Potty training a puppy Options

[ron]

I have a 5 month old puppy living a kennel that continues to pee in her dog house (poops outside). I've tried everything I can think of to stop it with no success. Anybody have any solutions.

[JMM]

The crate should only be big enough for her to stand up and turn around. Remove all bedding. Do not leave her in the crate if you know she will have to go or for more hours than she can hold. If she is urinating an excess amount she needs to see the vet. Urinary tract infections and puppy vaginitis are common female puppy issues.

[ron]

Thank you reply. She is not urinating excessively. Also, this is a dog house not a crate. When she was younger it was probaly too big, but now she is getting big enough that if she pees in it she has to lay in it. It appears that she is going on purpose in the dog house. Remember she can leave to pee outside in the kennel just as she goes out when she poops. Do you know of other solutions?

[JMM]

That's what happens when you leave a dog to their own devices. They go wherever is convenient and pleasing to them. Why would she not go there if she's never been prevented from doing so and rewarded for going elsewhere?
You could try feeding her in that space, tossing toys in it, and taking her out to potty.

[ron]

Thank you for your comments. I finally got a much smaller dog house that she can barely lay down in. That semms to have solved the problem. But now I either need to put the doghouse that I replaced back in or get a new one as she is going to soon outgrow the replacement. One of my concerns now is whether she has soiled the insulation in the floor of the old one; to the point where she will start doing it again?

[JMM]

That's certainly a concern....the best you could really do is use an enzymatic cleaner for dog accidents.
I usually say 3 weeks of consistent behavior before adding freedom.

[k9pack]

Hi:

Most housebreaking issues are really associated with an unresolved dominance / power issue. Power increases the level of authoritative response and is expressed via many unwanted behaviors. Conditioning etc may not resolve this issue if your psychological path fails to align in a way which exposes, corners and shifts power. During this power shifting process the crate is used to control bad outcomes while you are adding structure to help this process along. You need to interact in a way which exposes and resolves this power issue. Power is exposed and seen more fully when an owner interactions and directs the dog using the leash. As the owner's authoritative psychological path changes you will begin to see a challenge state occur. I have some free videos at http://www.youtube.com/user/dalemk90 If you want to better understand this dominance issue.



Dale

[Timbernee]

First of all you will want to start by doing some basic obedience training. If you want to show your dog in obedience than this is a good place to start. After you have started some training and you have control of your dog and your dog is listening to you, start agility training.