HELP! Crate training a 4 month old pup

I'm about to go out of my mind! We got this pup a few weeks ago, and soon realized it was going to be difficult to potty train him. We thought getting a crate for him might help (you know - not wanting to mess where they sleep). Unfortunately, he doesn't seem to care! Gross! I got him on a once a day feeding schedule thinking it would help. It didn't. I've tried restricting his water (don't worry, I'm not going to let the little guy dehydrate). It doesn't help. I walk him several times a day, but usually to no avail. He is showing lots of improvement on #2, but he still pees in his crate! I just gave him a much needed bath today, and not more than an hour later, I look over to see he's peed in his crate again! And is sitting in it. When we walk him, we take him to the exact same spot (well, to a grassy area that is about 15x15). I'm at a loss! Anyone have any tips or tricks? We can't even keep a bed in there for him, as he peed all over it. Poor guy is simply laying on the plastic floor of the crate right now. I've tried observing him closely to watch for his cues. Whenever he starts to whine, I'll take him out immediately. Sometimes he goes, sometimes he doesn't. When he does, we let him have play time with our adult male and one of our adult females. He'll be having a ball playing, but as soon as I take my eyes off him, he pees in the floor! When he goes outside (#1 or #2), we praise the heck out of him. And when we see him go inside, we scold him, but a lot of times we don't see it, so we can't scold him for it. Sorry for the long post, but we're at a loss.

 

Im sorry i am having problems potty trainng too...i have found that keeping a leash on mine (while I am around) is handy cause then she has to go were i go and i can catch her going or usually i can catch her before and take her out....maybe this would help and he could be near you....sorry

 

Thanks for the advice Margo. Only thing is, the few times I've caught him either in the act, or just about to - I'll grab him up and take him outside immediately. But that only confuses him (at least I think so), cause no matter how long I stand outside with him (sometimes with my back turned so he'll focus on going instead of just looking at me) he won't go. Then, I'll get him back inside and eventually (whether it be 10 seconds or 10 minutes later) he goes inside. Again, this happens no matter how long I stay outside with him. I know we'll eventually get through this, but any advice on expediting his progress would be greatly appreciated.

 

It could be that his crate is to roomy. I had the same problem with one of my dogs so I switched her crate to a smaller more confined one and she never did it again.

 

As a side note, keeping him on a leash and with me most of the day may help. I'll probably be more prone to notice his behavior that way. Like I said, in the past whenever I caught him and took him outside to go, it'd just confuse him. But I will definitely try leashing him indoors and see how that works. Thanks again, Margo.

 

Thanks, Regina - I thought the same thing. And I hate to seem stingy or whatever, but I've already paid a good amount of money on a crate that will be big enough for him when he's full grown. I don't want to go buy a smaller crate right now, and this one isn't made to be able to section it off. I have had it filled with his bed (which fills the entire floor of the crate, and has bolsters on all four sides) along with his water bowl, a big chew toy, and of course, the pup. But alas, he'd pee on the bed, spill his water, and get himself, his bed, and his chew toy covered in urine! YUCK! Ugh - I just returned from cleaning up after him again. He doesn't even whine when he needs to go! Just when he wants out to play with the other dogs. If anyone has any ideas on perhaps making his crate temporarily smaller, or something of that sort (a way to maybe section part of it off), please let me know. I feel like this may be the solution of my problem, but again, I don't want to go buy a new crate that will only be used a few weeks, if that long.

 

My two pits were the hardest dogs I've ever had to house train. Nights were the worse. I'm sure people will disagree, but I put Reese in bed with me at night. When he woke up, I was aware of it and took him outdoors right away. It worked really well. So I did it with Grace and it worked. After they were grown, they sleep on their beds and wake me in the night when they wanted to go out. During the day I had a problem when they were young. They would #1 and #2 any time they wanted in the house. So I left the back door open so they could move freely from the house to the yard. Ater awhile the just took to going out in the yard to do their business. Now I could leave them in the house all day and they would hold it.

 

This sucks, because my adult APBTs were all very easy to potty train. All of them were adults that were used to being outside all the time (unless it was like freezing outside or something). Anyway - we moved into this God forsaken apartment, and the adults were pretty much a breeze to potty train. But this pup, ugh, what a frustration! Like I said, I'm sure that we'll work through this, but the sooner the better.

 

Yes, an apartment would be rough. But what ever you do, don't hit them , or my favorite, rub their noses in it, because dogs are dogs and don't know what the heck this is suppose to mean. Just keep crating and taking the pup out as much as you can. When you do take him out and he goes, make a big ordeal out of it and give him treats, kisses, and praise. Believe me, pits want nothing more than to please their owners. Sometimes it seem like an endless process, but in the end, all works out fine.

 

Thanks for the reply loves-da-pits. I would never hit him or rub his nose in it, as I know that will do no good. But I'm glad you saud that, as there are many people out there that may have their hearts in the right place, but simply do not realize that positive training is the best thing in the world for APBTs. And that is why I praise the heck out of him when he goes outside. When I catch him doing it inside, there is a very stern "Gauge, no!". Then I take him outside to *hopefully* finish his business. But if I don't catch him in the act, I simply take him out of his crate, and he watches as I clean it up. The only thing is, I refuse to let him play with my other male during this, as that would be like rewarding him for doing this. When he starts to play with our other male (who does not stay in a crate), I give him a firm no, and he'll lay or sit there and watch me. My grandmother asked me once why I didn't try rubbing their noses in it (talking about one of our other dogs while potty training it). I explained to her that it is only going to confuse the dog. They lick their butts, smell other dogs' butts, and sometimes eat other animals' mess. Why would it bother them to have their nose stuck in it? In my opinion, the dog would recognize the negativity of the situation, but not the why behind it.

 

spencerpits:

I looked at your website for your kennel and it is nice and you have some pretty dogs. Earlier you said you live in an apartment? I am curious to know how on earth are you able to manage a kennel out of an apartment?
That has got to be hectic.

 

Yeah - it gets pretty hectic at times. I have a good friend who is keeping two of the pups (Nemo, the red & white red nosed male and Jasmine, the dark fawn black nosed female), so that helps us a lot. Plus, she has two kids who love having the pups around. We plan on buying our own home in the next 4-5 months, so things will certainly be easier once we have our own place with a nice big back yard. We have had to sacrifice our entire dining room, and half of our living room just for the dogs. But that is more than worth it. The only problem we really have is when one of our adult females (either 'Maggie' or 'BJ') is playing with the 2 males we have here ('Sammy' and 'Gauge') the other girl has to be crated. They simply will not get along with each other. But we work around this by giving them an hour at a time, then switching them out. Late at night, they love to go play on the tennis court (they're not supposed to, but they love it!). It gives them lots of off-leash exercise. And the fence is well over 10' high, so we don't have to worry about them escaping. We will definitely not be breeding anymore until we are in a more suitable home, and also not until I have more time to focus on the dogs. I thank you for the compliments on my dogs. We simply never should have moved into an apartment with them.