QuestionMy husband and I have a 10 month old Sheltie we bought from a pet shop
when she was 4 1/2 months old. Since we brought her home we have been
doing the crate training method with some success. We spayed her at 6
months old and has had all her Vet's check ups. Right now she can stay for
up to 10 hour in the bedroom were her crate is or the whole night in our
bedroom and she can hold her self. During the day I take her outside every
4-6 hours and she does her business. The problem is that while she is
wandering around the house and we are there, she would pee or defecate in
the house. Sometimes she barks before and we take her outside, but
sometimes she does not warn us. Is this normal?? That she is able to hold it
for so long in some parts of our house but not in others??? When should I
expect her to go always outside and hold it always inside the house??? She
gets 30-45 min of exercise every day, can stay without barking most of the
day and does not bark at night, has no chewing problems and is very friendly.
Please help, I'm tired of cleaning with the enzymatic products the sell at pet
shops. Thanks!!!!!
AnswerClaudia,
I am sorry to hear you are having these problems, and not surprised that he is having issues like this when coming from a pet store environment. Please do not EVER buy from a PET STORE ever again, ok? That is a soapbox of mine that you can read in my other answers. I don't fault you, many of us do not realize what happens to puppies and their mothers from pet stores. The potty in the house thing could be a result of the pet store trauma.
Now, do you restrict food and water during the day or do you leave it out? I'm going to be that you leave it out. Do not do that. You are only doing half the crate method.
The MOST important part of the crate method is to take them out as soon as you get up, walk them until they do their business. THEN bring inside and offer water. After he drinks take him back outside in half an hour and walk him until he does business. Let him play normally. Take him out frequently and get a feel for what time he is going potty.
Set a mealtime in the evening that you can do every day and be consistent. Before that evening mealtime walk him for a period to offer him a chance to go potty. Then bring him inside and offer him One and a half cups of quality dog food with meat as the first ingredient. Leave it out for 5 minutes. Then take it back if he doesn't finish it.
Next, walk him about 10 minutes after dinner. See if he needs to potty and give him a long time to try. Watch him closely when he is inside. Wait a half hour and try again.
He should potty anywhere from 10 minutes to 2 hours after eating. You need to get a good idea of when this happens. He wants to please you but he has to potty sometime. The crate and food restriction method makes it easy because you control when he has to go by how much food goes in and when.
(As for the crate, try never to leave them in over 8 hours if possible. That is about as long as most dogs can go without going potty.)
It is very time consuming up front. When you figure out his cycles with the new food regiment then it just works so easily. Expect an accident on occasion even when it works. We haven't had an accident in two years outside of getting sick.
I hope this helps!
Dave
