Hello, (EDIT, I also just realized I live 45 minutes away from Leerburg HQ in Hudson WI, "puppy boot camp" or "owner training"....!)

I am going to be ordering the puppy training DVD as I want to raise a well trained dog. My family got a new pup a 8 days ago and everything was going well until today. I had found this wonderful site and got the basic info I needed to focus on house-training and crate-training the new puppy. Other than that I was content to focus on playing with him, exercising him, and getting him comfortable in his new home, hoping a couple weeks with no DVD would be doable : )

We brought him home 8 days ago (thursday night) he slept well in his crate, albeit I did give him a blanket not just the cow mat, had a very small pee during the night.

Friday he drove my wife crazy going in an out all day, going pee occasionally. 15 minutes before I got home he came in the house, pooped 3 times in three places & peed on both the front entry rug and back entry rug.

I deep cleaned and steam cleaned the areas immediately. He did well in his crate that night with no accidents.

Sat, Sun, Mon, Tue, Wed & Thur all went the following way:

Pup went to sleep 9:30/10:00 PM
Had to go out about 3:00 to 5:00 AM to pee,
Back into crate until about 6:30,
Eat in crate,
7:00 AM walk,
Play until 8:30/9:00,
Back in crate til 10:30,
Play til 1:30,
Back in crate til 3:30,
Play til 5:30,
Back in crate til after dinner at 6:30,
Play/walk/excercise til bedtime.

All of those days there were no accidents, no behavior problems, water away by 7:00. On Tuesday he started going out attached to a tie-out rather than totally free, was not an issue all week.

THAT BRINGS US TO FRIDAY (today)

Went to bed Thursday 10:00 in crate
Strangely crying at 12:30 am, I waited til he stopped and then brought him outside. He was reluctant (and always is with me) to venture into the yard without me leading the way. Did not pee or anything.
Cried per usual at 5:00 am, went out to pee
Crate until 7:30, one hour later than usual, cried quite a bit from 6:30 on, he had peed all over the mat in his crate, but not the blanket.
NO MORNING WALK
Crated again in morning, peed on his blanket.
Normal play, peeing/pooping outside
Crated again in afternoon, peed on the plastic crate pan.
Cleaned with bleach mix, rinsed well.
Normal play, etc...
Walk in evening when I got home
Crated for dinner per usual
Peed on plastic crate pan, laid down in it at some point and was soaked in pee.
Gave him a bath, cleaned crate pan again, steam cleaned carpet for good measure.
Normal play, etc...
Peed in the living room on a blanket that is usually on the couch but he made a point to go to it (I didn't realize what he was doing til he started).

He is asleep by me right now as I type, needs to go into crate for the night.

SOMEONE PLEASE HELP?

We have a 3 year old, 2 cats, my wife stays home with our child, I work long hours but spend extensive time with the pup. We have one of those special "man and his dog bonds" he follows along side me everywhere and takes commands very well from me already. He is fairly good for my wife, had adapted well to playing with our 3 year old boy, plays a little rougher than the cats like!, but nothing aggressive.

His mother was a pure bloodhound, dad was a black lab and german shephard.

I'm not 100% clear on the problem. All I grasp so far is that he was inside when he had to be outside. Where is the potty time Sun, Mon, Tues, Wed, Thurs?

But start with: How old is the puppy?

You know, if this is a baby puppy, he should be taken out to potty about every hour in the awake time until you have his schedule pretty much learned. Also, if this is a baby puppy, I'm surprised at no midnight or 1 am potty needs every night.

When did he eat this morning? Did he eat and not get walked? That's a biggy.

Every meal, playtime, water, every one of those is followed by potty for a baby dog.

You never want to feed a little puppy and then crate him. Is that what happened?

And he cried?

But regardless, you have a bit of a habit that you want to nip asap, and the way you do it is by having him outside when he needs to be outside. If this is a baby, he has no more control than a baby human.


ETA

Welcome!

Don't worry. Nothing you said sounds like anything more than handler error to me.


Edited by Connie Sutherland (02/25/2011 10:17 PM)
Edit reason: eta

How old is the pup? 9 weeks or so?

If he is as young as I think an hours difference in your schedule will make all the difference in house breaking. When he gets a little older (in a month or two) it won't matter so much, but for now you have to do your best to stick to the exact same schedule every day. At least for the major events of the day like wake up time, eating and bedtime. Just like a human baby.

Remember that he is basically an infant. He just doesn't have the control yet.

I think the dvd will help with a lot of your questions.

But for now, untill you get your dvd, one thing I'm sure will be on it is that he should always be on a lightweight drag line (just a leash or a line without a handle) or tethered to you. Now is the time to prevent problems simply by not allowing him to get in any trouble.

Puppies pee. The schedule needs revolve around taking them out ALL the time. Stay out with them till they pee. Do the pee pee dance. You must have done that with your 3 year old when you were potty training. If you are out all the time with the pee patrol, then the pooh usually happens, too. Do the doo doo dance. The only time to relax with the puppy is for about 20 minutes to a half an hour after the business, then it is back to being watchful and get ready to take them out again (whether they are in the crate or not). It does get better with longer periods.

One or two times per night at first. It is hard to do the pee pee dance at 3am...

 Quote: Marcia Blum

Puppies pee. The schedule needs revolve around taking them out ALL the time. Stay out with them till they pee. Do the pee pee dance. You must have done that with your 3 year old when you were potty training. If you are out all the time with the pee patrol, then the pooh usually happens, too. Do the doo doo dance. The only time to relax with the puppy is for about 20 minutes to a half an hour after the business, then it is back to being watchful and get ready to take them out again (whether they are in the crate or not). It does get better with longer periods.

One or two times per night at first. It is hard to do the pee pee dance at 3am...

We need emoticons for the pee pee dance and doo doo dance

All we need is Will's potty-training song.... "Let's go poopy now ..." to the tune of "Let's Go Surfin' Now..."

Thanks to everyone for your replies! I think what has been so confusing is that we have been hypervigilant to take him outside at least hourly, EXCEPT those 2 hour crate times... BTW, I forgot to say he is 3 months old, so I thought I was being conservative on 2 hours in the crate at one time when we run errands, etc... Was that wrong of me? He did so well 5 days straight.

It has also been bitterly cold here, and he seems a little scared of the dogs barking all around when I take him out at night. I literally picked him up and carried him 50 yards out on our land 3 times in 45 minutes, he finally peed the 3rd time and oddly enough there were no dogs barking on that attempt. Any chance that is throwing him off?

Last question, I was thinking of letting him out of his crate when he cries, but only take him out to try to potty then right back in so I don't reinforce the whining as a means to come out when he needs to be in. This sensible plan? I honestly felt the hour off today and no morning walk threw him and felt bad about it

Ok so good night in the crate, today I corrected MY handler error of not keeping him on schedule and voila' no accidents in crate, his timely trip outside, meal, and now walk in about 10 minutes.

I think I read into yesterday' setbacks too much, I just love this darn dog so much and know that the better he is trained the happier he will be.

 Quote: Michael Stroozas

Ok so good night in the crate, today I corrected MY handler error of not keeping him on schedule and voila' no accidents in crate

Voila! Good for you!!! It normally is our error and not the dogs, and things can improve so quickly when our minds are open to that fact! Congrats.

At 3 months they can hold it a little longer, but they still don't really have good control untill around 6 months. For some dogs it could even be as late as 8 months.

If sticking to the schedule made it better it sounds like he is begining to get the idea. That's good!

Another thing to keep in mind is that crate doesn't automaticaly mean no potty for every single dog. His potty training started with his mom. If the whelping setup was not good it can make things a little harder on the new owner.

Its a really common problem for people who aquire puppies from pet shops and back yard breeders. It doesn't mean that housebreaking is impossible, it just means you have to be super vigilant in the begining.

Personaly, I would not take him out of the crate when he whines. It could cause problems for you later on. Dogs are smart. It doesn't take them long to figure out how to make you work for them!

Instead, I would make sure to get him out once an hour when he's awake, and I would set an alarm to get him out twice during the night. If its at all possible, its always better to keep it on your terms.

It won't be too much longer that you have to do this.

Glad you are in love with the puppy!