house training ... AUGHHH

[dklock]

Petey & Rollo were born Jan 3, 2001 (litter mates). They are pretty good about going to the door when they need to go out ... we watch them constantly and let them out often.

The problem is at night and while we are at work. They are crated. For the first three to four months we left at 7:45am and came home for lunch at 12:00 noon. We stayed home for 20 minutes then returned home at 5:15pm. They were doing pretty good. Sometimes dry, but not often. But they never pooped unless they had upset stomach.

Problem: They can't hold it! Petey was doing very well for a while, holding it all night and holding it during the day. Now it is as if he is not even trying. He has begun pooping in his crate as well. Rollo has never been very good at all, however, he rarely poops in his crate ... just pees it. This is constant.

I have never had a problem like this with dogs. I have crate trained a Chesepeake Bay Retriever with a similar schedule and she stayed dry and clean all day long! I am so discouraged. I am probably going to start coming home again at lunch, but I don't know what to do about the night time. I have never had a dog poop in its crate!!! unless they were sick.

 

[MickeyFan]

They should be able to hold it at this age. Are you limiting water just before you leave? I have littermates born 3/23, and I had a heck of a time housebreaking them. They are still not 100% reliable.

My two stay in the crate from 7am to 2:30pm, and they have been successful holding it since about 4 or 5 months. We did have one period of time when Cindy has a urinary tract infection and she was wetting her crate every day and every night. Maybe that is part of the problem? A vet might be able to help you rule that out.

In the morning, I let them out to go potty first thing, give them their breakfast, then out again to do business. With breakfast, I allow some water, but not an unlimited quantity We are not ready to leave until 45 minutes later, at which time I take them out one more time to pee.

I don't know what to tell you about pooping in the crate, as this never happened to us. You didn't mention how big the crate is, but maybe it is too large. Maybe you could switch to a food that produces a lower volume of poop? I don't leave them with any chewies in the crate, not only for safety purposes, but sometimes a lot of chewing stimulates their need to go. It would seem that breaking this habit might be a bit more difficult, but I am sure someone here will have some good advice for you.

 

[Nedra's_momma]

dklock,
Have you had them to the vet's for a check up? Maybe bring it up to your vet? I don't see how it would be possible for the both of them to have UTI's at the same time, but you never know. It could be the food you are feeding.

Also, could it be that they still smell urine in their crate blankets or around their crates?

How often do you take them out during the day? If you are letting them out *too* much they won't learn to hold it. When I got confident that Nedra would hold it in the house with me around, I started decreasing the number of times per day that I took her out. We used to take her out every two hours when she was a pup and now, at 11 months old, she goes out 3 times every 24 hours. I have talked to people that say that installing doggie doors will cause set backs in potty training at any age because the dog gets used to not having to hold it, could this be the situation in your case?

Good luck, maybe someone else will have better advice for you... I know it has to be frustrating. :(

 

[EMWAZ]

Do they have food available in their crates?? Also make sure they are not sick. The only other thing is are the crates really big, because sometimes if they are too big they will eliminate in them. What's your feeding schedule?? Do you feed them before they go in?? Maybe change to when they come out....

I would hang in there, because sometimes it happens. Our Pancho did it once a while back, what a mess, luckily my husband got home first, so he got to clean, the crate, the dog and the carpet, he was almost three when that happened.