7 week old rat terrier

Question
Yes I have A 7 week old rat terrier Papp-e.When he came home I let him sleep inside the house in a kennel with a bed. He did fine but when I went to sleep I left it open so he could go in and out and eat his food I put scented pads down for him to poop and pee which he did for most of the night but when I woke up he pooped every where. Am I feeding him to much? I now let him sleep in the garage in the kennel and feed him 4 times a day and night outside and I also feed him outside is this the right gesture to make him a house dog for now?

Answer
Michiko -

Your pup does not know what is expected of him yet. At 7 weeks he's just a little past the age where his mom would clean up behind him.

You should keep him in the house if you expect him to become housetrained.  You should barricade him into a limited space such as a bathroom with either an x-pen or a baby gate.  Someplace easy to clean if he misses the pads.  I usually close the crate at night too.

To get him into a good outside pottying pattern, you need to time the potty trips well - I always do it about 10 minutes after feeding and at least every hour during the hours you are awake.  When he does go potty outside, give a really good tiny treat - like a tiny piece of cheese (the size of an eraser of a pencil - and praise him in a happy voice.

In this way, you are making pottying outside something that he is receiving positive reinforcement for.

If you catch him starting to go inside, take him outside immediately.  Treat if he then potties outside, but don't fuss at him if he doesn;t.

Housetraining may take weeks, so you need to be patient.  I doubt very much that you are feeding too often, but once he reaches his adult size, you need to be careful not to let him get fat.... and of course neuter him.

-Beth