My puppy is 15 weeks old and I got him from a shelter 3 weeks ago. He is a lab/chow mix. He was in a small crate at the shelter, and was only walked 2x a day, so he learned to poop and pee in his crate.

I am crate training him and he hadn't pooped in the crate for 8 days. But he started again and I don't know what to do.

He doesn't eat past 6pm. He doesn't drink past 8pm. He is starting to tell us when he needs to go outside during the day, but he does not whine or bark in his crate at night to let us know that he needs to go out. I have been setting my alarm for 5 hours each night to take him out.

He is not fully vaccinated yet, so we can't go on walks. But we let him run around in the backyard and we have a run that we take him to every time he goes out. He also gets a treat for peeing or pooping in the run.

The crate is large, but it has a divider so we have made it only large enough for him to lay in. We don't have a blanket in the crate with him.

He also has never pooped in the house, although he has pee'd in the house several times. We watch him like a hawk when he is out of the crate. Believe it or not, he will play with you, turn around and pee. No warning, no sniffing and this is after having pee's outside 15 minutes before. It doesn't happen very often, but has happened a few times.

Please help me. What can I do? Thank you!

 Quote:

My puppy is 15 weeks old and I got him from a shelter 3 weeks ago. He is a lab/chow mix. He was in a small crate at the shelter, and was only walked 2x a day, so he learned to poop and pee in his crate......

A shelter rescue can be a challenge because, as you say, they have often HAD to go in their kennel and pretty much learned to do so.

But I have a recent rescue (who spent most of his seven years in a crate, although he did get some exercise), and although it's the most frustrating housebreaking I have ever done, it is working. He is tethered to me every second in the house, and he goes out A LOT. I am taking him out every hour or so and praising like a lunatic for every "good potty." Don't get too frustrated; he has to unlearn bad habits, and he isn't doing it deliberately. <img src="http://www.leerburg.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" />

Make a note of the poop timing and take him out a lot (with exercise to get things moving) at that time. You can adjust mealtime if necessary to accomodate your schedule.

If you read these thoroughly, I think you'll see that we have all been there to some degree or other. Patient and consistent, and no untimely (meaning even one minute later) admonishments....... just confusing unless he's caught in the act and swooped outside.
http://www.leerburg.com/housetraining.htm

http://www.leerburg.com/ubbthreads/showf...rue#Post4178704

Good luck. You can do this, I promise! <img src="http://www.leerburg.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />