Puppy Training Q&As

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...

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...

Ed, I have been enjoying your articles on puppy training! Your sense of humor has helped me find mine about our new puppy. We have a 12 week old Goldendoodle, cross between a Golden Retriever and a Poodle. We have had her about 10 days. After the first few days of whining she is doing great in her crate at night, and during the day when we are gone or for some quiet time when we are here. The problem is that she is pooping in her crate every night. I tried making it smaller by putt...

Hi there. My family and I are considering a mini-dog and he will be neutered before we get him. Our concern is that he will put his scent all around the house and it will become smelly. Does the scenting happen less often after neutering or if we are still concerned about this situation should we be just considering a female dog only? Please help before we consider our dog choice. Thank you, Vickie

After watching your puppy video, we are working to crate train our GSD who is now 15 weeks old. I work at home, and I keep the dog in the crate in my office as I work. I take him out a couple times a day to relieve, eat, and for a short walk. When my wife gets home, about 4pm, she takes him upstairs. She does not crate him (even when he gets pesty), because she feels that the dog is more attached to me and she feels that if she crates him, he will like her less. Do you believe this is tru...

I have a gorgeous 16 month old tri-color beagle. Her name is Annie. She has the typical sweet beagle disposition, doesn't tear things up and is great with kids. We love her to death. The vet says she's the prettiest beagle they've ever seen. We have only one problem. We have two doggie doors in our house which lead to a small fenced yard. She goes out through the garage that leads to a small channel where she goes out the other doggie door to the yard. In other words, she goes thro...

I have an adorable 7-year old Yorkie named Sassy. I got her from a disreputable breeder when she was 6-years old - she was about to be put down. I saw the makeshift kennel where she was kept - it is obvious she spent the first six years of her life there. He never even bothered to name her. She has adapted well to her new surroundings BUT, she is not house-trained yet. She has been thoroughly checked out by a vet. I am using a crate to train her - which she has pottied/pooped in. W...

Hello, I need help desperately! I have a Chihuahua male that is about 2 1/2 yrs old. He is peeing on my furniture all the time and I don't know how to break him. We have scolded him then put him outside but to no avail. Please help! I have 3 other female that are all spayed they are peeing all over the house too. I have a cocker and basset mix she is 14 yr old and having problems holding it so I think her sent of her mishaps are there for the others. But the male is the one ...

I have a couple of questions regarding behavior I did not see in your questions section. I have a 10 year old, 10 lb., miniature female schnauzer whom I have had since she was 5 weeks old and whom I bottle fed. I also have a 3 year old, 50 lb., standard male schnauzer whom I have had since he was 6 months old. We have recently relocated to a new home in the redwoods of northern California from the desert. They seem to have adjusted to the move, the standard has even ceased his separation anxi...

We have a 13 week old maltipoo (maltese/poodle) who is doing pretty well with housebreaking. We got into the habit of taking him outside every few hours and giving the command "go potty" which he has now learned. The problem is, he doesn't understand that he should go to the door when he needs to go. Instead, he'll hold it until we take him out. I would really like to get to the point where he can tell us he has to go, instead of us taking him out all the time. How can we teach him to go and ...

We have a 5 1/2 week old American Eskimo who we are trying to house train. The problem is, she won't hold her bladder when we are around. We know she is able to, because we've left her for several hours and she holds it and she also holds it at night. But when we are in the room and she is in her crate, she will often pee in the crate after less than an hour of being in there, despite the fact that we walked her right before. Also, when we let her out to play, she will need to go out several ...

I have taken your advice several times with great results and have your puppy training video as well. This letter is on behalf of a friend who has had a lab-type 2 year old that she got from the humane society about a year ago. This is a great dog with a cheerful personality but apparently she often urinates on the living room rug. Last night my friend called to say that after a long walk in the park, the dog walked in the door and hit the rug once again. My friend is about to get rid of the ...

I have a 15 week old female Dalmatian. We thought she was peeing on our furniture and in her kennel. The truth is that she wets the bed. She is totally asleep when it happens. She doesn't even wake up. She does drink enormous amounts of water. Carrie

Hello. I have a 7 month old Maltese puppy that I am having great difficulty training to go to the bathroom outside. He is perfectly trained on puppy pads and never has accidents however making the transition to the outdoors has been rather unsuccessful. I have even tried taking the pads outside to make this transition easier for him to associate with but it doe not seem to be working. I have read that you suggest taking dogs on walks until they go but this puppy for some reason has a...

We have an 11month old Bichon who is still not housebroken. It has been a couple of months since she peed in the house and so we thought that part of the problem was fixed....then today she was racing through the house (chasing squirrels from window to window) and she jumped up on the bed and peed. We correct her and take her outside and I know she knows where to go...and "most" of the time she will head in the direction of the door when she needs to go out, but just when we think she's g...