[dovey0805]

this is my sweet little boy he is 10 weeks today he is very smart ( most of the time) he is sitting giving both paws laying down and rolling over he is awesome to walk my only problem is i have 2 crates one big one in the living room that is divided off right now and one in my bedroom the one in my room he sleeps pretty much all night only cries when needs to go out but now the one in the living room if i run to town for a hour or so i put him outside he pees then i put him in when i come back he peed in it i take him back out and he pees again i have him out every hour and he goes but if i block him in one room he pees on the puppy pad seems like hes saying ill show you is there anything i am doing wrong like i said he is super smart

 

[Jchrest]

I’ve never understood the puppy pad situation. I’ve used them on senior dogs that would leak a little in their beds. But for house training? It seems to me like you’re giving your pup the okay to pee and poo in the house.

If he can pee in the kennel, the kennel is too large. They should only have enough room to stand, and turn around in it. Did you ever put puppy pads in the kennel? Also, if the divider is the standard wire one that come with the kennel, you may have to put something in the part the is blocked off. He sees a wide open space and takes advantage of that. Some stuff with empty cardboard boxes, just anything so he doesn’t see that wide open space.

I would take the plastic bottom out, let it soak in white distilled vinegar, then give it a good scrub and rinse. The vinegar will get rid of any of the urine odor that may be causing him to continue to use it as a potty area. Have you tried using a cover on the one not in your room? Try a sheet or lightweight throw and cover it with that every time he goes in the one downstairs. My Husky would freak out and whine nonstop when I kenneled him, and would pee himself because he was scared. He still pees himself to this day if he gets frightened or excited. But it’s not a full pee, just a small little circle of pee. I found the trick with covering the kennel, and he stopped both the whining and the peeing. Wouldn’t hurt to give that a try!

 

[Gowacky]

Hindsight is 20/20 as they say and I sure made a huge mistake in not having my property fenced prior to bringing Tuff home. I understand that almost all of you prefer to crate your dogs. I can’t stand to do this. Tuff has the run of the house. I prefer this. He likes to be near me and sleeps in my bedroom. However this gave him permission to potty inside. Now my floor is a stained slab so clean up is complete. If I had carpet the result would be gross. As predicted he has picked a spot but I know how many of you cringe at the
thought. I get it. This was certainly a mistake on my part and I can only hope with maturity he will prefer to potty outside.

 

[LRP]

He is defiantly a cutie! My husband banned puppy pads when we got our male at 9 weeks. He said if we allow him to do it once, he will think he can always do it and he didn't want him to ever think he could go inside.
But we don't crate our dogs, yes that is unusual for the group. We have always kept our outside and when inside we limit them to the living room. They can walk around the house with us but otherwise just free roam of the living room area. They have a doggy door and go in and out easy. They trained quickly this way and have not had any issues inside the house. Currently they sleep outside but when they are older I hope to have them sleep inside or at least have the choice. We also keep the doggy door locked during the day but we hope to allow them house access 100% when they are fully trained and trusted. Right now they are 6/7 months old and still going through puppy stuff.

Get rid of the pads, it says the wrong thing to your dog. Clean everything really well and then try again. Always letting him pee before you crate him. Don't crate him for too long. Make sure he has something to keep him occupied in the crate (toys, chews, ect… ) so he doesn't get bored and find something to do (pee...).

Also - do you have a "go pee" catch phrase? I know it sounds silly but I say the same thing to my dogs every time I want them to go. "Go Potty" … "Go Potty" .. nothing else but that until they would do there business.
Once they would do it, they would get a "Good Boy/Girl" and a treat --- no treat now because they do it every time

 

[sebrench]

Congratulations on that cute puppy!

When I was a grad student, I trained my papillon to use puppy pads because my schedule was erratic. Big mistake! Later on when I wanted him to go outside, he was impossible to re-train. Luckily he was a little dog so he couldn't make a huge mess, but I will never, ever, ever, use puppy pads again. If I were you, I'd find a way to crate train your puppy. Can someone come home at lunch to let the pup out and play with him? Most don't have to be in crates forever, it's temporary until they have earned the privilege to be free. Once the puppy's a little older and starts to get the idea he's supposed to go outside, I have found that you can block them into a bathroom or small laundry room without accidents until someone is home to supervise. If your puppy has a favorite spot to pee in the house, I'd clean it really well with an enzymatic cleaner, and block it off, block off the room if I had to, so he can't go there.

 

[Gaia]

10 weeks?? That kid is HUGE! ?

I raised 2 puppies at once earlier this year and it really is just all about taking them out often. It took them about a month to figure out that they liked going potty outside more than inside.
Eventually they learned "if I pee right in front of the door, you'll let me out!"
That was fun to untrain ? /s

It really just takes time. He'll learn.
Try using a bell next to the door and ring it every time you take him out. Take him out ONLY to potty, not for fun or playtime, when he is done bring him back in.
Not sure what your housing situation is but it wasn't until we started leaving the boys outside in the yard all day that they learned to hold it while they were inside.
They were completely potty trained by 6 months and now they wake us up with kisses every morning to let us know they need to go out!

Edit:

I guess I'll add it does depend on the dog too!
We raised a husky pup who was already 6 mo when we got her. She's more than two years old now and still hasn't learned how to tell us to let her outside. We didn't do anything differently with the boys, but they were 8 weeks old when we found them. They just.. figured it out! Minimal effort on our part.
But you say Cooper is smart and he's young so I trust that he'll figure it out too!

 

[dovey0805]

he does not pee in the crate in my room its only small but i am going to put boxes in the other side maybe he sees how big it is and thinks he can pee he is never in the crate during the day more than 1-2 hours and yes he is pretty big he is 10 weeks today and i weighed him 2 days ago he was 23.6 lbs hes pretty tall and like i said he is very smart and willing to learn i only work with him until he loses focus i dont want to push him i have been around 3 shepherds growing up that my uncle owned they were so calm and sweet and i want him the same which he is people cant believe how well behaved and laid back he is but he does have his puppy moments and i am enjoying them because he is growing way to fast!!!!

 

[Gaia]

Oh and another thing to do is that if he is near the door, even if he isnt meaning to be, open it for it! Take him out!
It'll take him a couple times to realize "the door opens when I got near it" but that's a really effective way of getting him to learn that!

There's going to be accidents, it's unavoidable. As others have said, it's best not to let him get too used to peeing in the crate.
But in my experience dogs dont WANT to pee/poo in their crate. They don't like sitting in it. But he's a baby and probably cant help it right now.
It could be you need to make move the barrier to give him a smaller area. Adding boxes might help!

And don't.. hit him or anything when he does have an accident! That could make him more likely to just go to another room where you cant see him and do his business there. If you catch him doing it, take him out instantly! Even if he's done and doesnt have to go anymore. It'll help associate the activity with being outside.

 

[dovey0805]

oh god no i would never hit him for doing it its not his fault hes a baby and needs to be taught and its kinda my fault also for the pee pads i never really thought about that its in a way saying yes pee here its ok haha i thank everyone for the thoughts and i am welcome to anymore tricks or secrets

 

[dovey0805]

sorry one more thing will his ears stay like that or will the sit normal as he grows

 

[sebrench]

My bet is that his ears will be up all the way soon, though don't panic if his ears go up and down somewhat as he's teething. In the meantime, take lots of pics because you'll remember those teepee ears fondly and they don't last long!

 

[Hellish]

Yeah, my mom's method of housebreaking her ESA chihuahua was to let the dog choose the spot it wanted to pee in the house then just keeping putting a pee pad in that area. She moved in with me when the pooch was 6 yrs old. and I refused to allow this methodology. Pee pad in my dining room? Gross. Couldn't even slowly move the pee pad to the dog door. The spot was the spot, pad or no.

 

[Gaia]

Yeah, my mom's method of housebreaking her ESA chihuahua was to let the dog choose the spot it wanted to pee in the house then just keeping putting a pee pad in that area. She moved in with me when the pooch was 6 yrs old. and I refused to allow this methodology. Pee pad in my dining room? Gross. Couldn't even slowly move the pee pad to the dog door. The spot was the spot, pad or no.

Oh gosh ?
I had a friend whose parents did this. They had 2 chihauhaus that stayed in the house. they were trained to eliminate on the pads in several locations in the house and I never understood why they did this.

They had a big back yard too! All the money they spent on pads could have been put into a doggie door ?

 

[Hellish]

I had modified our dog door to allow the chihuahua to use it. And she did. Just not for elimination. My old rottie thankfully did not feel the urge to urinate where ever the chihuahua did, but my neutered tomcat did.

 

[Jenny720]

I trained all my pups to go outside - it’s just easier for all especially little dogs. It’s a very clear message you are giving them this way. Shepherds are very clean dogs in general but you want to make sure small dogs get that same message so they also are allowed to be clean. Go potty they all no what that means. Its a great word for bad weather days.

 

[cvamoca]

"Go pee" always works perfectly for my adult GSD--I tell her to pee, she does it on the spot. Now my 8 week old puppy isn't so great, but she does pee 3 steps off the doorstep, so I'm not complaining. I hate "Go potty" I feel like an idiot saying it, it's have a dump, or go pee, depending.