Puggle potty training

Question
Barb,
   I have a real dilemma involving our puggle. We adopted Charlie from the dog pound almost a year ago. He is estimated to be about 2 years old now and not neutered. We are having serious issues with him going to the bathroom in the house and cannot seem to get him to stop. We have tried crate training, taking him out first thing in the morning, every few hours during the day and at night before we go to bed. Sometimes he will go outside but most of the time we are catching him going around the house. We will let him out on his run for 20-30 minutes and he will immediately come back in and either pee or poop inside the house. We have tried taking his pee and poop outside immediately after he has done his business to try and tell him to go outside but that doesn't seem to work either. He has an affinity for peeing on bags...plastic, garbage, backpacks, anything that sits on the ground. He also likes peeing in corners...on chairs, couches, whatever. The worst part is he will do it right in front of us. We are at our wits end and are on the verge of giving him away because we are afraid our house is going to smell like pee. When the weather is bad he refuses to go off the porch to do his business...he will do it right on the porch. Charlie is a loveable dog and would be perfect IF HE WERE POTTY TRAINED. When he does soil in the house we are using proper cleaning methods to neutralize the smell, but he continues to find other places to go. What can we do? We are afraid that he is set in his ways and will never be potty trained. Is this the case? Any advice or methods you can give us would be greatly appreciated because we told our children tonight that we are going to have to give him away and they were devastated. Thank you for your time and any advice or guidance you can pass along.

Adrianne

Answer
First, neuter your dog.  Once you have him housetrained, neutering should help reduce the desire for marking.

You have a big job ahead of you since Charlie has been using your house as his toilet for a year.  Since he does it right in front of you, he has no idea that this is wrong.  In addition to housetraining, you'll need to teach him to tell you has to go outside.  

Go back to Housetraining 101.  You'll need a crate or other small confinement area, like an exercise pen or a laundry room where he's never pottied closed off with a baby gate.  Charlie should not be allowed any free access to rooms that he's eliminated in.  He should not be allowed ANY freedom in the house unless you are there to monitor him.  If you see him sniffing areas that could be a problem, interrupt and take him outside.

You must always go outside with Charlie (on leash if necessary to get him off the porch) when you believe he has to eliminate - or at least every 2 hours when you are home.  Stand with him for 3 minutes.  If he potties, he gets a treat and some play time in the yard and some freedom in the house.  If he does not, he goes back to his crate or confinement area. Don't allow him freedom to move around the house if you're not certain his bladder is empty.  The key here is that you must go outside with him.

If you can do all this for one month and there are no accidents, you can begin to allow Charlie some limited freedom in the house - one room at a time.

If you're free feeding (leaving food out all day), stop.  This adds to the randomness of having to poo.  Put his food bowl down for 10 minutes in the morning and in the evening.  Pick up what he hasn't eaten after that time.  Be sure the food he's on is a high quality food with no corn in the ingredients.  A better food will make less waste to clean up.  Good dog foods have no corn and no by-products on the label.  If you do change foods, do so gradually so as not to upset his system.

While you're closely managing the environment, you should also teach him a skill to tell you he needs to go outside.  Ringing a bell hanging from a doorknob is my favorite.  Here's an article I wrote with details on teaching this along with other tips for housetraining an adult dog:  http://www.azgreyhoundrescue.org/index.php/resources/articles/82-house-training-

So, key points for you:
1.  Management - control where he's allowed to roam and monitor him while you're home.
2.  Go outside with him every time and reward when he goes.
3.  Use confinement as necessary if he doesn't eliminate when you take him out.
4.  Teach him to ring a bell to tell you he has to go out.

The absolute last resort for housetraining problems would be for him to wear a belly band.  This does not teach him anything, but will help protect your house.

Please let me know if you have any questions.  Good luck.