[tks527]

Hi, we got new puppy a few days ago. He will be 5 months old next week. He was obviously kept in a crate all day and night because he pees and poops in the crate like thats what he's suppose to do. Suggestions on how to stop the behavior?

 

[HollowHeaven]

Potty train him?
How long are you crating him? How often does he go out to potty/is he on a schedule?

 

[tks527]

lol, well of course we are potty training him! He was treated like a dog a store would be treated, allowed to just pee and poop in his crate and now he thinks that is what he is SUPPOSE to do. Of course we putting him on a schedule, we watch him like a hawk when he is out of the crate. He'll go on a puppy pad, in his crate. So now I wondering if thats the route we should go. I've never trained a puppy on a puppy pad, it always seemed pointless and more work to me. But now, maybe we should keep a puppy pad in the crate. But I don't know how to make the transition then from there!

 

[LittleFr0g]

I haven't dealt with his myself, but I've heard some people have success with placing the kennel in an exercise pen and leaving the door of the kennel open and having potty pads in the pen. Might be worth a try.

 

[kafkabeetle]

Ignore it when he poops in the crate (or anywhere he shouldn't), then treat and praise heavily when he goes outside. You're going to have to treat him like a brand new puppy taking him out frequently so he doesn't have much of a chance to go anywhere but where he's supposed to. When no one is home I would use the play pen idea so he has somewhere to go but the crate if he can't hold it. For now I would limit the amount of time he spends in the crate if you can, to give him less of a chance to reinforce the behavior you're wanting to discourage. And of course, if/when you have to leave for an extended period of time, be sure to take him out right before. Eventually he should get the idea that the only time he gets praise is when he goes outside and he'll start trying to hold it.