5 weeks ago. Her living arrangements were very clean and they were well looked after. I did try to crate train her, but I gave up. I wish I would have read your site in the beginning!! Anyways, I messed up! She did pee in her crate and whined constantly, so of course I took the easy way out and put her in bed with my other dog. My older dog we ...

I recently moved in with my boyfriend. I knew beforehand that his dog, a 5 year old German Shepherd / Doberman was not very well trained. After my boyfriend's divorce he allowed his dog to sleep in bed with him. Since I moved in last November, Buddy knows not to do that but will sneak up there when I go in the shower or my boyfriend will allow him to when I leave the room. Not only that, but this dog is allowed to sleep on the couch. Everything smells like dog! He also has 2 Doxin's that ...

Hi Mr Frawley, I am finding your web site very helpful. I have had GSD all my life and back in June lost our best friend of 11 years. I now have (my first, and much wanted) a new 100% German bloodline female. She is 4.5 months old. I have a urination problem with her as well as many I read on your board. I am convinced at this point that this is a German bloodline thing. I have had all American breeds until now and have never had this problem. My question is: how do you know a pupp...

A question has arisen about crate training. We do have a cat, and intended to use the info in your article on introducing dogs to cats. Right now we always keep them in separate rooms if they are in the house. However, since our dog is a rescue, he's never had experience with crates at all. You have a lot of info about crate training for puppies, but we're unsure how to proceed. Our dog is already housebroken at 20 months. We were considering beginning to offer his regular food in the crate a...

I have a question regarding my 5 year old Jack Russell Terrier and my 4 year old Miniature Pinscher, within the last 6 weeks both of my dogs have been urinating in my house in every room. We have a 1 1/2 year old son and when we brought him home from the hospital they were fine. I am now pregnant with my second child and just out of the blue they are both peeing on furniture, carpet, anything they can lift their leg on. They are let outside frequently because I work from home. We have blo...

I have two dogs; a 2-year old golden and black lab. Both were crate trained since pups, but they've had the run of the house for about 6 months now and I haven't had any problems with anything until now. My black lab seems to get too excited when I come home and he pees before I can let him outside. I'm only gone at the most for 5 hours in a day, and I'm not sure what to do. Should I not leave water for them while I'm gone? The black lab has a tendency to over drink, but I don't want to leave...

Dear Ed, I am the owner of a 6 month old rottweiler puppy. From the day I got him at eight weeks I followed the book on housetraining. I went out with him every time, praised him when he went outside, only scolded him when I caught him in the act of going in the house etc. My dog still won't stop going to the bathroom in the house. I am at home most of the day, but occasionally I leave for an hour or two, when I return there is pee and poo all over my living room and kitchen. I did...