So let me start by saying I feel as if I have tried EVERYTHING! I have 5 dogs (my wife works as a tech at a local specialty vet) we rescued most of them. The one this question is about came from the shelter and we have had him for about a year. He has NEVER been fully potty trained but recently over the past few months it has become worse. He can be outside for hours and as soon as I put him into the crate he will poop and pee! Every time! When he is loose in the house he has an occasional accident but EVERY SINGLE TIME he will go in the kennel. Ok it's not me or my methods because I recently acquired a 7 month old Bully and she over the 2 months I have had her is completely kennel trained and will not go in it unless we are gone for an uniasual amount of time!! They are all fixed except the puppy. I'm out of options and although I love this little guy I can't take cleaning his stinky messes NUMEROUS times a day! Someone please help me with solutions! I will literally try everything to not have to get rid of him!

Because that is what he learned as a pup, either stuck in a crate or actually encouraged to go in a section of a crate that had a pee pad. Each rescue dog needs different attention, and some can be beyond what many of us can handle or have time for, if we work out of the home.
I think you could do it if you devoted DAYS 24/7 rewarding him for going outside. Pats, brushing, a treat, each time. Full attention to the training, and no negatives, only positives. Many tiny treats. A routine for going out, such as every 3 hours on the hour during training. Dogs love routine.
Several stinky messes suggests anxiety (if he doesn't have food allergies or something more serious.)

This is from a sticky at the top of the Dog forum. Hopefully, Alty will be here later and will give you some good tips in addition to these --

"You can usually tell when your dog needs to go to the toilet, even puppies. Most pups will 'sniff out' the perfect spot to potty so if you catch your pup sniffing the ground and walking in circles this is the perfect time to rush them to your designated toilet spot!

If you happen to catch your puppy urinating or defecating on the floor and not in the designated area then just tell the puppy "no" in a growly voice and pick them up and move them to where they are allowed to go.

Some pups will be naturals and catch on very quickly, others can have quite a few accidents before finally learning what is expected of them. Never lose patience with them, they are not doing it to 'spite' you, they just simply don't understand what is expected of them.

When your dog does go in the correct place, whether it be on the paper or outside on the grass the most important thing is to praise praise praise! Make them think that they have just done the best thing in the entire world. Dogs respond a lot better being praised when they have done something right than scolded when they have done something wrong.

The biggest misconception when it comes to toilet training is to rub the dogs nose in its own excrement. DO NOT do this as it has no benefit whatsoever other than to show the dog that you are just being plain mean to it, they do not understand the concept of this sort of punishment.

The best time to take your dog out to urinate is after every nap time. Whether it be a designated nap time in a crate or the pup has just fallen asleep, you need to rush them to their 'spot' as soon as they are awake.

As for defecating, the best time would be around 20-30 minutes after eating, although this does vary a lot depending on the dog."

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Originally Posted by joypulv

Because that is what he learned as a pup, either stuck in a crate or actually encouraged to go in a section of a crate that had a pee pad. Each rescue dog needs different attention, and some can be beyond what many of us can handle or have time for, if we work out of the home.
I think you could do it if you devoted DAYS 24/7 rewarding him for going outside. Pats, brushing, a treat, each time. Full attention to the training, and no negatives, only positives. Many tiny treats. A routine for going out, such as every 3 hours on the hour during training. Dogs love routine.
Several stinky messes suggests anxiety (if he doesn't have food allergies or something more serious.)

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My wife came home today and said a doctor at work in her department had the same issue and it was just kennel anxiety because it was used as punishment. So she told us to try a slight sedative or a thunder shirt. So we will see where that takes us lol. Thank you for your input all answers are very helpful because although I have tried many different things maybe I'm just not doing that one little thing right so I hope to get more feedback so I can try lots of things in hopes of helping him be a better companion in our home

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Originally Posted by Wondergirl

This is from a sticky at the top of the Dog forum. Hopefully, Alty will be here later and will give you some good tips in addition to these --

"You can usually tell when your dog needs to go to the toilet, even puppies. Most pups will 'sniff out' the perfect spot to potty so if you catch your pup sniffing the ground and walking in circles this is the perfect time to rush them to your designated toilet spot!

If you happen to catch your puppy urinating or defecating on the floor and not in the designated area then just tell the puppy "no" in a growly voice and pick them up and move them to where they are allowed to go.

Some pups will be naturals and catch on very quickly, others can have quite a few accidents before finally learning what is expected of them. Never lose patience with them, they are not doing it to 'spite' you, they just simply don't understand what is expected of them.

When your dog does go in the correct place, whether it be on the paper or outside on the grass the most important thing is to praise praise praise! Make them think that they have just done the best thing in the entire world. Dogs respond a lot better being praised when they have done something right than scolded when they have done something wrong.

The biggest misconception when it comes to toilet training is to rub the dogs nose in its own excrement. DO NOT do this as it has no benefit whatsoever other than to show the dog that you are just being plain mean to it, they do not understand the concept of this sort of punishment.

The best time to take your dog out to urinate is after every nap time. Whether it be a designated nap time in a crate or the pup has just fallen asleep, you need to rush them to their 'spot' as soon as they are awake.

As for defecating, the best time would be around 20-30 minutes after eating, although this does vary a lot depending on the dog."

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Me only has accidents in the house every once in a while. For instance today they stayed out for about an hour. I always go out and make sure everyone does their business then I come inside and do chores and then depending on how long it has been I will try to encourage them to go again before coming inside. He will go outside sometimes but anyway they were outside for about an hour the pottied and I brought them in. We hung out around the house he had a small accident (pee) on the floor. I cleaned it because I didn't catch him but he knew it was bad because while I was cleaning he hid. Then I put everyone in their kennel after hanging out for about 2 hours so I could run 1 block up the street to the gas station for a snack and drink. I was gone max 10 minutes I came home put my stuff on the table walked to the dog room to let everyone out and he had pee an poop in the kennel. This happened twice today!

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Someone please help me with solutions! I will literally try everything to not have to get rid of him!

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You'd get rid of him because he messes in the house?

Sigh.

Okay, this is a rescue dog. Depending on where he was before he was rescued, he very likely spent all day, for many days, weeks, months, or even years, in a crate. When you have no option to pee or poo outside, you do what you have to. You pee and poo in the crate.

It's not natural for a dog to pee or poo where it sleeps. It's against their nature. In the wild, from day one the mother dog will take her newborn pups out of the den to pee and poo. They learn instantly not to do their business where they sleep.

But domesticated dogs aren't as lucky. They have to rely on the humans that buy them to teach them properly. Rescue dogs are even harder to train.

His crate has become his place to sleep and potty, because that's what he's been taught. You're going to have to un-teach this, and it's going to take time, a lot of patience, and a lot of attention. You're going to have to do more than just take them out, you're going to have to go out with him every time, and when he potties, praise like he just won the lottery.

When he pees inside his crate, a firm no (not shouting, just a NO!) take him out, use your potty command (pick one word, something easy like potty, or make, or go) say it over and over, and when he goes, praise, praise, praise!

Rescues require extra time and effort, and more patience and love than a puppy. If you can't put in the time and effort, do him a favor and find someone that will.

Good luck.

I have to add this. We just rescued a dog from Brazil. He's a little under a year old. He was found on the side of the road, his legs tied, a cola bottle around his neck, cutting him, and severe mange.

His mange was contagious, and the rescue that saved him had to keep him in quarantine, in a crate, in a separate room.

He survived, and then he got parvo. He survived that, and was about to be on his way here to us when he got tick disease. Three days in the animal hospital on IV, and a month of meds, and being once again kept inside, to prevent further exposure.

This little guy has been through hell and back. We knew he'd have issues, we knew we'd have to work with him. He's been here 2 weeks now. He's not potty trained. We're working on it, but it's not a big deal. If he never learns, it's not a big deal. If I have to clean up his pee and poo for the rest of his life, I'm fine with that.

Why? Because I love him!

I could have spent the $1400 I had to pay for his flight on a purebred dog from a breeder, one with no issues, one that would easily learn everything I taught. I chose our little 10 pound terrier rescue. I chose to have him here, and I knew that there may be things he never overcomes. I'm in it for the long haul, forever! That's what rescuing a dog is about.

Saying that you'd get rid of him if he doesn't stop pottying in his crate. I haven't been this upset about a post in a very long time.

I will literally try everything to not have to get rid of him!

This was a little off putting so to speak as it gives my the idea that you have little to no experience with handling dogs though I have to also agree with Alty part to .

" I haven't been this upset about a post in a very long time. "

One dog can be a handful though you have 5 plus the fact their all rescued, just make sure your not taking on too much handling responsibilities.

Also before we start note = My dog when we got her was one and a half roughly and some would say rescued, we also know the previous owner had been in a car accident and could no longer look after her. What we now believe is she was in the car with him when the accident happened.She goes completely mad when she here the howling of the wind during strong storms, running around the property and I have at least two times given her a sedative. Other than this she is completely prefect and I love her.
Ok now with you dog.

Unfortunately as you may know something's can not be fixed, if you have ever watched Casar Millan even he couldn't fix a few dogs and had to remove them from the owners, though he did try his best.

A Rescue dog is guess work unless you were the rescuer and saw where they came from. So guessing it could be down to

- your dog feels safer doing his business in the crate for some reason.
- Your dog was locked in a small area for days or weeks and could only poo and pee in that area, the same area he sleeps in.
- anxiety issues could be playing a factor , including having the other dogs there.
- Ex Dog fighting dog , which beings me back to the third point.

Now this can be possibly fixed though it is going to take time. Also saying this there are a few technique you could use from.

- Starter Technique = Getting him comfortable to his surrounding, this by placing his pee around the yard so he will want to possibly go outside of the crate , though as you have the other dogs there this is hard as their scent is also in the area.
- Starter Technique = Walking him around the area you want him to pee and poo in.
- Medium Level Technique = Watching him in the Crate and when he's about to go saying no or clap twice to three times which hopefully will startle but not scare him and removing him from the crate and taking him outside , if he does go outside then praise and reward him.
- High Level Technique = Not Recommended unless observed and all else fails including professional help , locking him outside of the crate period until he does his business outside of it then slowly re-intercrate the crate. Reason I say not recommended is , we don't have a clue why he does this and locking him out of the crate could make him worse.

I would also take dog courses if you haven't taken dog courses before.

This here is also a good video to watch ( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5mmj_-txwt8 ) and also this one

( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RAdUq16Jxc8 ) a few basics to understand.

Dchdman, bravo! Wonderful post. Wish I could rep you more than once.

You looked past the things I had issues with and you gave solid advice. This is why I value new members so much, a fresh perspective. After so many years here, so many posts that make your brain boil, you lose that perspective. I value yours a lot.

Great post!