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He's still pooping/peeing in his crate, need help!
Hello,
I am the owner of 2 dogs, a 6 year old beagle and an almost 5 month old boston terrier mix. Our beagle was super easy to potty train, rarely had an accident in his crate.
However, our new dog, is being a little more difficult. He does okay when we are home as long as we let him out once an hour, still has an occasional accident in the house mostly when it's raining though. He is in his crate at night and 3 days a week when I work. During the day my dad comes by to let him out so he's not locked up all day. The most he is ever locked up is approx 5-6 hours at night and 4-5 hours during the day. He poops and pees in it like it's no big deal though. He doesn't even cry at night if he needs to go, just poops and often times eats it, which is just wrong. It's frustrating because our beagle was so easy. I thought dogs did not like to go to the bathroom in their dens.
Can any of you ladies offer any advice? I know you require a PIP, so here they are, doing what they do best!
Re: He's still pooping/peeing in his crate, need help!
I've heard a pup is supposed to be able to hold its age in months +1, so I'd say 6 hours at the very most is all he could hold. You may want to go to the vet to rule out any incontenience issues if he genuinely seems like he can't hold it.
Otherwise, if it's a big crate, you might try making the area of the crate he can access smaller so if he goes to it, he can't go to a different part of the crate to get away from it. If you are leaving food and water in the crate, don't. Maybe when he's older he'll be able to self regulate, but clearly he is unable to do so currently.
There was a post about poop eating over the weekend, you might look for that and see if the ladies with pooches of discerning taste can guide you in the right direction.
What do you clean up the accidents with? An enzymatic cleaner like Nature's Miracle is the only thing that will truly get rid of the smell. If you're using something else, he can still smell it and thinks it's ok to continue going in there. Also, does he have bedding in the crate? I would remove it until he's completely potty trained because it can also trap scent and entice them to keep going.
PP makes a good point about the size of the crate as well. It should be just big enough for him to lay down comfortably so that he can't far enough away from his mess that it doesn't bother him.
Lastly, I would try to take him out as often as possible, including getting up during the night a time or two. The more chances he gets to go in the crate the harder this behavior will be to eliminate so try to set him up for success by giving him tons of chances to go outside and praising like crazy when he does.
They do sell the dividers separately. For example, here's one at PetSmart:
http://www.petsmart.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2753743. Just make sure it's the right size/width for the crate.
I will also ditto PPs about taking him out very often. The more he potties outside (the appropriate place), the better. The more accidents he has, the harder it can be to fully housetrain. Definitely use Nature's Miracle or another enzymatic cleaner to clean up all accidents. You need to let the NM soak for the enzymes to fully break down the pee/poo, so don't just wipe it up immediately.
I would also tether him to you or crate him any time you can't supervise him closely. That way, if he shows signs of needing to go, you can whisk him right outside, and if he does start to have an accident, you can interrupt him (clap, shake a can of pennies, whatever) and take him right outside to show him the correct place to potty. GL!
I was the poop question post over the weekend, thanks for remembering! It's like I'm famous, hehe
I second the crate being too big... if he has room to move to one side, he can poop and it won't bother him. I used to work at Petsmart, so I would def recommend the crate blocks so you can make it smaller, or get a smaller one. Realistically, they should be able to stand up and lay down... I know it seems like it's really small, but that's how the house training thing works. They don't want to go where they lay.
As far as the poop eating- we had tried tobasco sauce on his poop, and that didn't work. Someone recommended pineapple chunks in his food, and I actually just got to the store and started that today. So we'll see if that works. If not, I'll be moving on to Deter- it's something that goes into his food as well.
I'm just wondering if I'll have to do this for my first dog as well, seeing as he likes to eat her poop as well....