I'm with you on the "don't feel you are alone". I never did have any luck crate training Rockie. Maybe it's in the name but he's as stubborn as they get and let me know early on that no matter the size of his crate if I insisted on putting him in there for any length of time he would reward me with pottying in the crate and then rolling around in it since it was only big enough to stand and turn around in. Not a pretty sight let me tell you. I ended up taking him out around the time I knew he would need to go (by making sure that I regulated his meal times--no free feed and no water late in the evening (ice if it was hot), and then when I took him out I would tell him to "go potty" and if he did--and when he did I would make sure to say "good jog going potty" and give him a treat and praise. I still struggle with the pooping. For the most part he goes outside but now and then he will poop on this chair I have up by the window that he sit in a lot--I don't know why. I simply remove it and spray the area with the stuff that supposed to make them not want to go there again (he defies the odds most of the time). But, at least it's not urine. I hope we get to the point that it's not an issue anymore and he's only 8 months old so I think it's possible. You'll get there as well and then you'll be adding your two cents to the next person who is feeling desperate. Good luck!! This is such a fantastic website--I don't know if I could have gotten through some of my puppie issues without the expertise of this group!!
