Bad potty and destructive behavior!!

[katc10]

Oh no, he is always confined when we leave the house. Indy has free reign of the house when we leave, but she has earned that privelege. Charlie is always in his kennel or in the kitchen or bathroom using the baby gate (but I don't like leaving him in the kitchen this way because he can squeeze out under the toe kick between the cabinet and the gate, wraskelly little bugger!).

[Kodee]

Everything I learned with my first child I had to throw out the window with my second. No 2 are alike and that applies to puppies. I still think he's start in life my have been where he had no choice but to relieve himself in a crate. He has no idea the outdoors is for toileting.

You need an expen or gates he cant get through to confine him to a tile floor area with his crate open. He needs maybe an nylon bone, kong filled with kibble mixed with a bit of cheese whiz and one or two toys. Enzyme cleaner if you dont have it and bitter apple spray.

I know its frustrating but your expecting a lot from him at this age. They dont even have the muscle control to hold it till 16 wks. Up till then accidents are due to human error for not getting him out or being close enough to watch for the signs he is going to go.

[katc10]

I'll try getting a better setup in the kitchen figured out. And I'm going to the store today to get some spray. I know he can't hold it, and like I said before, I don't hold it against him for pottying, I know he can't hold it. And I know it's our responsibility to take him out, not his to tell us he needs to go out (for now at least ). Like I said before, I'm just frustrated when he doesn't go outside but then goes immediately inside, or him destroying the carpet despite having toys. I'm not an ignorant owner, just unprepared for these trials and tribulations, and looking for some helpful words.

I never got a response about the cleaning wipes (Kodee mentioned that if he pees in his bed, the smell from him transfers to the new bedding and he might still associate it with being ok to pee there and I wondered if getting some of those bath wipes might help the problem if I don't have time to bathe him every time it happens). What do you think of that?

[Kodee]

I wondered if getting some of those bath wipes might help the problem if I don't have time to bathe him every time it happens). What do you think of that?

Bathing him all the time is way to time consuming - I dont think anyone could handle that. I use a make at petsmart called Petkins puppy wipes - gentle but have vit e, lanolin - they sure make Kodee smell nice and keep her coat shiny. Worth a try. I also spray the enzyme on the towels I use to clean up any messes and leave for a bit before washing them. I know when Sara got Faith she had to take her out pretty much every 20-30 min as she had been forced to go in a crate while being transported. The xpen should make all happier for a bit.

Oh I had another thought. I used to hide treats in Kodees crate so she would go in and out of it and think of it as her special place. It might make him not want to soil it. Plus with the xpen, by not being locked in it in day time, he will choose to soil the floor if need be - put papers down and take away one at a time till you get him going in one area. You put a piece of soiled under new to attrack them to the papers instead of just on the floor in the xpen anywhere.

[frecklesmom]

I know this will be of no help but I swear some dogs really feel that anything lose should be chewed-kind of "safety inspectors". Freckles came from a puppy mill,so,even tho' he was older, he did many puppy things. He would not leave carpet alone if it was a throw or had a corner to pick up. I gave up on any throws and, , nailed the corners of the rug under the table. He has not touched that rug since I nailed it . Maybe the texture feels good to them, who knows. I get the feeling sometimes they're saying "Yep, I'm a dog and this is what I do" and we have to say "But, not in MY house" and go on with positive training. Things will get better, time is on your side.

[katc10]

Thats everyone, I'll keep you posted on our progress!

[Cathy T]

Debbie - you couldn't have said it better!! Shelby was absolutely nothing like Jake. He was a real pill (love him to death...but he was a pill) and Shelby was so easy.

The wipes....we have those or I use a tub of baby wipes. When Jake had tummy problems....we used a lot of baby wipes

[Mom_of_2_Cavies]

I just wanted to reinforce what was highlighted in one post, which is that your puppy was apparently raised outdoors, and so his new indoors is his old outdoors as far as he's concerned. He doesn't get that there's a difference. That's a pretty huge thing that he has to learn, and will take a lot of patience I'm sure.

Ergo, training him to papers outside his crate may be a necessary intermediate step in your case, before you can seriously focus on getting him to go outside. (I'd keep taking him out, for sure, on a regular basis, and praise-praise-praise when he does finally happen to do the right thing out there.)

But finding some way for him to learn that he wants his crate to be clean is obviously crucial, so that you can use the crate to teach him to hold it until he's in the right place. I would thoroughly clean the crate with an enzyme cleaner like Nature's Miracle, so that there is no leftover smell of urine or poop in there, and then keep doing that every time he makes a mistake in there. I'd keep his bedding scrupulously clean. You might need two beds so you can rotate one out to the washer.

Shutting him in his crate for his meals might help to break the cycle too--I don't think they like to do their business in the same spot where they eat.
It may take a little while for him to stop soiling his crate, but in your shoes that's where I'd start with this process.

One question: How big is his crate? Does he have a lot of room? I would make sure it's fairly small at this point--just enough room for him to move around a bit and curl up and sleep, stretch out, and to eat if you start feeding him there. (Most crates come with a divider to use temporarily for a puppy; some people suggest using a cardboard box as a space filler, but IMO that's just something more for him to chew/eat that he shouldn't.) You don't want him to feel as though he's got enough room in there to have a bathroom corner and an eating corner and a sleeping corner.

It's really too bad about that carpet! But every time I hear about a puppy that has been chewing on carpet edges, etc., I worry about them actually consuming part of it and causing intestinal blockages and other horrible problems. Even towels and blankets can become lethal in that way, so it really is crucial that he is left alone with nothing that he can chew and potentially consume. Someone mentioned nylabones, and I think those are good (there's a softer puppy version of them and a "durable" one...).

Good luck with him -- I'm sure he's a sweetie and will be well worth all of this effort that you are clearly going to have to make to get him on track!

[katc10]

I did that with the crate, I had split it in half at first, but then he pooped in it, so I gave him only about 1/4, enough space to lay down and that's about it. But he still pees in it. We have a little water dish in it, so that might be part of the problem, but I feel bad leaving him all night with no water. As for the beds, I took away his bed until he stop peeing in it, and put towels in instead. I did also give him a bit more space in it this week, so if he wants to have a toy with him he has room. His new place is in the kitchen with his crate while we're gone, and he pottys on one end and plays on the other. We're working on him, I'm sure it'll be a slow process, but he's showing some improvement each day. We'll get there!

[Kodee]

I did that with the crate, I had split it in half at first, but then he pooped in it, so I gave him only about 1/4, enough space to lay down and that's about it. But he still pees in it. We have a little water dish in it, so that might be part of the problem, but I feel bad leaving him all night with no water. As for the beds, I took away his bed until he stop peeing in it, and put towels in instead. I did also give him a bit more space in it this week, so if he wants to have a toy with him he has room. His new place is in the kitchen with his crate while we're gone, and he pottys on one end and plays on the other. We're working on him, I'm sure it'll be a slow process, but he's showing some improvement each day. We'll get there!

the rule is whille house breaking no food and water past about 8pm. Definately if he has access to water at this age with no muscle control he is going to need to go 30min to 1 hr from drinking!