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I have a new JRT. Hes 4 months. He super playful and excited and doesnt ever sit down. I also have a 16 month old lab female. They get along amazingly. They even crate together sometimes (never unsupervised, Luna could kill Blue instantly if she was annoyed).
The issue we are having is with house training. I thought we did everything right with Luna, our female adult lab, she never has accidents in her crate unless shes sick. However there have been times, even recently when she peed in the house. Upstairs on the carpet 1 times and in the entryway 1 time. We were home both time but she doesnt go to the door and ask to go out. She just waits for us to take her out and if we don't she pees. The time she peed upstairs it wasnt even that long since the last time she was out and it was during a time we are usually at work and shes crated so i feel like it wasnt an urgency issue. How do i train her to see our house as her den and not have accidents? And train her to ask to go out.
We tried bells on the door. We tried to teach her to bark right before we took her out. We tried to teach her to hit the door. None of it took.
With the male JRT puppy, we are struggling to get him to understand the concept and abide by the concept of the crate. He just pees in there with no regard. I just made it smaller since he had too much space before. This morning, at 4 am i went down to take them out and he has peed and was all wet. He doesnt seem to care all that much. He knows what i want from him when i take him out. When i go down at 4 to let them out he starts kicking his feet before i even put him down outside because hes in a hurry to pee. I know he can only hold it so long, and i accept that but sometimes hes pees in his crate after only 15 or 20 minutes in there.
The Lab might either have a medical issue like a UTI, or she may be acting out -- perhaps she's not as happy about having another dog in the house as you may think. I'd probably take her to the vet to rule out the first, and then think about how to approach the latter if there's nothing medically wrong.
The JRT is only four months old so his bladder might not be big enough (or his self-control may not be developed enough) to last through the night. It isn't any fun, of course, but with younger puppies, we do get up to give them a pit stop after about 5 hours. That seems to me about the max they can be expected to hold it until they get a LITTLE bit older. At five months maybe you could try all the way through the night again and see what happens.
I do see what you wrote about the 15-20 minutes in the crate and then peeing. Are you sure he's empty when you put him in there? (I suspect you are sure; just asking.)
None of this may turn out to be accurate in your case but those are my current guesses.
The Lab might either have a medical issue like a UTI, or she may be acting out -- perhaps she's not as happy about having another dog in the house as you may think. I'd probably take her to the vet to rule out the first, and then think about how to approach the latter if there's nothing medically wrong.
The JRT is only four months old so his bladder might not be big enough (or his self-control may not be developed enough) to last through the night. It isn't any fun, of course, but with younger puppies, we do get up to give them a pit stop after about 5 hours. That seems to me about the max they can be expected to hold it until they get a LITTLE bit older. At five months maybe you could try all the way through the night again and see what happens.
I do see what you wrote about the 15-20 minutes in the crate and then peeing. Are you sure he's empty when you put him in there? (I suspect you are sure; just asking.)
None of this may turn out to be accurate in your case but those are my current guesses.
Luna, the lab, has been just randomly peeing since puppyhood. She doesnt ask to go out. Just wanders around in hopes someone will notice her. If noone volunteers to take her out she will just pee. And not in a pee in a hidden location kind of way, just pee wherever she is.
Yes he went out right before we put him in the crate. We never put him in there without going outside first. Clearly i did something wrong with Luna if she doesnt ask to go out so how do i teach him to ask? Thats the only thing i cant ever figure out.
I see. I misunderstood. I am not sure what to say, then. Our method is to set a timer for about 2-3 hours, depending on the pup's age, and take them out before it ever crosses their minds that they have to go -- also immediately after each nap -- and then praise-praise-praise (and even treats - though some trainers say "elimination is its own reward") when they go outside. If they have an accident indoors, we clean it up with the enzyme stuff, without a word of reprimand to the dog (but a mental note to ourselves that somehow, we pushed it too far). I don't really know how it happens, but eventually the accidents simply stop. We don't teach them to ask anything. I guess what we teach them is to believe that an opportunity is coming, sooner rather than later, to go outside, and they decided to wait.
The only thing in your second post that made me wonder is that you said that Luna "just wanders around in hopes someone will notice her." I know that is not "asking" to go out, but it sounds like there is a opportunity there to keep an eye on her more, and keep track mentally (or with a timer) of how long it's been for her. Speaking for myself, I know how easy it is to get absorbed (especially on a computer) and make the dog wait for too long.
Another thing to consider is a doggy door, if you have a good setup for that. That won't help for the dog while he/she is in the crate, but it seems to solve a lot of housebreaking problems for uncrated dogs.
Good luck. I suspect I haven't told you anything new here.
I see. I misunderstood. I am not sure what to say, then. Our method is to set a timer for about 2-3 hours, depending on the pup's age, and take them out before it ever crosses their minds that they have to go -- also immediately after each nap -- and then praise-praise-praise (and even treats - though some trainers say "elimination is its own reward") when they go outside. If they have an accident indoors, we clean it up with the enzyme stuff, without a word of reprimand to the dog (but a mental note to ourselves that somehow, we pushed it too far). I don't really know how it happens, but eventually the accidents simply stop. We don't teach them to ask anything. I guess what we teach them is to believe that an opportunity is coming, sooner rather than later, to go outside, and they decided to wait.
The only thing in your second post that made me wonder is that you said that Luna "just wanders around in hopes someone will notice her." I know that is not "asking" to go out, but it sounds like there is a opportunity there to keep an eye on her more, and keep track mentally (or with a timer) of how long it's been for her. Speaking for myself, I know how easy it is to get absorbed (especially on a computer) and make the dog wait for too long.
Another thing to consider is a doggy door, if you have a good setup for that. That won't help for the dog while he/she is in the crate, but it seems to solve a lot of housebreaking problems for uncrated dogs.
Good luck. I suspect I haven't told you anything new here.
No fence in our backyard (its a springtime project) so no doggy door. She can and should be able to hold it for 4 or 5 hours. sometimes she just...doesnt. I dont know what it is,
Give them plenty of opportunities to potty and give high value treats and effusive praise whenever they potty appropriately. Have a designated treat that you only use for pottying that they REALLY LIKE. They only get it when they go potty.
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