Pet Store Puppy

Question
We recently purchased a 4 month old puppy that had spent alot of time in the crate at petsmart.  She seems to have been trained to urinate in her cage and we are having trouble breaking her of this habit.  We walk her, but she will not urinate until she returns to the cage.  We praise her alot when she goes outside and really do not make a big deal out of the accidents, is there something were missing?  Thank you.

Answer
Hi Tom,
This can be one of the challenges with a pet store puppy since they learned to go potty in the crate. You sound very patient which is helpful. Never punish her for going potty in front of you, or she could be terrified to do that. Chart her progress (when she goes potty, how long she is in the crate, when she eats or drinks, etc.) and take her out very frequently to one location. Reward her heavily when she goes. You might also try puppy pads as an interim step and put the pad as close to the outside door as possible and then eventually move it outside as she gets comfortable going on it.

You also should set up a long-term confinement area when you are gone longer than she can hold it. The biggest thing you should focus on now is avoiding accidents in the crate.

You can get my streaming Housetraining video for only $7 at my website http://www.watchandtrain.com It includes a housetraining chart, detailed notes as well as more tips.

Hopefully this is helpful. Let me know if you have more questions. Good luck!