house training a seven month old puppy

Question
We currently have our puppy in the garage.  We thought we had him on a system where we were taking him outside often enough, but it seems as though he comes back in the garage and goes not even ten minutes after we bring him back in.  When we take him outside, we are taking him to the same spot and telling him to go pee or go poop, but it doesn't seem to work all the time, and even when it does work, he will still go in the garage after bringing him in.  When he does go outside, we do reward him with treats.  My finance is ready to build a pen for him outside since he won't stop going in the garage, but I feel terrible having a dog outside.  How can we break him of this?

Answer
When dogs are given too much freedom, be it garage or house, they learn to eliminate there. He needs to be confined in a smaller area which he won't want to soil, such as a crate. However, it is very difficult to housebreak a dog when it is not with you so that you can see (and hear) its signals that it needs to go outside.

I guess I am curious as to why you want a dog at all if it is going to spend all its time in the garage.... a *very* dangerous place for an animal if the garage is actually used to park vehicles that can leak toxic fluids.

First, make sure that your dog does not have a bladder infection that is causing these problems. Feed him at the same time(s) every day, and keep a journal of his potty habits so that you have a better handle of when he needs to eliminate. Be aware that some dogs are two-time, or even three-time, poopers. In other words, they do not totally eliminate at one time. If yours is one of these and you bring him back in before he is totally done, he will naturally finish the job inside. If you take him outside and he does not eliminate, put him back in his crate and try him again thirty minutes later.

Here is more information on housebreaking: http://www.inch.com/~dogs/housebreaking.html

http://www.peteducation.com/article.cfm?cls=2&cat=1548&articleid=157