Hi,

I have had my 10 week old M-GSD for 3 weeks now. It has been a hard time housebreaking him. I've gotten him used to a crate however he does go in the crate but worse off in the kitchen. The create is limited to a 15 inch space in a large cage. I do take him out a lot but he still goes in the cage. I will let him out and he'll come back into the kitchen and within 10 minutes he will have a #1 And #2 on the floor. He will be out for some time but these accidents still happen a lot. I have used natures miracle and scrub the floor however he has #2 on the same spot. He will pee throughout the kitchen. Any advice that would help with this matter would be appreciated!

Thanks!

Mike,

Does your puppy poop AT ALL when outside, or does he wait till you bring him back home? Do you use a specific outside area for his elimination? Does the older dog use the same area? If yes, your puppy may be intimidated by your other dog’s deposits. Try to find a “clean” area, bring his “accident” outside and leave it in that area—and supervise. If and when he eliminates, praise him. I would also not recommend any drastic changes in his diet for the time-being, not until you have the potty training problem licked (ooops, bad choice of words... <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" /> )

You do go out with the puppy and supervise....correct?(Forgive me if your answer is "of course I do!!!")

You need to keep the crate as clean as humanly possible. Do not allow the puppy any indoor freedom. He is confined to that very small area in the crate. Feed him in that very small area. Most dogs will not crap where their food is. I wanna stress the word "most" 'cause there are wack jobs out there.LOL

You must make frequent trips outside to the special area where you want the pup to eliminate. REWARD with food and praise for outdoor elimination. Eventually you can phase out the food and praise will do. Remember...you have to act like the pup just did the greatest thing in the world when he goes outside. Don't get too hung up on where he eliminates outside....just be glad he is going outside and not in your kitchen. I mean...I suggest you try to get him to go in a specific spot but whatever you do....don't get upset at him now for crapping in the wrong part of the yard. Later on once he gets the hang of it you can get him better at going to the spot of your yard you want him to go. With success, you can gradually expand his indoor freedom.....first expand the room in the crate, then give him small bits of kitchen freedom, ect ect.

Remember, I am not saying you need to cruely keep the pup confined all day. Frequent trips outside to eliminate and for excercise are necessary. But his indoor freedom needs to be non-existant then gradually expanded with house breaking success.

Thanks for the advise! He does go outside in the backyard and our other dog does not go in the back yard. I think that the intimedation we can rule out. He will go outside most of the time, however he will go in his cage and get it all over him even with food in there. There will a lot of times that he will go outside or not go and within 15 minutes he will pee or poop in the kitchen.

10 weeks is very young. My last male shepherd (who is now 2-1/2 years old) had relatively little control until he was close to 16 weeks. Then some degree of conrol seemed to kick in.

The only thing you can do is be watchful and confine him.

I have a friend who's a breeder who says that most pups don't really have control until they are 4 months old and I tend to think she's right.
And...I don't want to sound sexist but male pups in my experience have been harder to train.

Be patient and enjoy puppyhood...it goes by way to fast.

If your pup has the squirts that will just make house training much harder. An adult dog can barely control themselves then, so it will be almost impossible to house train a sick puppy (Auster had a bladder infection as a pup). Sounds like you are doing good considering the circumstances.

Lauren,

I am just wondering where in Mike's posts does he say the dog is sick? Correct me if I am wrong...I have been known to miss a fact or two.LOL

Never mind. I just read the other thread. Forgive me Lauren.

Thank you for the information. He went back to the vet again last night and they think it might be tapeworms now. We will see. Will urinating be effected by the worms. It seems that that occurs more than the other.

10 weeks is still pretty young. However, you might want to take in a urine sample and rule out a urinary tract infection.

Natalie