Hi. I could really use some help. Against my better judgment I purchased an adorable malti-poo from a pet store. She was 4 months old then and quite used to going to the bathroom in her crate. I've had her 2 months now and feel like I'm not getting anywhere in the housetraining dept. She doesn't adhere to the general idea that dogs don't like to go in crates because of her pet store background. We keep a constant eye on her but she has had accidents in the house. We praise her for going outside but it doesn't seem to make a difference in her attempts to hold it until she gets outside again. Also she will wake us up at night to go outside but only after she has already gone in her crate. She is kept in a small crate with only enough room to stretch out. This means that when she pees in her crate she just lays in it (we keep a towel in there, and it's only pee, no poop). We cut off her water around 8.30 at night and take her out for the last time around 10.30. I'm just not sure what else to do. She was recently spayed and with the E-collar on she wasn't able to pee in her crate so she started waking us up to let us know she wanted to go out. We praised her and thought she was making progress. The first night without the collar she peed in her crate twice. I've thought about putting the collar on her for nights only but I know how much she hates it. I'm open to suggestions. I'm afraid she may never be housebroken or crate trained.

This idea may or may not help, but it sounds like you're desperate, so a little brain-storming might not be so bad.

I know that some people recommend against both paper-training and outdoor training, but if you're willing to consider getting her to pee on wee-wee pads you might be able to manage her with those for now and then wean her off them later. It sounds like her past has caused her to lose the idea of not peeing in her den, and I'm not so convinced that keeping her in there is going to change any of that. I had a huge box of "gridlock" wee-wee pads shipped to me (they sell them on amazon), and I have been soooo impressed with them. Our puppy has a crate and a play-pen, but he refused to be closed into either one of them the first night despite a whole lot of treats and trying. We didn't want him to start hating them in a way that would make it much harder for us to teach him to like them in the future, so we put out a number of pee-pads and let him sleep where he wanted to sleep. The puppies are attracted to urinating on the pee-pads because of something they manufacture them with (but it's odorless to humans). He peed on the pads by himself, and now we probably have a 90% success rate between peeing on the pads and peeing outside, which isn't too bad, and it's improving slowly but surely (he's still very little - 2 and a half months). It seems to us that pooping on the pads is a little less precise, but that might not be the case for everybody.

If you have a play pen or a tiny, puppy-proof room you might be able to use it to teach her not to pee where she sleeps. Put a wee-wee pad on one side and a bed and toys on the other, and she might figure that out for herself. Once she is used to peeing only on the pads, you can gradually increase the space you give her. Use the wee-wee pads as a back-up plan, and take her out often.

I hope this will work with your pooch because I know how frustrating it must be for all of you, and I would hate for her to lose her home because of peeing problems!


One more thing! I know you said that you praise her for peeing outside. I know that holding a "pee-party" is VERY helpful. I bring super special treats with me whenever we go out (like cubed turkey or cheese), and whenever my pup does his business in the right place he gets hits the treat jackpot, he gets pet all over, and I tell him how fantastic he is for peeing or pooing where he is supposed to. I know this makes him much more inspired to do it the right way again.

I would try taking her water up at 7:30 and when I took her out, I would leisurely on a leash walk her around a bit maybe she will pee more than once. Not enough walking to work up a thirst, meandering along let her sniff and pee.

With my dogs I walk them up and down the block they pee at least twice... if I let them out in the fenced back yard they will go pee once and run back in... then in about 4 hours they will wake me up wanting to go potty again, since I have been doing this they sleep until morning... now I have to encourage them to go potty in the morning.

Thanks so much for the suggestions. I will definitely try taking her water earlier and walking her around more before bed. I am interested in the pee pads but am concerned it may confuse her since we've been adamant about her going outside only. I certainly don't want her to think that it is sometimes OK to go inside. However, I may change my mind in the future if I can't come up with a solution. We love her dearly and would never dream of getting rid of her but we would also like to have her fully housetrained so she can enjoy more freedom in the house. I'm open to more suggestions and appreciate the ones I've gotten. Thanks!