dog pottying in house and crate

Question
2 weeks ago, I adopted a yorkipoo non neutered 2 year old male dog from a woman who stated that if he stays on a schedule, he doesn't have accidents in the house.  We have never caught him urinated in front of us but found 2 wet spots in various places in the house as well as in his crate where we put him if we have to leave for a short time and he cannot come with us. We put him in the crate as he gets anxious when we leave the house and will scratch the door repeatedly so we figured it would be a better place for him.  He hates to go in his crate..we pretty much have to push him all the way in when its time to go in. Today he was in there for about 3 hours and he urinated and pooped inside of his crate.  He goes outside many, many times a day so its not that he doesn't go outside enough because he does.  We have an appt to get him neutered this week, but my husband is already ready to boot him out the door for his potty problems.  He has been sleeping on our bed at night but I get nervous during the night if I hear him get off the bed and I call him back up.  I read that if I feel that I cannot trust him, to crate him at night so we are going to do that from now on at night time.  Could it be that he was never properly potty trained? The last owner said she had him for a year and he is now 2.  He gets nervous sometimes and will squirt a little urine when we call him to get on his leash to go outside also.  Any ideas? I do not want to get rid of him if it is something I can correct.  Thanks so much for your help.

Answer
Hello Jade,

As your husband would agree, a 2 year old dog should be potty trained. When I encounter such a problem and if medical problems have been ruled out, then it is generally a stress related problem.

First getting him neutered should help.

Second, although your Yorkipoo is aggravating you, I can assure you, that you are stressing him. In some manner you have him confused about his fit in your home (pack). One clue is that he's been sleeping in your bed. Is he your dog or your child? The signal your dog would receive is that he is certainly of equal status to you and your husband since he shares your bed. Does he have a crate or a mini condo? Normally if a dog soils his crate then the owners have made it too big.

The best strategy is to keep him in a small crate when you can't watch him. Take him out on a regular schedule and praise him when he does business in the proper place. Walk him daily at a heel and work with him on basic core commands especially the "down". Try and ignore him more and be very sparing with your affection.

In summary, your dog needs to know that he can look to you for strong leadership. He is in a new home and unless he can look to you for strength (not affection) he will exhibit stressed out behavior such as soiling your home.

Good Luck!

Sandy

For further guidance, read: http://perfectdogtraining.com/Training Tips.htm