[scott242436]

I have a Jack Ruselle Male, he is about 9 months now. He if so well behavied when I'm home. He can hold it for hours on end and will not distroy anything even if I'mnot in the same roon as him. My problem is when I'm gone even for a hour or 2 he will potty in the house and sometimes bit on things he shouldn't. I tried Crate trining him for about 3 months with no results. He would still potty in the crate, so I got a smaller crate that he could not avoid sitting in it if he went. He still would and you can imaging the mess that makes everytime. So any advice on how to get him to be good when I'm gone? I'm willing to try anything, also whats a good way to displine my dog for doing this without hitting him? Thanks guys.

[Savanahs Mommy]

EDIT: OK....so we have some haters out there rating thumbs down to informative answers.....just so sad.....To the haters: go outside smell the fresh air, listen to the birds a chirpin', dance in the rain, hug your loved one, smile at a stranger, watch a feel good movie, do something, anything....just hope you haters have a better day so you feel you don't have to go rating answers badly without really caring what the person said or knew or how much research they did to help out the person that asked the question.......big hug to ya...smile You need to train him while you are at home also....read this: (good luck)Crate training can be an efficient and effective way to house train a dog. Dogs do not like to soil their resting/sleeping quarters if given adequate opportunity to eliminate elsewhere. Temporarily confining your dog to a small area strongly inhibits the tendency to urinate and defecate. However, there is still a far more important aspect of crate training. If your dog does not eliminate while she is confined, then she will need to eliminate when she is released, i.e., she eliminates when you are present to reward and praise her. Be sure to understand the difference between temporarily confining your dog to a crate and long term confinement when you are not home. The major purpose of confinement when your are not home is to restrict mistakes to a small protected area. The purpose of crate training is quite the opposite. Short term confinement to a crate is intended to inhibit your dog from eliminating when confined, so that she will want to eliminate when released from confinement and taken to an appropriate area. Crate training also helps teach your dog to have bladder and bowel control. Instead of going whenever she feels like it, she learns to hold it and go at convenient scheduled times. Crate training should not be abused, otherwise the problem will get drastically worse. The crate is not intended as a place to lock up the dog and forget her for extended periods of time. If your dog soils her crate because you left her there too long, the house training process will be set back several weeks, if not months. Your dog should only be confined to a crate when you are at home. Except at night, give your dog an opportunity to relieve herself every hour. Each time you let her out, put her on leash and immediately take her outside. Once outside, give her about three to five minutes to produce. If she does not eliminate within the allotted time period, simply return her to her crate. If she does perform, then immediately reward her with praise, food treats, affection, play, an extended walk and permission to run around and play in your house for a couple of hours. For young pups, after 45 minutes to an hour, take her to her toilet area again. Never give your dog free run of your home unless you know without a doubt that her bowels and bladder are empty. During this crate training procedure, keep a diary of when your dog eliminates. If you have her on a regular feeding schedule, she should soon adopt a corresponding elimination schedule. Once you know what time of day she usually needs to eliminate, you can begin taking her out only at those times instead of every hour. After she has eliminated, she can have free, but supervised, run of your house. About one hour before she needs to eliminate (as calculated by your diary) put her in her crate. This will prevent her from going earlier than you had planned. With your consistency and abundance of rewards and praise for eliminating outside, she will become more reliable about holding it until you take her out. Then the amount of time you confine her before her scheduled outing can be reduced, then eliminated. Mistakes and Accidents During TrainingIf you ever find an accident in the house, just clean it up. Do not punish your dog. All this means is that you have given her unsupervised access to your house too soon. Until she can be trusted, don't give her unsupervised free run of your house. If mistakes and accidents occur, it is best to go back to the crate training. You need to more accurately predict when your dog needs to eliminate and she needs more time to develop bladder and bowel control.*****As far as discipline..go to obedience class...its your best bet....smile

[Seargent Sugar]

you really have to get some in depth info. on 'Crate Training' it really is a commitment, there are so many variables ie. what kind of food do you feed? when do you feed him?when do you walk him? does he horse around when it's potty time?wheres the crate?what do you leave in the crate with him?Trust me this could be a 2 hour consultation! I would recommend calling a trainer the makes house calls, some of them are brilliant! Some trainers will actually take your pet to their house for a week or more to work full time with them and then train you to be just as effective. I'm not saying your method is not effective, YOU are k!? you just need some pointers

[Megan D]

I completely understand where you are at right now because I have a 4 month old Yorkie male that is doing exactly the same as your puppy. I have found that the best thing to do while I'm gone is to leave him in a puppy pen or to lock him in the bathroom. I leave the TV on for him as well so it sounds soothing and like someone is home. My puppy chews on everything, but I have found that the more toys that I leave for him to play with, the less likely he will chew on unwanted things. Only feed your dog when you are home with him. Immediately after he eats take him outside until he potties. Not leaving food for him to eat while you are gone will prevent him from having accidents. Only leave adequate amounts of water for him as well. I try not to spank my puppy, but I have found that a paper towel roll doesn't really hurt, but makes a popping sound when you tap him with it. The best thing is to teach your dog that "No" means NO! Good Luck and let me know if any of it works for you!

[chelsea c]

My dog will be a year next month, and he is still not completely potty trained. Its a rough process! I found the best things to do when I would not be home, was first of all take him out right before you leave. Then I would restrain him to 2 rooms of my house. I would turn on the TV(Animal Planet! haha) so it wouldn't be too quiet and hopefully would make him a little more comfortable. I would get rid of anything small that you do not want chewed up. I would leave lots of toys in the room, especially hard things that he liked to chew on. It's hard if your gone for a long time for your dog to hold his bowels. If you aren't gone for a long time, it could be something he's doing because he's mad you left him. Dogs are really weird about that. They will do something bad because they are upset with you. Crate training did not work for my dog either, however I did get him a potty pad. It took him sometime to figure out what it was for, and I had to work with him on it, but eventually he got it. He still has accidents in the house at times, but he's doing much much better than when he was a baby!

[jramberg]

Does it have a BM or just pee? Sounds as though you have to go back to basic housebreaking training and re-enforce his good behaviours while you are at home, so that when you do have to leave those learned behaviours are in place securely. If he is having a BM try to feed him at the same time every day and he will elimanate the same time most everyday and you can monitor it more closely. If you plan on going out for an hour or two, then a few hours prior cut back his water intake and make sure he relieves himself before you go out. I do believe in scolding a dog just make sure they understand why they are being scolded and then take them outside to the place they urinate or have a BM and praise them. Crating is not the cure all for all dogs and all problems. Many dogs never adjust to being crated and many, many more dogs get trained and remain trained without ever using a crate. If feasible, baby gates can keep your pet sequestered to a confined area. Make sure all valubles are put up, no access to electric cords..etc..and leave rawhide toys to relieve stress and boredom from being left alone..You know..people that always saying crating is the best and dogs love to be crated,saying they are den animals and love it..First and foremost the strongest dog instinct is being that they are a pack animal. They hate to be alone. To place them in a crate all day is not the best thing for an animal that thrives best in his "pack"