So, my husband and I got a new puppy. He's a Basset Hound, and he's five months old. Annie (our 10 month old lab) is having a lot of fun with him. We bought him from a pet store. We've been trying to find a new dog at the shelter, but we've never been able to find the 'right' one. I feel like we rescued him, though. Living in a pet store for that long was probably not very fun, and what do they do with dogs that don't sell? That makes me nervous. But, we were still disappointed that we couldn't find one at the shelter.
We're going to crate train him, of course. But when he's not in the crate, does anyone have any suggestions on how to tell if he's about to pee? I know he'll sniff around and stuff, but he does that anyway because he's a hound dog. And of course, there's the problem of him being a pet store dog. What if he doesn't mind laying around in his own pee or poop. Also, he's already at 5 months, so should he have the capacity to hold himself in all night? Housetraining Annie just seemed so long ago. Plus, we have to deal with the fact that we have to carry him down the stairs of our apt. building because his legs are too short (we're moving to a new place in a week or so where we won't have that problem, though). And he has no idea what a leash is for. Anyway, any advice would be much appreciated. Thanks, all.

-B

At 5 months he should have no problem going over night. With Annie to play with, likely they will go none stop until they fall over. Be quick to take him out after a nap. Walking around a little outside after a nap should stimulate his body to eliminate. With the activity I expect of the 2, it may be better not to let them go more than an hour before breaks outside. Take him out, and praise him when he goes. Then let him go back in to resume play. With any luck he will enjoy his fresh, new home and work at keeping it that way.

Okay, so now what do I do? I think our puppy has this idea that the floor in the hallway is the place to use the bathroom. I saw him sniffing around, and acting like he had to go, so I took him outside. We walked around for ten to fifteen minutes. There are a lot of pets in this area, so he could smell all the dog pee around. But he didn't do anything; all he did was have a nice little walk. We came back inside, and he got a drink of water. So I told my husband, we'll take him out in ten minutes and walk him around again. Not even a minute later, he's peeing on the floor again. I stopped him, and we took him outside again, but he wouldn't go out there. He's good in a kennel, so I guess for now, he'll have to spend a lot of time in there while we housetrain him. He doesn't like laying in his own pee. But is there any other way to do it? How can I teach him that his bathroom is outside, if he never pees out there? He's just going to think I don't like it when he pees at all because I scold him when he goes in the house, but I can't praise him for going outside if he never does it. Any suggestions? Thanks.

-B

labman probably has the best answers for you daehnolem but I have dealt with this situation before.. My current dog will only pee or poo in certain places.. I found this out at first because I would take him out and he wouldn't even pee.. Normally this is more of an issue with females as males don't mind peeing over where other dogs did.. My dog has his place in our complex where he will go.. and he won't go anywhere else.. So in short my suggestion is try taking him to other places..

My standard advice suggests choosing a spot, but you may need to make the break through to going outside first. Later, a regular spot and a command may help. First thing is the morning, take him out and walk him around. Keep it up until he just can't hold it any longer and has to go. Praise him lavishly, take him in and give him his breakfast. Let them play until he breaks off and heads for the hall. Again, out and walk until he squats. More lavish praise.

I wait until I have time to use the walk until they can't hold it any longer to force the puppies to use paved areas. They much prefer grass, but we are expected to teach the puppies to use pea gravel and pavement too on command. They resist using pavement. I guess it just doesn't have any of those perfect places they always want to sniff out.

This would have worked better this morning when you didn't have to go off to work. It is great he isn't fouling his crate. If that develops into a problem, you can use a rack to keep him up out of it. Ask for details if you need it.

We finally got him to eliminate outside. We let them play for a little while, then we'll take him outside to potty, and we'll crate him because they won't stop playing with each other even when they're dead tired. Then, we take him out again after he wakes up. And of course, every time he goes outside, we act like it's the best thing that's ever happened. So accidents have gone way down today. Last night was his first night in a crate - that's when he wet himself, but he's been in there for a little while here and there today without peeing in it. So there has been a lot of progress today. It'll be nicer when we move to our new place, though. It has a dog door. It's too small for Annie, but it's the perfect size for him. Thanks for all your encouragement and advice. I'm sure I'll need it again soon. Annie's getting spayed tomorrow, and it'll be nuts trying to keep them from playing while she recovers.

-B

If it helps I live in Colorado and when it snows my pup won't go to the bathroom in the snow.. he has to dig the snow out in order to see the grass before he will go. :)