[jaredonline]

We have a 14 week old female Maltese. We brought her home about 2 weeks ago and are having a **** of a time training her to go potty outside. We have read books and talked to friends to learn what we should be doing. We chose to keep her in a kennel throughout the day. We take her outside every hour to the same spot in the yard on a leash. If she goes pee she gets a treat. When she goes poo we give her two treats. If she doesn't perform she goes back in the kennel. If she does, she gets lots of praise and we take her inside and she gets to play for about 10 min. Then back to the kennel. We repeat this throughout the day. If my wife has to leave for more than an hour we will confine her to our laundry room lined with pee pads. At night we confine her to the laundry room, leaving the door open to the kennel so she can do her business at night on the pads. The last two days she will not go potty outside. She has been urinating and pooing in her kennel throughout the day. Question: Should we continue with our method or change? Is this expected from such a young pup? What are we doing wrong?

Thanks in advance for any advice.

 

[nekkidfish]

Jared, make sure that the kennel is set up just to the right size. If the kennel is too big, a puppy can do their business at one end and sleep in the other.

The dog should be able to stand and lay on their side without being cramped. Most kennels come with a divider for just this reason.

Something that happened here tonight might help too. >> I stay at home, so I take Poppy outside for almost all of his potty breaks. Tonight it had lightly rained, and I was busy cooking, so I asked hubby to take him out. I *knew* it was time for him to go.

Hubby took him out and brought him back in a short bit later. First thing I notice is that Poppy's feet are barely wet. I asked hubby if he had pee'd, and he said no. Not a few minutes later, Poppy pee'd on a rug (for the first time in weeks). I explained to hubby that he has to take him to the grass and say "potty, potty' over and over until he goes.

Again, I knew it was time for him to go, and when I saw that his feet were barely wet, I knew hubby had not given him enough time to do his business.

Hope this helps! HUGz! Jules

 

[kodamom]

My puppy is 12 weeks and we do pretty much the opposite of what your doing and so far so good with a few accidents here and there. Koda stays in our gated kitchen during the day with pee pads and lots of chew toys and treats. Then at night he is crated in a fairly small crate, just big enough for him, no room to eliminate. He will whine when he needs to go out in the morning. He usually goes straight out and does both his businesses in the morning. I agree with Jules though, if the crate is too big they will get used to going in there if theres a lot of room. They normally dont go where they sleep. Good luck!