We adopted an adult dog who had been kenneled all of her life and we had the same problem. You will have to be patient. But the key factor is, when you take your dog out, stay out UNTIL they do something. We had Tina out for 45 minutes sometimes. Eventually they will go. It's only when you know they've just relieved themselves that it is "safe" to bring them back in.
Also, be sure to take them out at key points; as soon as they wake up in the morning, right after every meal. You have to try to anticipate when they are going to need to go out and stay one step ahead of them. Don't put them in the crate unless you are sure they have relieved themselves recently.
And try to let them out of the crate every few hours. Eventually they will learn that they are going to be let out frequently, and that they don't HAVE to potty in their crate.
Eventually, their instinct to keep their sleeping quarters clean will overcome their bad habit that they had to develop when they weren't ever let out. |