Hi,
We have a metal cage for our 3 1/2 month old miniature schnauzer puppy. We had bought her to be an inside pet, but because of her peeing and pooping in her cage we have moved it out into the garage and that's where she stays during the day and sometimes at night. When we get up in the morning her cage is full of poop and pee and the same thing when my huband gets home at 3pm. I have tried feeding her early in the morning and we don't put food and water in her cage. I don't know what to do! I want her to be trained so that we can have her in the house full time. My husband is getting fed up with all of the messes and he says that she has 3 more weeks and if it is still happening then we are going to have to find another home for her. Please help!
Thanks,
Sarah

Sarah, what have you done so far with your housebreaking training? How long are you leaving her in her crate prior to walking her, both at night and during the day? If she is being left longer than 4 or 5 hours without a potty break, you are going to continue to have problems. She is young and her bowel & bladder control haven't fully developed yet. If you purchased her from a pet store, please understand that most of them don't walk their dogs on a regular basis and the dogs become accustomed to pottying inside their cages, so you have to undo what your dog has "trained" herself to do. Training a dog takes a lot of time, patience and consistency. Those are the keys. I don't know how long you have had her but please understand that housebreaking a puppy can take a few days or it can take months. It all depends on the dog, the owners, and how much time you are dedicating to training. If you don't have enough time to dedicate to her, you are going to continue to have problems and it is going to take much longer than someone who works with a dog all day long. The best I can do for you at this moment is to direct you to labman's sticky at the top of this forum. He includes information on housebreaking along with some other very useful tips, so please read through the entire link. You might also want to take the time to go to your local library and see if you can find any of the books on his recommended reading list. Here is the link: https://www.askmehelpdesk.com/dogs/i...tml#post251809

I had the same problem and my mom was saying she's kicking her out if she keeps peeing and pooping in the cage and around the house. So my mom got a smaller cage so then she realized that if the cage is smaller she has no room to pee and poop and sleep in her cage "comfertably" And when she stopped peeing and pooping there she stopped everywhere. Because we think that she thought since she was peeing and pooping in her cage and she thought she was allowed to because we were asleep when she did it. That she was allowed to pee and poop everywhere. I hope this helps if it doesn't I'd suggest going to a petsmart or petsco for training lessons and tips or maybe even books I learned a lot from training books

You can't keep a puppy in a cage for the majority of the day and expect it to learn how to live in a house.
Now of course crating while at work or while sleeping is fine, but the rest of the time should be filled with socialization, playing, training, walking, and plenty of exercise.

My best suggestiong (if you and your husband work all week) is to plan a weekend, relatively soon, and make no plans other than staying home and working with your puppy. My husband and I did this, and potty training was easy. Plan to be at home and make sure to let the puppy outside every few hours and always praise.

Also make sure the crate isn't too big. If the crate is big enough for your puppy to potty on one side and sleep on the other... that is exactly what they will do. Normally dogs don't potty where they sleep, but if the crate is too big they don't see it as that. They think they are separating where they potty and sleep. A proper crate only needs to be big enough to stand up, turn around, and lay down. If your crate is too big you could buy a divider to make it smaller, then remove it as your puppy grows.