I have a 4 month old german shepherd. we’ve had house breaking problems, but we seem to be pretty well over that. except for when hes in is crate. he has a large crate with divider panel. its blocked off so he has just enough room to turn around. it seems that about half the time i leave he has peed in his crate then lays in it. at night im letting him out about every 3 1/2 to 4 hours and durning the day i work on the same property i live on so im comin home about every 2 hours an letting him out. hes been to the vet and is healthy. i have tried removing the bedding thinking if he lays in a puddle he will stop but it doesnt work. so then i tried giving him a treat when i come home and his crate is dry, i tell him "good clean bed" and pet him then take him outside, then i let him play for a few min. and when its wet i dont give him a treat and tell him he was a bad dog for having a wet crate. and i take him outside, then put him right back in the crate. it just isnt workin.
he is out when ever i can be home. when i come home for lunch hes out running for about a half hour, then on days that im not busy at work i come home early and he get to run and play….then at night he spends about 5 hours playing and sleeping. he gets a pretty good amount of excersize. but i live in vermont and its winter…an that no time for a puppy to be spending lots of time outside. and i wont have him running free in my house chewing things… since he is teething. in the summer i have a big kennel that he’ll be able to run in, but in the winter i take it down to be able to plow the driveway. so if somebody can give me some real good advice on a way to try to break him of this before it becomes an adult habit, i would be greatful. and please no comments that tell me i shouldnt have a dog. i know what im getting into with it, and i’ve had shepherds before. I also have experiance as a horse trainer, in how to teach an animal something. Thank you for anyone who can help
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4 Responses to “Is he doing this because he's mad?”
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It sounds like you’re doing most everything right. And at 4 months, he does have bladder control – you’re letting him out often enough!
There’s a few dogs who seem not to mind laying in their own mess and they’re obviously harder to housetrain. I’m thinking part of his problem is that it’s become habit. Have you cleaned his crate thoroughly with an enzyme cleaner (nothing with ammonia) so HE can’t smell any trace of his pee? If not, try that. You might also have to leave him with nothing but newspapers for a while and see what happens.
Praising him is great, but he won’t know what you’re talking about. He’s a dog – he doesn’t know you’re praising for clean bed and he definitely doesn’t understand telling him he’s bad when it’s wet. A dog can’t put that together.
You’d be better off going outside with him and giving him a ton of praise and treats the split second he pees outside. That way he’ll learn where he IS supposed to go – that should be more effective. He needs praise when he does it right.
A German Shepard is to active a dog to be kept in a crate. He needs room to run. If you don’t have room for him to be free all day you shouldn’t have a German Shepard.
4 mos isn’t very old yet. He doesn’t have control of his internal muscles yet to not go in his crate. Try letting him out every hour at the max. More often would be even better. Especially let him out after eating. He’s not going to remember the wet bedding by the time you get to it, so that’s not going to help to point that out to him. Try letting him out more often and praise him like crazy when he goes. He’s not mad, he’s just a baby. Give him a few weeks to gain control of his bladder muscles and understand that you want him to go outside.
Just keep working with him. His not very old and it just going to take time. Keep up the good work.