Not Crate Trainable?
by Karen
ORIGINAL MESSAGE:
My new puppy (4 months old) seems to be absolutely resistant to potty training. She stays in her bed (bottom half of vari-kennel) with her toys 95% of the time and likes to pee and poop in there too. She has no qualms about sleeping with the poop. Two nights in a row now she peed on her teddy bear's head (I know it sounds funny, but I'm not laughing). I have been diligent about watching her for signs of needing to potty and put her on the paper every time. There has not been even ONE incident that I haven't caught her in and corrected her. Last nite I put her on her paper and gave the "go potty" command. I knew she had to go, had been 7 hours since she last peed. Suddenly she CHARGED off the paper and into her bed and squatted down on the teddy bear and peed. I caught her, immediately reprimanded her and put her back on the papers. She stood on the papers staring at me like I was an alien from Mars for 25 minutes. The only thing I could think to do is to take her nice soft towels and blankets out of her bed and put newspapers in instead until she gets the hint. I did this today thinking I'd start her getting used to doing it on paper in the kennel bottom. It didn't work. She opted to pee and poop on her blanket which I transferred out of the kennel. BTW, yes, I wash everything everytime she pees or poops. This isn't a matter of puppy bowel & bladder control or a matter of her not knowing she's supposed to go SOMEWHERE... she doesn't pee on the carpet or the floor... mostly just her bed/vari-kennel bottom. As I said, she was on the papers and left to seek out the bed to pee on. She won't eat anywhere except in her bed either. If you have had this problem please advise on how you corrected it. Also, if you have suggestions PLEASE respond. Thank you!

DISCUSSION:

I am no expert, but let me throw out an idea. Perhaps what you need to do is stay with her, no matter how long it takes, until she goes on the paper. Then go wild and give her a treat. Totally ignore when she has accidents, don't reprimand at all. Just give loads of positive reinforcement (including a treat) when she does it right. Also, throw out her bedding and current vari-kennel and replace with all new. No matter how much you wash, you might not be totally eliminating the smell. Keep her on leash and tethered to you until she is housebroken. It should work, but it will take time. Just remember -- lots of treats and postive reinforcement, no reprimands. Good luck.
JoanG