My husband and I purchased a 10 month old GSD. He is a beautiful dog and his temperament is fabulous for our family. My daughter is 4 and terrified of dogs. She decided she wanted one, and we went to http://www.whirlingthunder.com and purchased this puppy. He was calm and they took to each other like bread on butter.

However, upon bringing him home we encounted a small smelly problem. I work two days a week in town. So, the first 5 days he was home, it was great. I was here, took him for walks, worked on crate/potty training him and it was going somewhat smoothly. Until I went to town.I was only gone 4 hours and he pooped in his crate. We cleaned him and the crate up thoroughly. He is more than capable to hold it much longer than 4 hours, I had made sure of that prior to leaving him.

Repeat same scenario, EVERYTIME I leave the home. Sometimes its at night. He is walked a minimum of 1.5 miles approximately a day and adequeatly let out. He is fed on a regular schedule morning and night.

He "was" a kennel dog. We noticed if we put him in a kennel outside, he poops on demand. quite literally. Several times. In fact, we can let him in the kennel and he will go. Take him back into the house and take him back out at any given time throughout the day and he will go.. If you leave him in the kennel, he will go multiple times. In fact, we left him in the kennel overnight last night, only to awaken to 6 poops this morning over the course of 8 hours.

We think he is having seperation/nerve problems.

Any ideas and suggestions?

At this point we want to continue to work with him. Perhaps we introduced him into the house too soon and need to make it gradual. We have the option to trade him for a 8 week old puppy, but have to wait 3 months, and frankly.. We like the one we have.

Not to mention my four year old is in love with him

Do you have the ebook Common Sense House Training (offered here)? I think it's worth the purchase for this dog or for a possible future puppy. The Pack Structure DVD would be a good purchase, too.

I'm only guessing, but the crate you are using in the house might be too large allowing the dog to pee/poop in the back of the crate and to lay down in the front of the crate. If that is the case, I'd place some boxes in the back of the crate to make the space more shallow.

Others will have ideas too. Good luck.

As the OP said your crate may be too large. I would look into getting a divider made especially for the crate versus using cardboard boxes. If the dog does indeed have separation issues he is going to rip those cardboard boxes to shreds.

I forgot to mention if your crate is small enough you said the dog was a kennel dog. Some dogs kept in kennels all day long turn into dirty dogs, meaning they will go where they lay because they don't know any different, that is what they had to do.(You usually run into this from dogs that are purchased from a pet store)

Other than SA, which it does sound like, did you have the dog checked for internal parasites? Sometimes that causes difficulty with housetraining.

Also be sure the dog is on a high quality dog food.Highly processed food (any Purina brand especially) causes dogs to drink more water and have more bowel movements. Kibble fed dogs will usually have voluminous, smelly piles of waste vs. raw fed dogs who have small, compact stools with less odor. Sounds like he is defacating alot.

Just curious,why are they rehoming a 10 month old dog?

Shara,
Silly question. What happens if he is just not put in his crate and allowed to freely roam in the house?

He obviously thinks his kennel is the place to go, is it big enough so that he doesn't have to walk or lay in the nasty stuff? Is so, what is the problem there? After all you have to pick it up whether in the yard or the kennel. What's the diff?

Ahem ahem, I don't think 1.5 miles daily is enough for a 10 month GSD pup.

If my dog isn't learning, I'm doing something wrong.
M&M Enterprises

wow, lots of replies! Thanks...

lets see if I answer all.

The dog was kept (so they say) to be a breeding dog, but only one testical dropped.

I HAVE purchased the ebook house training the dog. I also paid for obedience training, for a 10 month old I feel he is pretty well behaved.

The kennel is 5X10, but I have only been using it as needed becuase i am TRYING to turn him into a house dog, not an outside dog. I hoped futuristically that the kennel would be nice for him to be in while I go to work when the weather is suitable.

I assume he has no health problems, he has been seen by a vet, although no blood drawn or anything. He is wormed monthly.

I bought the 10 month old becuase my daughter took to him (as mentioned)

I feel that a 1.5 mile walk daily IS sufficient, becuase this does NOT include the many outings daily trying to establish a pattern and house potty train him. I am a working mother, along with a full time student. Its not possible for me to take this dog on long walks twice a day. If I stayed home all the time that would be different.

I spend probably close to two hours a day (not at once) grooming, working on training (commands), etc. he is certainly not deprived of human contact

I dont think the crate is too large, as he can turn around and lay down. I cant imagine cramping him in there anymore. He IS a 11 month old (now) GSD, and is not small! The breeder said he shouldnt get much taller, but would fill out in size.

His poops seem to be completely normal.

He eats good quality dog food. Well, per my Aunt the Vet, its too high in protein and fat, but I dont want to change his diet during his transition to our home for obvious reasons. Last thing I need is more poop due to that.

Randy, I think it is preposterous to think I should let a 11 month old prekennel dog "freely roam" my home. Dont you think? I did purchase the housetraining ebook and that is absolutely NOT recommended. Frankly, I like my carpet too much.

Mariellena, he poops in the front of the crate. *sigh* which makes for a nasty mess. Especially if its while your not home. Which appears to be 99% of the time that is happens, I am not home.

We have been leaving him in the kennel all the time now, I needed a break honestly. His poop has slowed down tremendously. I think he needed to be away from me and everyone to get it through his head that I will leave.. I WILL come back.. Its ok!

However, the 5x10 kennel he poops in the middle or the side and walks in it. Which makes me not so eager to bring him back in (especially if me munches on it also)

I do so appreciate the quick, insightful ideas! This could be a great board for me.

I do want to report after two days in the kennel, he can now be put in there and not just poop upon going in, and his poops are slowing down now. Must have been nerves.

I am not still convinced he is a house trainable dog...

Thank you all!

I do hope someday that he can freely roam my home.. That was the idea.

The main reason to purchase this dog was to provide my daughter a companion. We live on a farm. To provide my family a friend, and buddy to have around. But mainly, I am hearing impaired. At night I cannot hear much due to not sleeping with my hearing aids in. My husband will be leaving 4 days/3 nights a week soon to go to Paramedic/Fire Science school and we wanted a dog in the house to alert me of intruders. My own abilities to protect my home are not any good if I dont know someone has intruded.

Hey Shara, what exactly are you feeding him and how much? This really sounds like, at least partially, a problem of over feeding and a food with a lot of fillers.

I had a GSD{foster} 3 years ago, same situation..My worst house training experience. I had her tested for many things, including EPI, and nothing came up. Like STEVE said, it was from her diet.