My Puppy Is Disgusting

[Aggie_Ama]

Jens is the worst puppy ever, he is now four months but not showing improvement. I love him to bits but I think my husband is at his wits end. He is practically impossible to potty train.

1. In the morning he won't wake but he will whine with the alarm. When I take him out he reeks of urine. I don't know if the alarm is making him pee or he is just peeing on himself. He is kenneled at night.
2. He will be outside for 30 minutes then poop or pee on the floor. We have tried praising him outside but he will just want to play.
3. We kennel Heidi (10 years) and him while we are at work in a laundry room. It is small but big for Schnauzers. We come home, Heidi is in her bed because Jens has peed and pooped all over the room. The fact that he can't hold it isn't the bad part, he seems to play in it!

What should we try? What worked on Heidi isn't working with Jens.

[Rebekah H]

If you have any luck with any suggestions that are offered, please let me know. I have a five month old Basset Hound, MudFlap, who is the sweetest little girl ever, but quite possibly the dumbest, hardest to train dog I've ever had. She pees on everything, poops after I've had her out for a while, and doesn't seem to be able to learn "stay" to save her life. She's super lucky she's so dang adorable. LOL

[jessmarimba]

I know nothing about training dogs. But I've managed to get one cat to learn things like "sit" and "lay" while the other one will claw my fingers off if I'm holding a treat to teach her anything.

My coworker's dog has managed to (finally!) learn his bathroom habits but peed on the floor for MONTHS at our office...and knows absolutely no commands. I'd guess some just need more patience, and some might never learn.

[marni]

talk with your vet and make sure there are no medical issues. He/she might also have some good ideas about training or perhaps can supply the name of a behavioral trainer.

I have a little rescue corgie who has the memory span of a gold fish and cannot learn sit, stay, or no bark, While she does ocassionally miss the brass and pee on the edge of the porch, at least she is basically toilet trained.

Marni

[badger]

My heart goes out to you. I fostered 2 puppies and one adult who weren't house broken and I know how exhausting and frustrating it is to always be cleaning up after them. The only difference is that I knew they were temporary, whereas with you it's for the long haul.

I'm sure there are other TE ladies with loads of puppy experience who can impart more wisdom. I hope things go well for you.

[Trek-chick]

My Lab only had one accident in the house as a pup and it was my fault. I took her out ALL the time. At least every few hours and after eating, drinking, playing and through the night I would wake up and make her go out.

Another option may be to let the puppy be around another dog and watch that dog do it's business outside. I think dogs learn best from other dogs anyway.

[chincitop]

The thing about potty training dogs is that for it to be really quick, you need to be able to spend A LOT of time with them, the first few weeks. I've trained a few dogs, and the last two were the best, and that's because I was able to, for two weeks after we got them, always have someone with them. The family would take shifts, and every hour, on the hour, we would take them out, and if they peed, they got a treat. We spent time in the kitchen where they were quarantined until they were trained, and punished them when they went inside, then took them directly outside.

Buddy is very silly, because we trained him to go in a particular spot in the yard, and he developed a quirk, on his own, of taking his leash in his mouth, walking himself to that spot, doing his business, then if he is allowed to play, he runs around like crazy, and when you call him, picks up his leash again, and carries it back, and drops it at your feet. it's very cute, and silly.

However, some dogs are really difficult. Hence the contrast between Buddy the wonder-Dane, and Angel, the slow witted American Eskimo, who we finally had to give away at FIVE because despite spending hours a day working with her (I was unemployed at the time, and seriously had nothing better to do, she got more training attention than ANY of my dogs every have) she was completely idiotic. I finally got her potty trained, but she couldn't do anythign else, and every time it rained, and I brought her outside, she would pee herself on the porch. I brought her to the vet, alongside my lab, who was perfectly behaved, and she was left there to be observed by their handlers for a bit, and it was concluded that she was "mentally challenged" and probably inbred. Later in her life, she also began having seizures. About the time I was really getting worried about her vet & med bills, we went to visit friends in PA, and brought her, and she and their daughter fell in love. Their family could better care for her, as they are much more financially well off than we are, and she's now a happy farm dog. Still a bit idiotic, but she's queen of her own heated barn, where she sleeps in her own stall, next to 4 horses, and a sheep. We get pictures every once in a while.

If you can't get him trained, I would recommend a trainer possibly? There are kennels that will take him for a week or more and train her for you. It sucks not having your puppy with you, but they usually have "parent hours" and handlers whose job it is to play with them when they're not being trained, so they're getting love.

Good luck! I completely understand the frustration. I went from a amazingly trained lab that I trained the same way, to Angel the derp dog. <3