My dog pees in the house and in the crate

Question
I have a 1 1/2 year old male dachshund. We can leave him outside for hours and when we let him in he runs and pees in the floor. We can crate him and if we put a blanket in the crate with him for him to sleep on he pees on the blanket and pushes it to the back of the crate. We thought maybe the crate is to large so we made it smaller and he still pees on anything we put in there for him to lay on. It doesn't seem to bother him to lay in his own pee. We have an older dog who is fully house broken who has a blanket in a corner of the kitchen floor. I have to watch him constantly to make sure he doesn't pee on her blanket. The only thing I have figured out is if we let him sleep in the bed between us with the older dog at the foot of the bed he won't pee in the bed.

I just don't know what else to try. I can't trust him in the house and I am not having any luck crate training him unless I just make him lay on the cold hard plastic. I can take him from the crate and put him straight outside and have watched him go to the bathroom. When he comes in 9 times out of 10 he will go again on the carpet. What else can I try?

Answer
Hello -

I think the cold hard plastic is going to have to be it for a while.  But don't worry, it won't hurt him.  First, take him to the vet and make sure he has no health problems such as a Urinary Tract Infection, then I suggest starting from scratch on the crate training.  And of course he doesn't pee in the bed; he is getting what he wants!  Dogs don't necessarily punish us, but they do have interesting ways of letting us know how they feel.

How is he with everything else as far as being trained?  Is he leash trained or does he just have a retractable leash he can run around on?  Does he have to wait for attention, or do you just let him jump up in your lap and take it?  Do you carry him or pick him up and move him when you want him to do something?  Does he seem jealous of the other dog getting attention?  Without these answers I can't really give you an exact answer.  What I do want to say is, if he isn't trained in all the other areas, this is only a symptom of a bigger problem.  Dogs who are insecure with their position in the family are more prone to behavior problems (not saying this is true in this case or not).

The best way I have found to crate train is: Take him out of the crate every 30 minutes.  If he does his business, then he gets to play in the house for 30 minutes (being carefully watched though).  If he doesn't go to the bathroom, then it is back in the crate for 15 minutes and try again.  After 30 minutes of play take him out to go to the bathroom, if he goes, more play in the house, if not, back in the crate.  Crates are not for punishment ever!  They are supposed to be a safe place that is all their own.  Also, do not allow water to be readily available to him at all times while crate training.  Put it up after he drinks and limit the number of times he drinks during the day and do not allow him to drink for at least 45 minutes before bed.  Bedtime is the only time he should be going long periods of time without coming out every 30 minutes.  For a week or so you may want to take him out once in the middle of the night to potty.  And make sure he goes outside immediately after eating or drinking!

Never punish him for peeing after the fact.  he will not understand and end up learning only that it is bad for you to see him go to the bathroom.  If you catch him doing it, make a loud noise with your hands and firmly say no and take him outside.  Also, if you are going to be gone for a long time and you can, leave him outside ( as long as the weather permits).

I hope I have helped at least a little.  I understand how frustrating it can be to have this sort of problem.  Good Luck!