german shepard toilet training

Question
we have recently bought our first german shepard who is 12 months old.we also have a collie. when zeus the shepard is left downstairs overnight he poo's all over. we need some advice on how to stop this and toilet train him properly. i dont think this problem was dealt with by the previous owners or could it just be that he is unsettled due to him only having been here a couple of days? any help is much appreciated

Answer
Hi Neil, You need to start potty training Zues.  Start off at night keep him in a crate so that he will learn to control himself.  After a couple of weeks of staying in a crate at night, you can expand it into leaving him in a small room, like a bathoom, laundry or something like that, again using the concept of keeping a den area clean (that is what the crate teaches him).  After a couple of weeks in a small room, then you can work your way up to a bigger room.  It just takes time to slowly get him integrated into what you want at your home.  The other owners might have just had him running loose in a yard at night or something like that so he never had to control it.  Hope this helps, and good luck.

Dawn