[MeganS]

OK. I haven't read the entire thread - I got to page 4 and decided to post.

You're saying he freaks out when he's in the crate...poops in it then creates a huge mess. That is because he associates the crate with something negative - he puts himself in there when he's bad. You need to get rid of that crate, go out, and get a brand new one. ONLY use it when something good is happening. Give him treats whenever he goes in it. Leave the door to it open ALL the time. At night, let him sleep in there, but put the crate on your nightstand or somewhere where he can watch you sleep.

The hardest part is ignoring him if he gets upset. If you have him in there at night, he's going to cry. You need to let him cry. Don't even talk to him.

It sounds to me like you need to go way back to the beginning. You need to start training him like you just brought him home - cross out everything you've done with him this far, and just start over. You need to be consistant. If he pees on the floor, it's your fault, not his. He doesn't plan to pee on the floor just to make you angry. If he pees on the floor, it's because you weren't watching him to make sure he goes out.

LEAVE him in the crate when you leave. If he gets upset, then he gets upset. yes, he might make a mess for the first little while. You need to ask yourself if you're willing to deal with that? If you are, then do it. All of these things are so preventable. Just leave him in the crate when you can't watch him, and you won't have to worry about anything.

Eventually (if you are VERY consistant) you will be able to let him loose in the house whenever you're home.

Get bellybands. Put a pad in the bottom of them. It'll take a lot of stress off of you. We used belly bands to house break Tucker - the unhousebreakable dog lol. It turned out that when he had a belly band on, he WOULDN'T pee, so we left them on him all the time and took him outside whenever he even looked at us funny, and then eventually he was housebroken.

One thing that a lot of people think (I'm not sure if you do too or not) is that their dogs 'go' in the house to 'get back at them' for something. For EX. someone will say "My dog gets mad when I leave him home alone, so he pees on my bed." No, your dog has to go to the bathroom when you leave him home alone, so he pees on your bed. They do not process thoughts like we do. He doesn't understand why it was wrong for him to pee on your bed. You need to teach him that.

I understand that you're frustrated, but he is too. He doesn't know why he's getting in trouble, because he doesn't know what he's doing is wrong. If he knew what he was doing was wrong, he wouldn't do it. That's how a dogs mind works.

If you're willing to make sacrifices and work really hard and prepare for him to destroy some of your things, then go for it - you will be repaid with 15+ years of unconditional love. If you honestly believe that you can't deal with it, then give him to somebody who can. I'm not judging you. I know first hand how hard it is to housebreak these guys. I don't doubt that you love him and that he loves you. But loving him isn't going to stop him from doing these things, and if you really really don't think that you can handle him acting like this and you've given up on him, then maybe you need to find him a new home.