1st dog ever!

[Kissyfur]

I just got my first dog. He is 9 weeks old. I have several cats and have had cats my whole life so the dog thing is quite new to me. Im sure I will have tons of questions for all you experienced dog owners!
first problem.
He sleeps in his crate at night and pees on the paper. i take him outside constantly and have newspaper on several floor locations. he refuses to go outside. He has decided to pee in many locations on my carpets! help!

[JennKBM]

Congratulations! :)

How often are you taking him outside to relieve himself? What do you/him do while your out there? (Do you play with him, give him time to go, etc.?) Are you trying to encourage him to pee on the paper?

[Kissyfur]

He either just lays down or sits there. I encourage him to walk around, etc. He will hold himself for hours while we are outside and wait till we come inside to go??

[ACDlover]

dogs dont achieve bladder control until they are at least 3-4 months old even then thats early. puppies need to use the bathroom every 3-4 hours. so you just have to keep taking him out. but start training him now even though he will have accidents so that he knows what he is supposed to do when hes capable of it.

[CodyzMom]

We had the same issue w/ our Pup. He was pretty fond of newspaper, not so much of the outdoors! We have been crate training him, and it has helped alot w/ "potty training".

[Playdog]

hi!

i would rigidly crate train him for a week or two (it definitely shouldn't take longer than that).

meaning: he will be in his crate, then taken out and if he does his business then he gets the run of the house for half an hour or so (always supervised) - if he doesn't pee/ poo then he gets put back in the crate. then taken out again half an hour later.

the point of crate training is to prevent accidents in the house.

you should obviously never scold your pup for relieving himself inside - rather scold yourself :) silly owner ;) (just joking) for not managing him better.

i wouldn't take him out for hours unless he peed/ pooped. the reward for relieving himself outside should be the walk (and you should lavishly praise your pup and give him some amazing treat like chicken breast for peeing in the right spot!

think about it: right now, your dog has no reason to relieve himself outside, you need to make that really rewarding for him by throwing a little party if he does it in the right spot and preventing any accidents in the wrong spot!

good luck.

check out ian dunbar's how to teach a new dog old tricks (a puppy owner's must have... you need to socialize your pup adequately and start training him now, the best methods are reward-based, and top of the list is clicker training).

have fun.

[Evanescence]

My friend had a problem like this, and when I went to see her puppy, I saw he had an XLG crate for an XSM puppy! If there's room for the pup to pee at one end of its kennel and sleep somewhere at the other it may just do that. In this case, I might suggest investing in a mid-sized kennel until the pup grows into the bigger one. The kennel should be big enough for the dog to stand and turn around in. The right sized kennel also makes the dog feel more secure.

Also, it may just take a lot of waiting outside for the pup to pee. Mine took about 30 mins the first few times I sat staring at her, but she really needed to associate the praise with going outside. I kept her on a leash....booooring...for me as well as her, so she couldn;t have fun romping or sniffing around the backyard, but after I waited a few time, she got the messsage loud and clear, and was relatively well housebroken very quickly.