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I need help. I have 3 dogs of my own and the new dog in question is our 3rd foster dog. He is 2. He is SUCH a great dog we have decided to adopt him. ONE PROBLEM: He will not potty train. I understand being a foster dog there are underlining issues, so before anyone goes off on that angle, please be assured we have tried every method possible and I have spent days reading forum's, doctor reviews, lessons, training, medical issues, tricks, etc. I am absolutely STUMPED. I have tethered (indoor leashing) him too me for hours on end, I have crate trained him (does not mess in crate), I have reprimanded him, I have NOT reprimanded him, I have praised outdoor potty, I have checked into medical issue ( bladder infection not applicable ), we have installed a dog door ( full non-stop access to a half acre ), we go outside with him, we encourage "good" outside behavior by pointing and petting, we love him and pay non-stop attention to him to the point of exhaustion, we give him "rewards" for good outside potty, we have sprayed 'no-potty' on repeat locations in case of prior dog offense (marking) etc. WHAT NOW. It has been MONTHS and I've NEVER had a dog that did not 'get - it' after this long. In the morning when the dog door is shut and I have to open the door for the dogs he will literally go out, turn around and scurry quickly through my fingers slipping back inside, pee on the fridge and run back out. He will spend 3 hours playing outside with the other dogs....come in for lunch and pee on another dog while I'm standing in front of him stirring his food. With full access to the yard, out all day with the other dogs, he will literally pee all day outside, but it seems as if he's SAVING some too pee the minute he walks in OR he goes for the indoor water ( we have indoor and outdoor), fills up and walks directly to me sitting at my office chair and pee's on the chair within 30 seconds of being inside ( my office chair being 3 feet from dog door ). We are set on adoption. He is an AMAZING dog besides this issue. Each training exercise we have given time and patience to ( about a month each avenue working daily at it ), hoping it will be the avenue that makes sense too him. We are coming upon winter and his access to outside will become more limited, and I do not believe in keeping 3 dogs inside and warm and leaving one outside in the elements. This is MORE than a daily offense, if I have him tethered beside me ALL day (6am-8pm), taking breaks every HOUR to go outside he will still find a way to urinate 1-3 times a day inside even if it's on my foot because I turned my head. I am reading that reprimanding is THE WORST so I have to just wait and watch and THEN take him outside. We are now at 1/2 hour outdoor breaks whenever he is inside and it's TOO MUCH. I cannot spend ANY more time in a given day monitoring his actions. He is THE BEST dog and has become best friends with our entire family. I spend about 50 minutes of every hour STARING at him whether it be inside or outside monitoring this situation. He will pee 5x outside ( or mark ) and I wait another 15 minutes, nothing, so we walk inside and he pee's on the door frame. BACK OUTSIDE we go. Every day for the past three months I have not gotten anything done. My normal routine is out the window. Has ANYBODY had this much issue with potty training? I have tried every 'SURE FIRE' method and read everything I can get my hands on. I'm still cleaning up urine 1-3 times a day if it's a good day and up to 8x a day if it's a bad day.....with non-stop training, monitoring, and open access to a half acre. He will literally pee ON me after urinating 4+ times outside the minute I sit down, after we've been outside 2 hours. Yes, I'm aware he could not be urinating but marking the entire time outside, but after 2 hours of waiting outside, I'm done staring and ready to go in. He can't possibly have this much urine. Are diapers my only option????? And again, we have looked at medical and there is no medical issue at hand. The nice days that he's playing outside with the dogs all day CURRENTLY, he will walk in and pee before he's even walked 5 feet in the kitchen. Help. He deserves cuddling, playtime and fun. I do not want him crated all day or outside all day, he deserves to be treated as well (family time) as our other dogs. Before you say something rude or that is not in the realm of advice, please re-read every avenue we have tried above, I'm honestly looking for SPECIFIC Help as all the Tried and True or sure-fire methods have not been help as of yet. Thank you for your time and advice.
IF what you saying is confusing to me how you think the dog feels! You need to Pick one way & do it the same way Every time. And BTW spending 3 hours outside playing & then coming inside to pee Not the dogs fault. YOU need to go out & Stop the play & Command him to potty Before you bring him inside. Once he Pees & Poos TREAT him either food or High praise. Then bring him in. Yes getting him fixed will help. In the mean time Every time he lifts his leg inside Firmly say NO Don't scream it... then take him out let him finish & praise. Once he gets on the correct path You need to keep doing it for at least 60 days. 1 mistake you have to start the count over again.
Absolutely keep a belly band on him for now. Don't take it off until he is outside, and put it back on him before he comes through the door.
Honestly if it were me (and I have done this before - because a foster who marks doesn't get a home - except with you!) I would re-train him like a puppy. Crate time, directly to belly band, directly outside on leash, back in to crate time.
How big is he? If he is small enough to carry from crate to outside that would be easier. I would do this for weeks, no checking to see if he learned anything in the meantime. Do not give him a chance to make a mistake. If you can stand it for 6 weeks, even better.
Take him outside 3-4 times a day, and do not allow him to mark outside. Just potty, and exercise like crazy. If he needs to be off leash for exercise and gets distracted and must mark put the belly band on after he pees.
In the scheme of things I really think it is the only sure way to break what I am guessing is a bad habit. Many dogs have to be in crate rest after surgery, or heartworm treatment. It is not cruel if used as a learning tool. I hate the use of them in place of attention, but as a tool the work wonders.
I would avoid use of the dog door for him for now, since it gives him too much freedom to mark.
Every time he gets a chance to mark he is reinforcing the behavior. Once you have gone at least 3 weeks without a mark, or attempted mark (belly band save), you will know you are on the right track.
Oftentimes when people say they have tried everything, they tend to try it for 3 days, or a week, or add it to a combo of other things they try, and it gets confusing. Try to keep it simple. Do EVERYTHING in your power to not let him reinforce this behavior one.more.time.
Once he has relearned, you could take him for walks to mark, or whatever you choose. However once a marker, in a multidog household, you may have to always manage him, and give him less freedom (meaning you Control where he is at all times).
Definitely not crate for any longer than six weeks I would say, after that if he isn't still insisting on it..... maybe just belly band forever? I know people with multi dog households especially with small dogs, and that is their life.
He is un-fixed male ( of which we are needing to correct now unfortunetly, I know it is harder on them later in life but he has been through two owners whom didn't care enough to get him any shots, potty train him or fix him ) so I know some of this is due to 'marking', we have been blessed by having two male dogs so far that do not mark but I am aware it is an issue ( He goes in for surgery Monday ). Picking the same way and doing it everytime ( the second response ) did not work 45 days in, which is why we switched, so that did not help, nor does telling him to go to the bathroom before we come in because he's going EVERYWHERE the entire time he's outside and we do praise him as said above, ( by the way I'm sorry too see you recently lost a family member) :-(. To the woman above, THANK YOU for not verbally chastising me. He is about 45 pounds so carrying him is a chore but.....BELLY BAND! Thank you so much!! I'm ordering one today. I will begin again as if he were a puppy. Leash from room to room with me with the belly band on and frequent trips outside ( along with potty praise ) until we are at an understanding. Getting him fixed will take out some of the frustration, but it was more the urination than the marking I was concerned with so I tried to focus on that for my post. I will go back to restricting the dog door also, we haven't had it long so that should not be an issue, ugh, hopefully the next three months is better thanks to this! Much love!
P.s. Buy 2 belly bands, or 3! At least one will be in the wash far too consistently at first.
I don't know of anyone who has used the dog pheromones plug in, but they might be worth looking into. Anything to keep him calmer should help some.
When I have met dogs that are obsessive about marking I see them as stressed. He may do it only until he Finally realizes he is home at last. Fingers crossed.
Absolutely keep a belly band on him for now. Don't take it off until he is outside, and put it back on him before he comes through the door.
This. One of the things you are trying to do is break him of the habit of marking, and that does sound like what he trying to with peeing on your chair and your foot. This means you need to do the above for at least 4-6 weeks without break. I had to do this with my newest little man and at the 6 week mark started gradually bringing him in without putting the belly band on more and more frequently. He didn't stop wearing it at night until about the 4 month mark. It is frustrating, it is so much easier to teach a puppy who has never failed at house breaking than to fix the problem after a former owner made a muck of it. I do think getting him fixed helped also.
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It is marking. A few things you wrote such as "he will literally go out, turn around and scurry quickly through my fingers slipping back inside, pee on the fridge and run back out" and "so we walk inside and he pee's on the door frame" define the situation perfectly.
Since it is marking, that's the behavior you are dealing with, and taking him outside to pee a million times of day won't change that because he's not thinking about peeing - he's thinking about the need to mark his territory.
The two-edged sword is that every time you clean up his mark, he has to put it back. Although zoos are a different scenario, many keepers now leave marking zones alone and do not clean them daily. With lions for example, this has reduced the stress of males (and females who mark). However, we can't leave mark zones as is in our homes.
However, this does not mean you're doomed!
Although he is older, I do suggest neutering. The hormonal change may help him feel less stressed about the need to mark and lay territorial claim. It may be that since he is intact and the others aren't, he may feel this never-satisfied need to mark over and over again because the others aren't doing it. Maybe that's confusing to him, that perhaps he feels that he needs to be in the role of pack leader, but that he doesn't really want the job. Many dogs don't.
You may want to bolster his confidence, help him fully accept where he is in the pecking order of the pack. You're the pack leader, and it sometimes can take a long time for a newbie to figure out where he is in the pack's order. Which of your other two is more dominant? Although all your dogs get along, there is a pack order.
I would also suggest establishing a routine. Dogs thrive on that. As pack leader, you're in charge. You're the one that provides all the survival needs. At feeding time, and do establish definite feeding times, put down the food dishes in a particular order and in specific places for each dog - do it exactly the same way every time. Perhaps keep the doggie door closed and not allow coming and going at will, instead allowing access on whatever kind of regulated timeline you set up.
Because you're dealing with an emotion-based behavior and not a physical one, it will be a bit more of challenge. When he marks, just keep in mind that he's not peeing inappropriately and relieving his bladder - that's not the relief he's feeling, so no amount of "punishments" nor reprimands nor going outside immediately is going to change that.
We adopted a stray dog that was about 3 years old, never neutered. He was a marking fool. Drove me nuts. Once he was neutered, he stopped marking. Thank GOODNESS. Just wanted to reassure you that even a dog with well-established marking tendencies may lose interest once he is neutered. Your mileage may vary, of course.
Wish I had known about belly bands back then. I definitely would have bought several of them. Amazon has a number of different types, and you can read reviews of them.
Good luck! Thank you for not giving up on this dog!
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At least one will be in the wash far too consistently at first.
