This is Not Working and Only Getting Worse
 

Just a little background for those who have not read the other threads: Logan is 9 months old. We've had him for 6 months. We were crate training him, but he kept waking me up in the middle of the night, at least once or twice, to go outside. I was not getting any sleep. We thought about rehoming him (for several reasons) but changed our minds last weekend. We decided to put him in our tiny laundry room with a pee pad at night. For three nights, the floor AND pee pad stayed dry. He slept through the night. I thought we were home free.

Then the past two nights he started peeing on the floor several times at night (he did not have any water in the room) instead of the pee pad AND he has started barking in the middle of the night. Last night, he was up barking at 1 a.m. and again around 5 a.m. Both times I went to check on him, he had peed on the floor. There is not enough room in the laundry room to put down another pee pad without blocking the entrance to the laundry room, which would make it impossible for someone to step into the laundry room without walking on the pee pad.

So now Logan is not only peeing on the floor but he's barking constantly when he's in the room and now in the middle of the night. I have tried ignoring him as the advice said to do. I tried putting some of his urine on the pee pad, but he still peed on the floor.

I am going out of town in two days and taking him with me. I cannot put other families through this each night! I don't know what to do. I'm about to call the breeder to see if he wants Logan back. In the meantime, Logan is on medication for possible liver shunt, including an antibiotic. This is just too overwhelming for us right now, especially with all that is going on in our lives (helping my aging in-laws with a move, two kids in college, etc.).

I am having issues with getting up in the middle ot the night with Baxter also. He sleeps with me and wakes me up about 3:00, it was 4:00. He is 4 1/2 months old. I am hoping he will grow out of this. Good luck.

I put Logan back in his crate and, ironically, he seems happier and is NOT barking in there. Seems like he doesn't like more freedom in his "own room" and would prefer to be in his crate. Is that odd??

No, that is not odd. When we first moved, 11 years ago, when Sydney was just a year old, she felt more 'secure' in her crate until she adjusted to our new home.

Sheila

[F]It does not seem odd to me.:animal36
His crate is his "den". He feels safe and secure in there. It is a small area...comfy and cozy. Does he pee in his crate?
Having a puppy right now (12 weeks old today) he loves his crate.
At night he is in our room in a large cage type crate with his portable airline type crate in it. I put a towel down on the floor of the cage crate and some of his favorite toys. He sleeps in his more solid crate with the door off. [/FONT]

Did your breeder guarantee against liver shunt?

I wish you lived closer, I'd take care of Logan while you are away. Hubby & I are retired, and I don't sleep all night anyway.

I feel bad for you, you've got such a lot on your plate right now.

Sheila

have you talked to the vet about this?? I read in this book called "The Loved Dog" that if dogs keep peeing everywhere that they may have something wrong with them... so I would take him to the vet and ask about it...?? Im soooooo sorry this is happening to you... good luck...

He has no idea what the pad is for, seriously. You've been taking him outside and then all of the sudden you want him to go on a pad. It's not like a littler box - they don't take to the pads. My dogs go outside and if I put a pad down in front of it they would probably either shred it or sleep on it but they sure wouldn't pee on it! :D If he needs to go out in the middle of the night, then he needs to go out! Yes, it sucks. No, you don't get any sleep. It's part of having a puppy (yes he is still a puppy) This may go on for quite a while. I don't get this - if he needs to go out LET HIM OUT. Loki used to have accidents in his crate (not his fault, he has medical issues he is now on medication for) and we would have to SET AN ALARM and wake up and take him out or he would pee in his crate at night. You do what you have to do! I don't want to come off as harsh, but I believe I've already given this advice to you. It's JUST like having a baby that needs to eat every few hours.

Have you contacted a trainer who will help you? You need a positive reinforcement trainer who will teach you to communicate with him. He's probably very smart and trying to tell you something. If he's barking all night (after he's relieved himself and therefore not barking to go out) he is probably BORED and not tired. Take him to doggy daycare for one day and I promise you he will sleep through the night. If he's barking during the day, then yes ignoring him is the right approach but there is a way to do it that a trainer can teach you. You ignore him until he stops and THEN you go acknowledge him. It also helps to teach him commands so he learns to listen to you. He is just barking because he doesn't want to be in there and he is bored. Sammy barks in her crate when she doesn't want to be in there, but when she is tired she will just sleep in it. We try to only put her in there when she is tired. You can also give him Kongs and other frozen stuffed toys to keep him busy while he is in there.

This is good advise. He could have a UTI, which is painful and causes them to pee all over. A trip to the vet is in order.

He has used a pee pad before. When we have traveled and stayed at a hotel, we have put Logan in a play pen with a pee pad, and he has used the pee pad faithfully during those times. For some reason, the pee pad seems foreign to him when it's in a tiny room.

When we had our Maltese, I took him outside in the middle of the night while he was a puppy, but that lasted only for a couple of months or perhaps even one month. I don't recall, but I know it was not long. Logan is now 9 months old, and my understanding is that he should not still have to go potty in the middle of the night, especially every 2-3 hours. He doesn't go out that often during the day.

I know it seems like no big deal to you to have to take a dog out to potty in the middle of the night. Temporarily, it isn't a big deal. But six months - and still counting - is a long time to lose sleep. I'm not 20-something anymore with a human baby. I'm 48 years old, so not getting a good, solid night's sleep is difficult and hard on me. How old does Logan have to be before he SHOULD sleep through the night? And why does he sometimes sleep through the night and sometimes he doesn't? Everything about this is inconsistent.

Logan gets plenty of exercise during the day. We take one or two long walks, and he acts worn out when we return. He plays a lot of night and doesn't go to bed until about 11 p.m. when we do. I don't see how he couldn't be tired by the end of the day. Yes, when he stops barking, I reward him. And often when he's quiet, I will reward him and tell him "good quiet."

I put him in his crate today instead of giving him room to roam in the laundry room, and he's been happier and quieter that way. So, obviously, he prefers his crate over the laundry room. I have not contacted a trainer other than the PetSmart trainer who did our training class. I talked to her about housetraining and have read books, articles, and Internet info on housetraining. I seem to be doing everything suggested. And I have successfully housetrained a dog before in a short period of time.

You may be interested to know....dogs with liver shunts are also prone to bladder control problems. That may be the reason Logan has to go so often.

I didn't know that. I talked to the breeder (who is a vet) today about Logan. He told me he doesn't believe Logan has a liver shunt (It was another vet who ran the blood work.). We'll find out soon enough.

Unfortunately he wouldn't be the first breeder to deny LS.

It's not "no big deal" to me. Waking up sucks. But the alternative is a big puddle on the floor (and I mean big!). Loki has a condition that causes him to have to pee like 4 times as much as the average dog. Medication has him to where he can sleep most nights, but if he drinks too much or we go to bed early he's whining to go out. It's not his fault. Every dog is different. All I'm saying is that IF Logan needs to go out, you have to let him out. It's only fair. If you think there is another problem then you need to talk to the vet about that. If you used pee pads in a different location he will still not know to use them. Dogs learn that it's OK to potty in a certain spot. Crating him is fine if it's working. We crated Loki until he learned how to wake us up to let him out rather than peeing in his crate. Then as he only needed to go out one time and knew to go outside, we let him sleep with us and he would jump off the bed and scratch at the bedroom door. That worked well with Sammy when we got her too (we have a bell upstairs and downstairs). Now we don't have to sleep with the door closed because they just run downstairs and ring their bell. I know you said you don't want him to sleep with you, but we went from 2 trips outside to 1 once we let Loki start sleeping with us. He also slept a little longer in the morning.

Also, 2 walks and playtime is not the same as daycare. Seriously the first time my dogs went to daycare they slept for 3 days straight. Loki couldn't be bothered to do more than eat and pee for a week. Just once a week will make a difference.