Crate or not to crate a 5 month old Shih Tzu

Question
QUESTION: Our family just got a shih tzu puppy at 3 months old, and he was not crate trained except for bedtime.  He was paper trained. We never continued the paper training and have had him for 2 months.  We are training him to go potty outside. We have him on a schedule, but he still has accidents and marks certain spots in the house.  How do I stop the accidents?  Should I start to crate train him?  If so, how do I train him at this point?  If not, what do you suggest I do?

ANSWER: If your dog is crated at night he is crate-trained. He is pottying in the house because no one is watching him and letting him out when he needs to potty... and dogs can get just as lazy as we do. Most of us really do not want to go out into the cold. Also, you should make sure that he does not have a bladder infection... unusual in a puppy, but always a possibility.

You need to go back to Square One and start housebreaking from scratch. Put him out first thing in the morning, after he eats, after he wakes, and after he plays. Do not allow him run of the house, and put him in his crate when he cannot be watched. Since he is older, he should be able to last much longer than a little puppy, but don't fall into the trap of "he is older so he knows what we want"... and then start treating him like an adult. I would put him out at least every two hours, maybe even once an hour initially. Also keep a journal of when he potties so that you have a better idea of when he really needs to go outside. Most dogs tend to eliminate about the same time every day. Watch for signs of him sniffing or circling and get him out ASAP if you see him do that. Go out with him so that he can be praised when he potties outside. If he doesn't potty, and you think he is due, put him back into his crate and try him again in 30 minutes.

Try to keep him away from his favorite "marking" spots and clean those areas very well with an enzyme cleaner. (ie. if a bedroom, block the room off with a door or babygate). And if this is actual marking, as opposed to needing to urinate, you might want to consider having him neutered sooner rather than later, as some males can get into the habit of being very bad markers. Usually these are more dominate dogs. You might have to put him into a belly band. http://www.showpaps.com/bellybands.html

http://www.inch.com/~dogs/cratetraining.html

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: We stopped crating at nite and he sleeps through the nite w/out peeping. How do I re-introduce him to the crate. He resists on going in it and yelps.  

Answer
Feed him in the crate, and give him toys and things to chew on in there. Never use it for punishment. I gave you a link on crate-training in my previous post. Here it is again: http://www.inch.com/~dogs/cratetraining.html

Give him a treat every time you put him in it (initially only... not necessarily 'til the end of time, unless you wish to). Since he cries, I would start this when you are going shopping or something so that you don't have to listen to him the first time. NEVER let him out when he is fussing or misbehaving in any way as that will reinforce the bad behavior.