dog training

Question
Hello,

  I have purchased an english bulldog aprox. 4 weeks ago.  His name is Brutus and he is 12 weeks old.  i love this little boy like my son.  Heck i even call him my son, but I am about to ship him off to bording school.  We are in the process of crate training him but it is no use.  He will litterally go outside do both #1&2. Then return to my living room and do the exact same thing on my floor.  We have tried leaving him out longer but the same thing every time.  He will show promise for a few days.  He will go to the door bark and then go outside.  Then A total 180.  i have always heard that dogs don't like to use the restroom where they sleep or eat.  Well Brutus will sit in his urine and eat.  We have another dog that was not even near this hard to train.  Now brutus is our only indoor pet.  He is also starting the barking thing.  He used to go to his crate and go to sleep.  it was in our room, but after the barking started he went into the spair room at the other end of the house.  he also has a problem with biting.  We have an at home daycare so you know that don't fly.  Please help.  I have heard there is a spray that will help train a dog to use certain locations.  Is this true?  If so where can I purchase this miracle of science.


Thank You,

Justin

Answer
You certainly expect an awful lot from a 12 week old puppy, Bulldog or not. Let's take this one issue at a time.

HE'S A BABY! If you're seeing any results at all with crate/house training at this age, consider yourself lucky. Bulldogs are notoriously difficult to house train, some more than others. They are also little pigs. They're not particular about sleeping in their own mess as long as it doesn't interfer with their meals! You need to continue as you're doing and eventually, he'll come around, but don't expect any consistency until he's around 5-6 months old.

Now, the barking....HE'S A PUPPY....and he doesn't like being left alone.  The biting is also a "puppy thing".  Consider that the only interaction a puppy has is with it's littermates.  What do they do? Bark at each other and chew on each other! Until he learns that this is unacceptable behavior, he doesn't know any better. You're going to have to put some real effort into teaching him what is "going to fly" and what isn't.  

For some reason, people expect Bulldog puppies to be laid back, quiet and not hard to deal with. "WRONG"....they're no different than any other puppy, more stubborn than some, and just as rough until they are taught differently.

There's no spray that I'm aware of that works for your situation. There are no short cuts. It's consistency, positive reinforcement and patience that works.  If you run a daycare, apply the same concepts in dealing with your puppy as you do with the little ones.

If there's a puppy daycare in your area, you might consider taking there a few days a week. I also highly recommend obedience classes when he's a bit older, around 4-5 months.