She is making me crazy.

Question
Hi-
I own a 13 week old Scotty. She has such a great personality and she is such a good dog, except for one thing. She doesn't seem to want to potty train. We have gotten to where she will potty outside when I tell her to and she doesn't potty inside as much as she used to but I think that her biggest problem is that she is soiling in her crate. I think that when we got her she was used to soiling in her crate. I take her out first thing in the morning and she will go then about every hour after that, except for when I go to work and I am only gone for 5 hours at the most. That seems to work, but she still goes in her crate and on the floor when she feels like it. She won't tell me that she needs to go except for first thing in the morning. Any suggestions?

Answer
Debbie -

How big is her crate ??  You may need to use a smaller crate til she gets bigger. Dogs often will not potty in their crate if it's just big enough for them to turn around in, and no more.  You'll need the normal sized crate again once she is crate trained, so you could buy a creapo one for this puppy stage.

There is no way that a puppy this little will know enough to tell you when she has to potty.  She probably will pick up on that as she gets older in a few months, but for now you are in charge of taking her out regularly so she doesn't have accidents in the house.

Please don;t think of this as a willful act on her part, she is way too young to be doing it "on purpose".  

You should always take her out 15-20 minutes after feeding her, so you may need to move her feeding time if you've been feeding her just before you leave for work.

Hope this gives you some ideas.

-Beth