Potty Training Problem

I know someone who's having issues with potty training her dog. He's a yorkiepoo, six months old. She's had him since he was three months from a pet store. The guy is a complete cutie, but he's just not getting it.

She says she's tried crate training (he dsoesn't go in his crate, but after four weeks she stopped and he kept going inside. She brings him out every two hours but as soon as she leaves him alone - he's enclosed in the entry/mud room - he goes pee, sometimes three times in an hour along with a poop or two. The puppy pads work halfway, but he misses and its a disaster to clean up.

Any ideas here on alternate ways to train him? Apparently he's not fully understanding how to get potty trained!

small breed = small bladder
male s take longer to potty train ..Plus being a pet store pup he likely was not taught to eliminate in one spot thus the potty pad issue... has a medical check been done to ensure it is not that...

she should retrain to the crate /// does the dog go on the grass on cue ??

it sounds like the dog may have separation issues ... the easiest remedy if $$ allow is doggy daycare ...

She's at home during the day, but Milton (in an effort to potty train) goes in the mud room. When he's in there he goes, sometimes both pee and poop. When he's outside he does go on cue, if she says to go potty he will within a minute or two. He hasn't gone to the vet for this issue, but he does go regularily.

Apparently today he had a particularily huge accident, WAY more than a little puppy bladder should hold! Now he's back in the crate. The appointment to get him neutered is going to made soon, do you think that would help at all?

yeah it might but....

she should not be home and not allow him with her ... see he knows someone is there and likely smells her that would stress him

She's not my sister, and she can't help being at her house, she has to be since she lives there. I do understand that he could be stressed, I'll pass that along...but since she lives there, he smells her all the time and there's no way getting around that.

yes he would smell her but her smell on something is different from her smell when she is there ...

comfort zone in the mud room may help ...

I dealt with horrible sep anxiety in one dog and she had to be crated when I wasnt there

I'm used to big dogs and the rule of thumb for time left in the crate is one hour for every month of age, plus one. Eight hours is the preferred maximum, though with work it gets stretched a bit longer.

Take the dog out to potty, on a leash. This is not play time. If the dog does his business he can come in and hang out with you. If the dogs doesn't do his business, he goes back into the crate for 30 minutes - then repeat the going out to potty.
Keep the dog on a leash in the house. And attach the leash to you. This lets you notice the signs of a dog who needs to go outside and should prevent accidents.

My dogs learned quickly what I wanted.

I've heard that the smaller dogs are a PITB to housetrain - takes forever it seems. Have you tried finding a dog message board and see if others of small dogs have suggestions?

Most of our little dogs we owned (from a child) were either fully adults when we adopted them or they were mainly outside pups - I don't remember having problems in housetraining.

Since he was a pet store pup, he likely lived in his own filth before arriving at the store, so he might never completely learn to eliminate outside.

Another way to house train a dog is to keep them on leash with you when you are home so that you can watch them, and take them out when you see them start sniffing around. She might have to take the dog out every 1 or 2 hours, and praise like crazy when the dog goes. Never spank or punish, that will just confuse the dog and/or cause the dog to be fearful (which could cause submissive peeing).

The crate is also a very good tool for house training. If your friend had success with the crate, she should keep using it, and not switch between it and the mudroom, that could also confuse the dog. Some dogs are not completely reliable in the house until 1-2 years of age.