[Kim201]

Hi everyone, my boyfriend and I have a pitbull puppy named Iggy. He's about 5 months now and isn't potty trained at all =(. My b/f lives in an apartment building on the 5th floor so it is a bit hard for us to run down all those flights when he does an accident, but we take him out a few minutes later. We tell him no and he knows what he is doing is wrong because he now tries to hide when he is doing his buisness ( pee and poo) or simply eats his poop which is his favorite snack!
A few factors which I think contributed are, 1. we got him in the winter when he was very young about 2 months and had barely any hair ( he's sucha pink little pig) so he would be FREEZING! Therefore he hated going outside until recently ( he finally gets excited when we get the leash).
2. He has extreme seperation anxiety and needs to be with us 24/7, he tries to sleep on our heads, hes insane lol! So when I take him to my house i need to be right up his ass outside or he won't go. If I let him out and go inside, even if I am waiting at the door and he can see me he just cries and doesn't pee or poop at all.

As for crate training, he goes all the time in his crate. We tried putting these pillows which he loves and that stopped him for a few days. Then he went pee and poop on them and he started doing it all the time.

Now the big problem is he OFFICIALLY believes his crate is the bathroom! He was on the bed with me sleeping, he usually pees when he wakes up and he sleeps alot so the other day he woke up, went straight to his crate, peed, and walked back over to me. I told him no, but I was so shocked. I don't know. We try our hardest, but he doesn't even try to hold it at all. It seems like peeing is his hobby. Like sometimes he is in the bathroom with me when im washing my face and a few times I had JUST taken him out and he peed and everything. He will be just standing there watching me for a while and he seems bored so he will pee so at those times I actually think it is for attention because I'm not paying any attention to him for a while and even negative attention is attention I guess.

We reward him when he pees and especially poops outside and yell at him when he goes inside or in his cage. And he gets scared and does his scared whine when he gets in trouble so we aren't exciting him or anything.

Ps. Blanco ( the other dog, he's 2) is fully trained.

HELP!

 

[Entwine]

And he gets scared and does his scared whine when he gets in trouble so we aren't exciting him or anything.

You've essentially trained him to hide his business by yelling at him when he does have an accident, rather than immediately directing him to the correct potty area. I understand that it is a long way down, so perhaps you could purchase something like a patch of grass to keep nearby (preferably outside the house)? Some people use kiddie pools and fill them with dirt and grass--it's like a miniature lawn.

Are you feeding him in his crate? Keeping his water bowl in there? I didn't have to do so with my puppy, but that is something often mentioned. Your puppy will be less likely to use the bathroom where he eats. Also, you said you had an older, potty trained dog? Did you potty train him?

I'm not sure how helpful it will be, but do you take the two of them out together? Perhaps your older dog can help Iggy learn.

Finally, is Iggy on a schedule? Do you feed him at the same time every day? If so, it should be fairly simple to learn his potty schedule and take him outside. If he does not go when you are out, take him out again ten to fifteen minutes later. Do not let him out of your sight for a minute. Most people recommend tethering your puppy to you so he can never get far enough away to have an accident without you knowing.

Oh, also, how long is Iggy in his crate at a time?

I know how hard potty training can be--our 7 month old puppy was only fully potty trained at 5 months.

 

[Kim201]

well see this is where I'm going to get it trouble =(. And I forgot to mention hes not on a wonderful schedule. We just started putting him on a better schedule. My b.f works from 12-8pm. Therefore Iggy is alone for a long time. I take Igg home with me on Monday, Thursday and Friday because the neighbors complained he is crying. Also my boyfriend has lunch at 4 so he has started coming home to walk them at lunch.

He eats at about 10am and 8pm. But when he is with me that time changes so its really hard to have him on a solid eating schedule. Also we don't feed him in the cage, but I have heard that too and I think we will start doing that. I don't know if it will help because he isn't too disgusted by his poop since he eats it.

Tuesday, Wendesday ( b/fs house): He is usually in his cage from 11pm to the morning and then from 11am to 4, and 4-8pm.

Monday, Thurs, Fri ( my house): Not caged at all. I don't have a cage there. He is still caged at night. Except Wendesday night because he sleeps over my house that night.

I know he is on a terrible schedule thats why I need help. I think that lawn in the house idea is a good idea because he pees more than any dog i have ever seen and we limit his water.

And yes he almost always goes outside with Blanco.My boyfriend potty trained him, but he lived in a basement apartment of a house then so it was much easier. Also he had different hours at work ( i think he worked overnight shift so he was home all day). Iggy pees and poops outside,and he understands thats what he is suppose to do because he always immediately pees and poops when we get out there. But the problem is he just as easily goes inside. He goes when he needs to go basically the most he will probably hold it is 5 minutes.

 

[Entwine]

Ahh, well there's part of the problem. ;S

As long as you can get him on a more reliable schedule, it shouldn't be as much of a problem. But eight hours (12-8) is a VERY long time for a puppy to hold it. I mean, I don't even know very many people who would hold it that long. Do you work as well as your boyfriend?

Getting him out more, keeping him around you CONSTANTLY, catching accidents and calmly leading him to the "potty area", and knowing when he goes will help tremendously.

Also, if he is only five months old, he should be eating three times a day, not twice. The same amount of food, just split up into three portions. I understand this could be difficult with the hours your boyfriend has, but it really is beneficial to your dog.

Believe me, there were times I thought Misty would never be potty trained.. But, she certainly is and the constant supervision and calm (no punishing for accidents) has paid off.

 

[Kim201]

Thanks so much for your help. Don't worry about him being too scared he still pees right in front of my face lol, and he is always right under my feet tripping me so it's easy to keep an eye on him =). Yes I will start feeding him 3 times, he has a sensitive belly so I think that would benefit him anyway. Also, last night, as soon as I heard him get up I took him out. I know he wakes up because he has to go, but he thinks he wakes up because he wants to come in the bed. Hopefully he will get it soon, he seems to understand a lot now where before when he was so small I felt like he had no clue when I told or showed him things. And I will def not yell at him anymore for accidents, just put him on his patch of grass. I think that'll help even with the association of outside because he used to just go anywhere ( cement, drive way, etc.) Now he always goes on the grass so that should work out good. Thanks so much again =)

 

[Angie's Bella]

As far as him using his crate as a potty, how big is his crate? I know that if the crate is too big a puppy will potty in it. There should only be just enough room in his crate for him to turn around, stand or sit, but if he can walk around with room to spare, it is too big. And be sure to make a real big deal out of him going potty outside. Lots of "Good Boys" and "Good Dog!" ect. You want this to be an exciting thing for your puppy, so you need to be there when it happens and use key words like "Go pee" that your puppy will learn to relate to while he is peeing. However, if he pees or poos in the house, unless you catch him in the act, don't say a word to your puppy about it. A lot of people use to put their dogs nose in it and get on to them, but your puppy will only know that pee or poo being there is bad, not that doing it is bad.

Good luck! I know house training can be such a job!!!

 

[Kim201]

Yea I am always there when he goes because he either at the apartment ( where we have to take him outside on the leash) or in my backyard which he needs me to be with him or he'll stand at the door and cry. I think I'm going to start giving him treats, we do it occasionally. I don't rub his nose in it I think that's gross lol, but we did tell him no, entwine said I should just direct him to the right spot, which has to be a patch of grass in the apartment because were on the 5th floor. I wish there was a balcony, it would be muchhhh easier!

 

[Angie's Bella]

Well, one good thing about him using his crate is that you could put a puppy pad in there and see if you could train him to use a pad until he can hold it longer and then move the pad outside. Just an idea! But a lot of people do good with training pads.

Bella was easy to train and caught right on to going outside. In fact, she would act like she was peeing so that I would praise her when she didn't have to go. But before Bella I had a Boston Terrier that I never could house train. She just wouldn't do it. I tried using a crate, I tried praise, I tied her to me, I tried it all!! She would do fine for a while and within a week would go back to using my floor as a potty. Now she lives with my mom (not because of the potty issue) and uses the doggy door, but given the chance, she will still use the floor.

 

[Kim201]

awww I hope that is not Iggy! I think he will catch on quick, I've been giving him a special treat bone for his cage that he can only have when he's in there and I even left the door open today and he's in there right now actually not trying to get on my lap so yey! Hopefully crate will = yummy toy instead of personal bathroom soon =)