Please help me help our boys 😕

[SEL1205]

Hello,

I feel as though I have reached the end of my rope with trying to figure out our boys’ potty accident issues.

We’ve had them for over 2 yrs now and they still pee and poop in their crate and around the house. It’s really gotten to be a problem and very disappointing and frustrating, I am not sure what to do or try anymore, I feel as though I’ve tried everything. Their crate is big enough for them to stand, turn and lay down and are really only in there overnight or when we leave to run errands or anything else. Any time we’ve let them have free range of the house they end up peeing or pooping somewhere, they even peed on my 3 yr old’s bed.

We’ve tried sprays, we’ve tried walking them more often, we’ve tried monitoring their eating and water intake, gotten them checked for any medical issues but to no avail. Please help!!! We have been contemplating giving them up for adoption but we definitely don’t want to do that at all. They really are adorable but we would just love for them to stop having accidents. I’ve tried to pinpoint a pattern to their behavior but haven’t come up with anything, they have no problem doing their business and then laying on it which makes clean up that much more frustrating... please help us 😕

 

[daniellepaul]

I'm sorry you're going through this...I haven't had this issue but if I was in your shoes, I would literally start back at the basics and treat them as puppies again...No freedom or free roaming the house unless supervised and only letting them out to pee/poop outside and huge praise when they do it outside. If they eliminate outside, then obviously I would give them an hour or two of supervised freedom in the house afterwards (since you know they're empty). I would take them out every 1-2 hours if that's possible. I remember potty training my guy - I would literally jump for joy and be SO animated/excited when Leo would pee/poop outside and then treat him right away with his favourite treats. I acted like it was the most amazing thing in the world that he went potty outside - lol.. my neighbors probably thought I was nuts. I don't know if it's possible for you to leash them while inside and make them follow you around the house so that you can always keep an eye on them since they can't really be trusted in the house to not go potty. Maybe they just need to know that pottying outside means getting treats/praise/an hour or two of freedom inside afterwards and will be more inclined to go outside. Wishing you lots of luck!!!

 

[SEL1205]

�� sadly I’ve tried all of this including the leashed part. I literally walked around with a leash around my waist with them, that seemed to work for a bit then they reverted back. I usually take them out every 2 hours, tops 4 ��

 

[mattcantwin]

Have you had them since they were puppies?

 

[SEL1205]

Yes we have

 

[mattcantwin]

Yes we have

There are many sources on the internet for housebreaking adult dogs; not sure how the process would be complicated (if, at all) training two dogs at once.

Seems to me, you need to wade through them and find those that employ methods you have not already tried.


Certainly not going to be easy, best of luck hitting upon the right method.

 

[2bullymama]

This is brutal... our guy took two years to train as well... he just one day woke up and got it.

You May want to hire a trainer to come to you home and provide some suggestions

 

[Baer Rios]

Make sure you reward them big time when they go outside. Take high reward treats with you and get really excited with them

 

[FroxerMom]

This is definitely frustrating for sure and exacerbated because they don't seem to mind laying in it afterwards!

I echo what others have said, you need to go back to the start as if they were coming to you as 10 week old puppies. I have retrained adult dogs (other breeds in addition to my Frenchie) who were up for adoption and had indoor potty issues as well as fear of the crate. It requires 100% of your time to this endeavor and focus on nothing else until they "get it." It helps when a dog is food motivated and you can figure out what treat or food they like most of all (considered high value) and then use this item ONLY for rewarding an outdoor potty experience positively. As [MENTION=3225]daniellepaul[/MENTION] described, you go overboard with the praise, and smooches when they go outside and give treat immediately. It helps tremendously to attach a command to the action. I personally walk my dog to the same exact spot every time I want her to go and say, "Go potty outside." She will circle a couple times and go. All the time. Every time. It is immediate. She is a dog that truly wants to please and is VERY food motivated. When I adopted her at 1 year old, she peed everywhere in the house. I was fortunate to be able to take off work for a week and did NOTHING and I mean nothing else but focus on this and she understood the expectation in just a few days. We went out at exactly the same times every day, to the same spot, and I used the command and treated her immediately with a high value treat she wanted but didn't get at any other time of the day except for going potty. And I too must have looked like a lunatic because I'd jump up and say "Good girl! Good girl," and give her pets and smooches. She loved it. She learned very quickly that she got lovin' and yummy yummies if she put her pee and poop outside.

Dogs typically should be taken outside right after waking up, about 1/2 hour after eating, after being let out of a crate, and after rigorous exercise. If they can get on a very dependable routine like this, your dogs will begin to understand that they have certain times for going out. Such as, if you come home from errands and they know that when you come in, you will immediately let them out of the crate and take them outside for relief. It will become their routine. They will "hold it" until then.

It would be best to dispose of any bedding or materials in the crate that may have lingering urine/poop smells. Even if YOU don't immediately detect it, they can and it is probably sending a signal to them that it is appropriate to go there. Disinfect the crate and leave bedding out for now.

If they do have accidents in the house and you don't see it happening (it is after the fact), clean it up without reprimanding. If they are going on carpets and you can have them professionally cleaned with pet neutralizing products, it would surely help get any scents out of the home that may still be there. If you happen to catch them in the act, you can offer a stern "NO!!!" Pick them up right away and whisk them outside, put them on the lawn (hopefully near the spots you want them to go) and say the command, "Go potty outside!"

It sounds like you have been a very diligent pet parent and ruled out medical reasons by visiting the vet. You have tried tethering the dogs to you while inside the house. I'm certain you are absolutely exhausted. I can't imagine that if you dedicated a couple weeks to intensive re-training, that you would not see results. This is all made harder because you are dealing with two dogs - I wish you all the best and am sending you good vibes! I hope to hear nothing but good news if you decide to try any of the advice offered in the posts here. Good luck!!!