I have two problems with my 6 month old Dobermann. (purchased from Von Rubenhof kennel)

• He will not stop barking when he is in his kennel.
• He has recently decided to start crapping on my floor even after he has been out.

I have the "Your Puppy 8 Weeks to 8 Months" DVD and have also purchased and started to use the Tri-Tronics Bark Limiter XS. When he is in the crate and has the collar on he will simply bark through whatever stimulation that the collar provides. (yes, even on 5)

Usually the barking starts around 05:30 which is well before I even think of getting up and the thing is I know he can hold it.

As far as the crapping in the house; I live in Illinois where it has been very cold. He has been wanting to go outside I say at least 3x in 5 minutes which seems rediculous at his age, but I have been taking him. He will go outside and might pee but then he comes back in and within a minute or two he has released a turd or two on the run.

At this point I am not sure what to do. I figure he is really smart and does not want to be outside in the cold/snow long enough to take the crap or he is just retarded.

 Quote:

I have two problems with my 6 month old Dobermann. (purchased from Von Rubenhof kennel)

• He will not stop barking when he is in his kennel.
• He has recently decided to start crapping on my floor even after he has been out.

I have the "Your Puppy 8 Weeks to 8 Months" DVD and have also purchased and started to use the Tri-Tronics Bark Limiter XS. When he is in the crate and has the collar on he will simply bark through whatever stimulation that the collar provides. (yes, even on 5).......

Could I ask:

Is the dog new to you, and this problem has been in place since Day One? Or did he have good house-training at first, which has soured recently?

He has been with me since 13 weeks old and had good house training. Even now he will go to the door when he needs to go out. It was only recently that he had stared this madness of sometimes going in the house.

When he first started slipping I took the little freedom that he did have and started crating him most of the time just as Ed suggests. After a while he got better and I started giving him back some freedom.

The part that really bothers me is that he woould have had plenty of opportunity to go if he really needed.

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....When he first started slipping I took the little freedom that he did have and started crating him most of the time just as Ed suggests. After a while he got better and I started giving him back some freedom.
.....The part that really bothers me is that he woould have had plenty of opportunity to go if he really needed.

You pretty much answered your own question. You have to back up and start over. I refer everyone whose dog I help with to this article:
http://leerburg.com/housebrk.htm

I just went back to it to make 100% sure that it included "re-training" an already-trained dog who starts slipping, and it does.

This part is important for you, I think:
QUOTE: A puppy is NEVER ALLOWED TO HAVE FREE ACCESS TO THE HOUSE unless you have your eyes on the pup. If he poops on the floor because you turned your back for 45 seconds - well you screwed up and made a mistake. Don't blame the pup for your mistake.

The only time pups are loose in my home is just after then come in from going outside and then it only for short periods of time. All of my interaction with my pups is done outside. I NEVER leave a dog unattended and loose in the house until it is 18 to 24 months old and then only for short periods. END

I grew up in the Boston area, so I know: It's cold and neither one of you wants to be out there. But IMO the brisk walking (I mean walking, on his leash, fast enough to get his innards working) is often what gets everything started, and maybe you are just coming back inside too soon. It really sounds like it. He was trained, so he understands it, right? He isn't holding it in to go on the carpet. What you think is "plenty of opportunity" may not be, if his exercise is limited because of the weather to start with, IMO.

Exercise does get the bowels moving.

I started to type more about a good schedule, etc., but then remembered that it's all in that link.

If he really "just didn't want to go out in the snow and cold," he still would if he was out there walking until he went. And he didn't just become retarded when the cold weather hit.

Exactly what you did before -- when you followed the video and it worked -- you just have to do it again. I wish there was a magic poop button, but a schedule and structured exercise and everything else in the article and the Q & A are it. (Well, there's Will Rambeau's poopie song, but I don't know if it works when sung by others.)

Dress warm and take him on a blood-warming walk, and when he goes, praise him. You know the drill; it's hard in this weather, but a little extra time outside will give him a chance to do all the peeing he needs for a while (instead of three trips out in five minutes), and especially get the poop mechanism going on schedule.

The peeing on command, which doesn't sound like your major complaint, is addressed here:
http://www.leerburg.com/ubbthreads/showf...rue#Post4167004

If I'm forgetting something, I know others will help out.

Good luck! It will work out!

First of all I's like to say thanks for the fast responses.

At this time my little knucklehead is on restriction so he does not have free access to the house. He gets to go outside then he's back in the crate.

He has crapped in the house 3 times and basically it is only a terd or two. Essentially, I will bring him back in after going outside for 5 to 7 minutes then when I am getting ready to put him back in the crate he just lets go, yes right as I am standing there.

As far as the schedule goes I was keeping that all in a spreadsheet. Since he is older he should be able to hold it at least an hour so I don't have him on that strict of a schedule anymore. Right now I usually take him out every hour or right after he eats/drinks.

One thing that I was able to do successfully was get him to use my treadmill for those times when it is very bad out. He can run on the treadmill then I also let him run in an extra 1000 sqft of my house.

Just a thought or two, Dobies are high engergy dogs and very smart. They also need and want to be close to their masters. Dobermans have no undercoat so the cold weather so extra cold to your pup. But if you can spead some extra time outside getting him run off that penned energy he'll bark less and do more of his busnes outside. Something I have noticed working with Dobies is that they like to poop after a good run and usually off by themselfs. The major thing is your guy needs lots and lots running and play time. You'll see a big change in him.

Has anyone asked the obvious...have you possibly done any research to see, if anything else, your dog may have bowel/intestinal problems?

Yes, I did check on that and he's in great health.

Thank's for the help all. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />