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Permalink Reply by Beth on June 27, 2009 at 11:53am

Hmm. How long is he in his crate before he eliminates in it? Is it possible you might just be asking him to hold it a little longer then he is capable of? Usually a confined pup can hold it for the number of hours that corresponds to his age in months, but if they are just getting the hang of things they might not make it quite that long.

Are his poops firm or squishy? Most dogs hate to eliminate where they are standing, but if squishy he might have an upset tummy. Or perhaps his breeder kept the pups in an area where they couldn't leave their sleeping/play area to eliminate and he got used to it. However, if he is whining after he pees, it is quite likely that he is whining because standing in his own pee upsets him.

There is also a possibility of urinary tract infection. My parents' dog had one when she was a pup. She was doing great with housebreaking til she was 3 months old then started to get worse again. They then found traces of blood in her urine, and it was an infection. Puppies are prone to them because their little bits are so close to the ground, I believe.

I doubt you've done anything horribly wrong. You sound like a very concerned Corgi parent. :-)

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Permalink Reply by Jessica on June 27, 2009 at 2:47pm

I only have in in the crate overnight, in our bedroom so that I can count on him to wake us up when he needed to go out. This was working out really well because he would wake us up around 4-5 hours after we went down for the night to bring him out. Now, no wake up call though - he's just going in his crate and whining afterward! Heh, poor little guy got it backwards somewhere.

If we're gone for more then 4 or 5 hours during the day we have him in a blocked off hallway with another crate on one side and a training pad on the other. This setup works perfectly.. he sleeps on one side and uses the pad to eliminate on if he goes at all while we're out. I guess what I'm trying to say there is if we can't be around to take him out properly, then he goes into his little pen.

The poops are firm, but he was just diagnosed with roundworms on Thursday. The vet said that he was fine otherwise, but that his medication might make him puke or poop "spagetti". Ewe... Could that be affecting his crate habits?

Hmph... Thanks for the comforting words Beth, and thanks for the advice! BTW - how does your corgi signal that they need to go out? Since he's stopped whining before he needs to go maybe its time to come up with a new system we can all be happy with!

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Permalink Reply by Kyle, Megan and Loki on June 27, 2009 at 4:08pm

I have heard of people having trouble house training their dogs when they have worms and whatnot, as they can effect when they need to go/ the sensations on them a bit.

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Permalink Reply by Beth on June 27, 2009 at 4:32pm

The worms could definitely be causing confusion for him, as he might perhaps need to eliminate suddenly and not have advanced warning. Poor guy!

My dog is now 2, and he goes to the door and barks if he needs to go out. But also does so if he is bored, or wants to play, so it's maybe not the best solution! LOL. Just last week, he went to the door and barked and we thought he was just bored, because he'd just come back from a walk (now he's an adult, he really only needs to go out to eliminate 3-4 times a day, though we take him out more often if we are home just to keep him entertained). But it turns out he needed to puke and right after that he did so, right in front of the door. So, that's his method. However, when he was a very small puppy he did not ever ask to go out, at all. We always initiated it. Some people use a hanging bell for their dog to signal it needs to go out; you can look up how to train that online. At 11 weeks he might be a bit young for that, though. The time between when puppy thinks "I need to pee!" and "Hey, I'm peeing now!" is about 3 seconds. LOL

Crated puppies will sometimes have peeing accidents. You might try setting an alarm for about 4 hours after bedtime and taking him out to see if that helps. Jack normally made it through the night as a puppy, but not all of them can. Within a few weeks you should be able to eliminate the midnight trips. It could be that his tummy is upset because of the worms, or he heard a noise, or something else woke him up and an awake puppy needs to pee more often than a sleeping one.

We used towels to line Jack's crate. We still do. If your puppy doesn't shred stuff and eat it, you might try that because they are washable. Every once in awhile, we would get up in the morning and find a damp towel, but it was hard to say if it was pee or just drool.

We also used a pen during the day if we weren't home, with papers instead of a pee pad, and it worked very well for all of us.

Edit: Whoops, I think I responded to the wrong post! Really I meant to respond directly to Jessica's. Not that it really matters, but sorry for any confusion.

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Permalink Reply by Sam on June 27, 2009 at 4:51pm

Try reading my "Housebreaking 101" in the FAQ section. I have to say that expecting an 11 week old pup to stay clean is not reasonable. I do admit he seems to be giving you a tad more trouble than many do. What sort of environment did he come from? Has he seen the veterinarian and been dewormed? Any chance he could have a urinary tract infection? What time do you feed him? Do you have him on a regular routine? Not knowing his personal circumstances makes this a difficult question to answer.

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Permalink Reply by Jessica on June 27, 2009 at 5:09pm

Beth - I had no idea that worms could cause sudden need to go... but I guess it makes sense and I should have realized it. Yeah, the poor guys had a rough couple of day. :( Otherwise I guess he seems to be right on track. I'm not expecting miracles - I just don't want him to be lying in his own pee or poop in his crate. It makes me feel awful even if it's just a minute or two.

Hi Sam - Already read all the housebreaking stuff on the site, so I'm sure I've been through, but I will give another look. I'm not asking him to stay clean at all! I just wanted to find out why he's peeing in his crate without warning when he used to warn us. That's all. :)

He came from an awesome breeder who keeps the puppies in her home with her family. Totally awesome person and the dog has no weird issues. The worms, I must admit, are probably my fault. It's been raining here a lot in Boston and he's been spending a lot of time licking water off the ground as a result. I try and keep it to a minimum but its a downhill battle with such a bouncy pup!

Speaking to the worming issue - I did already mention that in my last post. He was put on deworming meds on Thursday and has his last dose in about a week and a half. She also checked and no UTI either. So I'm thinking that since he was doing SO good with the housebreaking until the worms that it's probably a big part of it.

Feeding happens at 8AM and 6PM - no exceptions. He also gets water at these times and I'll provide water one more time at 7:30PM. He goes out every hour when we're home in addition to right after he gets water and 20 minutes after food. He also gets about a half hour to hour walk everyday.

Sorry that I didn't give you all the info you needed. I thought that I had covered it in my other two posts...

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Permalink Reply by Michelle on June 27, 2009 at 5:16pm

Let me preface this by saying I had never potty trained anything prior to our female having puppies...I'm thinking blind luck. When our female had puppies and they began eating food when they finished eating and I mean immediately I took mom and the four puppies outside and we did not come in until all had done their business. We were quite popular in the neighborhood as I would open the front door and mom and four adorable puppies would go lumber out of the front door. This was very effective as all of the puppies were practically completly house broken by placement. It is a bit time consuming but you might want to take him out often particularly following eating and praise praise praise him when he takes care of his business. I do not recommend "free" feeding meaning constant access to food, these little buggers tend to like food to much for that and it also slows the potty training process as they have to go all of the time.

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Permalink Reply by Jessica on June 28, 2009 at 5:25pm

Yeah - no free feeding here... maybe too many treats though, :-/

The new pup parents must have been so appreciative though. It sounds like you put a lot of time into those little guys training! I know the breeder I got my Killian from put in a lot of work, but not one lick of it went into housebreaking. :D

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Permalink Reply by Boo Buchheit on June 28, 2009 at 6:49am

At 11 weeks you should be taking him out every few hours to go I would think. He is a bit young to be counted on to warn you ahead of time when he needs to potty. Also anytime there is a medical issue the picture changes (I would have thought he would have been arbitrarily treated for worms at least once by now). Hopefully when the worms are gone he will get back on track. I do suggest taking him out more often until he is a little older.

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Permalink Reply by Jessica on June 28, 2009 at 6:41pm

No - our breeder doesn't like to over-medicate the pups. He'd had two checkups and a 5-in-one at 7 weeks when we picked him up and checked both times for worms... and both came back negative so it was probably something he picked up since he'd come home with us.

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Permalink Reply by Derek on June 28, 2009 at 3:23pm

I just set my alarm and got up every 3-4 hours to take Miranda out at night when she was a baby, and by 5 months she went all night long with out going. But I got her at 4 months old, yours may be unable to hold it that long. I was told by our dog trainer that pups really can't anticipate it until 4 months old. Before then, it is touch and go. There will be days where it sneaks up on them and others where its fine.
It helps to have a set feeding schedule and no water for 4 hours before bed... assuming you can get him to stop running around the house and lay down... though that might just be my dog.

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