I have a beautiful blk gsd that I have some issues with. I have the 8wk to 8month video and it has helped tremendously. I have a crate that is sectioned off correctly but he still urinates in the cage regularly, if not taken out enough. I usually try and take him out every three hours or so. He does not usually defecate in his crate but has on occasion, usually after drinking large amounts of water or being left to long in his crate (my ex-girlfriend was out of town and I am a firefighter). I usually hear him barking at around 6am and so I get up and give him a cup of food and water then I take him out. He usually goes but sometimes he does not defecate, and then like clock work he begins barking an hour later. So I let him out again to defecate if he has not the first time out. Have I trained him to wake me at 6am? what should I do if I would like to let him out at around 8am? He will not hesitate to pee in his crate and has already usually done so anyway. I can be very frustrating. There has also been occasions where I take him out during the day and play with him and give him time to pee but he does not, then when I am inside and he is in a loose area in my bedroom I catch him peeing! How often do I need to let him out and is him peeing in the crate just a fact of life. He is very intelligent because the other day I placed him outside for the first time and he actually turned the water on and it created a mess of mud and he had mud all over the door and the stairs and the walls. I have cancelled this perhaps me forgetting to turn the hose off. But then later that day when I came back from being out he had turned it on again and it was a huge mess again!

I suggest keeping him on a tether in the house, if you don't, while housetraining.

http://www.leerburg.com/housebrk.htm

As for the waking you up, I'd just stick to waking up at 6 AM, but make sure not to play with him outside, make sure he knows that this is potty time.

Persistance is the key! Have fun with your new pup, hope I helped.

If he's peeing in his crate when you are taking him out every 3 hours, then it's not often enough. I have two puppies right now - I don't ever recommend it to anyone - my own 13 wk GSD and an 11 wk aussie that I'm fostering. I had tried the approximately every 3 hours routine with my boy, which meant that I would let him out when ever he woke me up or I just woke up. It didn't work and he was wet often. I had to switch to every 2 hours around the clock - I set an alarm to make sure - and this way he would get out often enough that he's crate stayed dry. I also, go out with him every single time I let him out - yes, even in the middle of the night which really sucks, but it doesn't last forever - and when I see him going potty outside, I praise him until he thinks life couldn't get any better. As he stayed dry, I would lengthen the amount of time between potty breaks and he's now up to 4 hours and he's still dry. This is only when crated. When he's in the house with me, he has to go out A LOT more often or he will have an accident. When I have caught him having an accident in the house, I just make an ah-ah noise to distract him and then quickly pick him up and take him outside. Never, never punish him for this at this age. It's my job to watch him like a hawk and to know his habits so I can get him out often enough. He's very good now about peeing as soon as his feet hit the grass, but he's by no means trust worthy in the house. Now, that's he's so good about going potty as soon as he goes outside, I don't have to go out with him all the time, but I do go out a lot with him just to reinforce how good it is for him to potty out there.

Now, my foster puppy, who is a terrible neglect case that I got only a week ago, could hold it all night if I let him and hasn't yet had an accident in the house and even started whining last night so I knew to let him out. Mind you, I still don't expect him to be dependable and I still take him out regularly. Who ever adopts this little boy is going to be getting a fabulous dog!

So, as you can see, different puppies have different rates of developement and you have to adjust to them and not them to you. Be patient, your puppy is only a baby and will eventually learn what's expected of him.

 Quote: David Gonzalez

he still urinates in the cage regularly, if not taken out enough.

You answered yourself.

http://www.leerburg.com/housebrk.htm

 Quote: David Gonzalez

I can be very frustrating.

Now is that a typo or a Freudian slip?

 Quote: elaine matthys

If he's peeing in his crate when you are taking him out every 3 hours, then it's not often enough. ... yes, even in the middle of the night which really sucks, but it doesn't last forever - and when I see him going potty outside, I praise him until he thinks life couldn't get any better. As he stayed dry, I would lengthen the amount of time between potty breaks and he's now up to 4 hours and he's still dry. This is only when crated. When he's in the house with me, he has to go out A LOT more often or he will have an accident. When I have caught him having an accident in the house, I just make an ah-ah noise to distract him and then quickly pick him up and take him outside. Never, never punish him for this at this age. It's my job to watch him like a hawk and to know his habits so I can get him out often enough. ....

Exactly!

And sometimes there are two pee-loads in there and you need to stay outside for a few minutes. Walking around will encourage the peeing, especially when you return to the previous spot (the smell will remind him: "Oh yes! Pee here!"), and walking also gets the poop going.

This isn't something to punish for. If the dog doesn't yet get it, I know I'm at fault. Dogs do not potty indoors out of spite or rebellion. Sometimes a new owner will say "But he DOES understand! When I come home and he has pottied indoors, he looks so guilty!"

He doesn't look guilty. He looks anxious because he has come to associate the owner's arrival with mysterious punishment. No connection at all is made between that potty a while ago and this random (in his eyes) punishment.

I promise that consistency and praise/rewards for good potty, along with lots of opportunity for outdoor potty, WILL WORK.

One of the first words that my Heidi learned was "Business". Most people teach "Potty"...but that's just me.

The second the pup does the deed (during the deed ), mark it with a vocal command...what ever word you use "potty" then good boy very happily. Don't forget to make a fool out of yourself being so enthusiastic. Pup will get it quite quickly that potty makes you very happy.

Pup WILL start doing it on command with good timing and patience.

Good luck!

 Quote: barbara henslee

One of the first words that my Heidi learned was "Business". Most people teach "Potty"...but that's just me.

Pup WILL start doing it on command with good timing and patience.

Ditto - we used "find a spot" - "good spot!" (I couldn't bring myself to repeat a silly bit of baby-talk, bathroom language either, as we live in a city and a LOT of people would be overhearing me over the course of Oscar's housetraining!... :grin

Our boy picked the whole thing up VERY quickly, but there was one day when he was half-way to fully grasping the concept that always makes me laugh: I was in the shower, he was in the bathroom with me, and he decided he needed to pee (we have a clear shower curtain, so I could see him). He toddled over to a row of potted houseplants, proceeded to straddle one entirely, and peed on it! Not the lift your leg kind of big boy pee, but the stretching puppy boy pee... I guess he understood he needed to go on VEGETATION, so he headed for the only spot of "grass" in the room!

~Natalya