We adopted a five month old terrier mix named Max three days ago. Maybe I'm worrying too much but if I should be doing something differently I'd rather know now than a week from now.

My dog will not pee or poop outside. No matter how long he's been holding it or how long I stay out there with him, he'll wait until we come back inside and squat on the kitchen floor. We are crating him and he is only out of the crate for brief playtime/mealtime. He is always supervised when out of the crate and when he starts sniffing and circling I rush him outside, but he will not "go". As soon as we go back in he'll squat on the floor. I interrupt him, tell him no and rush him back outside. He won't finish his business. He has not once peed or pooped outside. I'm at a loss other than to keep doing what I'm doing and hoping it clicks. Any suggestions?

Thank you!

 Quote: kristin chess

We adopted a five month old terrier mix named Max three days ago. Maybe I'm worrying too much but if I should be doing something differently I'd rather know now than a week from now.

My dog will not pee or poop outside. No matter how long he's been holding it or how long I stay out there with him, he'll wait until we come back inside and squat on the kitchen floor. We are crating him and he is only out of the crate for brief playtime/mealtime. He is always supervised when out of the crate and when he starts sniffing and circling I rush him outside, but he will not "go". As soon as we go back in he'll squat on the floor. I interrupt him, tell him no and rush him back outside. He won't finish his business. He has not once peed or pooped outside. I'm at a loss other than to keep doing what I'm doing and hoping it clicks. Any suggestions?

Thank you!

Sounds like someone pee-pad trained him or did not allow him out to potty.

So you may have a little work ahead, but it can definitely be done, with consistent patience.

I would take a half-day and plan to spend it outside. The dog will have to go, and he will have no choice about being outside. Then I would be a lunatic treat-and-praise machine.

It can be a challenge to undo bad training, but it CAN be done, and I know that first-hand.

So aside from that breakthrough when the dog starts to realize that outdoors is good potty, I'd proceed the normal crate-training way.
http://www.leerburg.com/housebrk.htm

Forgot to mention that this dog, even more than most, will benefit from repeated mention of the word when it does happen..... whatever your potty word is...... I'd mark it ("Yes! Good potty!") instantly when it happens outside, so that when you are asking for potty later, the dog has an inkling of what activity the word refers to.

Connie, you are such a fount of knowledge ... so would it help this lady to put a "pee pad" outside, as a transitional item? As it sounds like this pup can really hold it in.

 Quote: louanne manter

... so would it help this lady to put a "pee pad" outside, as a transitional item? As it sounds like this pup can really hold it in.

Hey, that might be a good idea!

I guess it would depend on whether this really was a potty-pad-training thing (or just a case of dogs who had to potty in a kennel).

I actually don't have puppy-training experience ---- just enough re-training of badly-trained or untrained adults to have seen pretty much all the foibles.

Ed's crate-training instruction fits them all, with sometimes a tweak for a special case (and the pee-pad thing would be such a tweak).

Good thought!

Could you try putting newsprint over the pee on the kitchen floor to soak it up. Then bring said newsprint outside for the next time you want the dog to try to pee out there? Maybe the pee scent on the paper outside would give the dog something to sniff/mark and possibly tell it it is okay to pee out there?

Is this what Connie was already suggesting with the pee pad?

Cheers,
Jennifer

Thanks for all of the suggestions. He was a shelter pup and as far as I know never used paper/puppy pads but was allowed to go on one side of his kennel and sleep on the other, so he definitely thinks inside is the place to potty. (He does stay clean in his new crate at home as it's too small for that.) We had some progress yesterday. I took him out about once and hour and put him right back in the crate when he didn't go. He ate his meals on a leash with me in the kitchen. Finally around 9pm he peed outside in the yard. Max held it for 10 hours! I went nuts with "good outside!" and a treat and then we had some playtime. We did have a poop accident during playtime - he stopped mid-ball chase, and of course we scooped him up and took him outside, but it was too late. But baby steps I guess.

One more quick question - should I be giving him any more than 5-10 minutes? He's pretty easily distracted and of course doesn't really know what I want from him yet, so I want to give him time to go but don't wan't to teach him that I'll wait out there forever (in the rain, snow, etc...)

Thanks so much again!!

5-10 minutes isn't enough when training to go outside. If he needs more time that's what you have to give him. Make sure he gets plenty of exercise when you take him out, which gets the bowels moving, and makes it hard for a dog to hold the pee.

He seems to be used to going on a hard surface, since you said he would go in his kennel. He's also used to relieving himself near where he sleeps, although not right where he sleeps. So it will take longer for him to learn to go on other surfaces and not near his sleeping place (near to him is in the house).

Praising and treating like you did will help him get the picture. Just don't take him outside and bring him right back in if he doesn't go. Give him exercise out there, and time. Make sure you take him out right after he wakes up, after he drinks water, after he eats as well. Then do the exercise thing. You won't be teaching him that you'll be out there forever, cause he won't be able to hold it forever after running around. It just doesn't work that way.

Oh, and congratulations on rescuing a puppy

 Quote: kristin chess

One more quick question - should I be giving him any more than 5-10 minutes? He's pretty easily distracted and of course doesn't really know what I want from him yet, so I want to give him time to go but don't wan't to teach him that I'll wait out there forever (in the rain, snow, etc...)

Thanks so much again!!

To add to Sandy's good advice, I wouldn't worry about the rain and snow right now, because when the pup starts to "get" the connection between the word and the act as you are saying "good potty!", you will be able to start asking for potty, especially when you lead him to the previous outdoor potty spot. It will all come together: the word, the spot with the right odor, and you taking him there.

Poop, especially, requires peristaltic action, which is triggered by exercise. I'd give him all the time he needs.

Ditto ... about the exercise and poop. On a night like last night when we got home late and I want to go right to bed, I fed the pup his evening meal and brought him outside. I went to the designated on-leash bathroom spot and he went pee right away ("GO PEE"), but poop requires some assistance. So we went to the small grassy area below my house and I had him run back and forth for about 5 minutes. Then when he seemed like he was tired of running, I brought him back to the designated area and told him to "Hurry Up" and he pooped.

He actually taught me this trick. I would tell him to Hurry Up and he would do little puppy zooms back and forth until he could go. So when he would do his zooms, I would tell him to Run and Good Run.

Bottom Line is Exercise makes it move and easier to eliminate.

 Quote: Louanne Manter

He actually taught me this trick. I would tell him to Hurry Up and he would do little puppy zooms back and forth until he could go. So when he would do his zooms, I would tell him to Run and Good Run.

Bottom Line is Exercise makes it move and easier to eliminate.

It was actually a dog who taught me that trick too: an adult dog who would dash back and forth across the yard until the bowels got moving, and then squat.