At the end of my rope...please help me.

[Jojo13]

I have a 5 year old male Morkie (Maltese/Yorkie) who is the cutest thing ever but I'm convinced he's the devil in disguise. I have had him since he was 6 months old. I've worked hard to potty train him and nothing has worked. He does pee outside...not all the time though. And he only poops inside. I could stand outside for hours and nothing would happen. He will poop as soon as we come inside.

I'm so tired of it. Just over it.

Everything in my house has been peed on at some point. I've had to throw out lots of clothes. My carpet has to be replaced. My house is just ruined because of him. He isn't marking areas in the house; he's fully emptying himself.

I work full time and so while I'm away, I keep him in the kitchen with the baby gate up so he can't ruin anything and if he pees or poops, it's on a pee pad/hard floor surface so it's easier to clean. I don't know what else to do.

Please don't tell me to get rid of him. I love this dog a lot and that's not an option for me. I live in a townhouse with neighbors on either side. I worry that crating him will make him bark all day long while I'm gone. I also don't have a backyard. So, every time he has to go potty, I have to walk him. While I don't mind the walk, there's some days I wish he would just pee on command so we can get back inside.

I need serious help.

Oh and if it matters, he lives with a very well trained pit bull.

[Yorkiemom1]

Originally Posted by Jojo13

I have a 5 year old male Morkie (Maltese/Yorkie) who is the cutest thing ever but I'm convinced he's the devil in disguise. I have had him since he was 6 months old. I've worked hard to potty train him and nothing has worked. He does pee outside...not all the time though. And he only poops inside. I could stand outside for hours and nothing would happen. He will poop as soon as we come inside.

I'm so tired of it. Just over it.

Everything in my house has been peed on at some point. I've had to throw out lots of clothes. My carpet has to be replaced. My house is just ruined because of him. He isn't marking areas in the house; he's fully emptying himself.

I work full time and so while I'm away, I keep him in the kitchen with the baby gate up so he can't ruin anything and if he pees or poops, it's on a pee pad/hard floor surface so it's easier to clean. I don't know what else to do.

Please don't tell me to get rid of him. I love this dog a lot and that's not an option for me. I live in a townhouse with neighbors on either side. I worry that crating him will make him bark all day long while I'm gone. I also don't have a backyard. So, every time he has to go potty, I have to walk him. While I don't mind the walk, there's some days I wish he would just pee on command so we can get back inside.

I need serious help.

Oh and if it matters, he lives with a very well trained pit bull.

I love this part best! For IMMEDIATE help with the peeing, I would get him belly bands to stop the peeing all over the house and furniture, until you can get him trained. I completely understand where you are coming from.....been there, done all that, and over the years, have gone to no carpet and no upholstered furniture. But that is not an acceptable solution for some dog owners, and it only keeps carpet from being ruined and furniture from having pee stains on the legs and skirts when my group has accidents. Is your dog intact? Nutering before they are sexually active usually eliminates the "marking" behavior....but it seems re-reading your post, pooping inside the house is more the issue for you. Persistance and consistancy are a major part of this solution. Mine were all trained using treats and exuberance over a pile of poop deposited outside!! I would keep the most favorite treat reserved for this specific "poop outside" exercise. I stress I am NOT a trainer...all I can give you is what I did that seemed to work. We went outside every hour, then every two hours, then every 4 hours then every 6 hours, then every 8 hours.....took me an extended period of time to get this done, but with the treats, and as they got older and able to hold it longer, it just all seemed to work.....I also with one particularly stubborn little dog, had to put a pee pad outside, that had the scent of pee and poo on it, on my patio....when he was let out, he ran to that pee pad and pooped on it!.....I picked that poo up (NOT IN FRONT OF THE DOG!) and then saved the pee pad for the next use outside. Dont ever pick the poo up in front of the dog when he does it in the right place!!! In MY mind, he associates that with when he poos in the house and I run and fuss and pick it up....I think it confuses him....it would confuse me, as I would associate "picking this poo up because it does not belong HERE".....so when they poo outside, they get a treat, lots of praise, and poo stays right where they left it outside, until I get everyone back inside and then I pick the poo outside, up!I have also taken my water hose and pressure hosed that poo into the grass....that way, the dogs can smell the area for future use, and yet I can not smell it or step in it!

[kimp5]

can you put him in an expen in the kitchen with a bed, water and play area? cover the whole area he is in with pads and slowly every few days pull a pad away. Eventually you can go down to one. just make sure that last one is where you want him to go every day. When he goes on the pad praise the heck out of him with treats and love. no more free roam at all unless you have him tethered to you. His world has to change.

[Jojo13]

Thank you both for your response. I felt a little embarrassed to talk about my filthy home because I truly am a clean, near person. I just feel like I'm getting nowhere. It makes me feel like a bad dog owner.

My concerns are that he's 5 and he's not potty trained. But, I think it can change or at least get better because he is very receptive to treats. Today (and right now) I'm trying the tethering to see how it goes. He went pee twice outside (and of course no poop). I'm going to see what signs he displays when he starts to get the urge. I will look into an xpen too. The kitchen is a big roaming area for him and so it might be best to give him a smaller space.

The peeing isn't as bad as the pooping inside. I do leave pads out and he normally pees on them. I've tried not leaving them down and that was a huge no-no. I cleaned up pee and poop that was everywhere! So I've faced the fact that he's always going to have a pee pad for when I'm gone all day and he can't hold it. I just have to get him to poop outside.

Thanks again for all your suggestions. I welcome any others that you may have to offer.

I've tried the belly bands and it worked for a couple of days (other than him being mad at me lol) but I only bought one so washing it became tedious. I'll try to buy at least 2 more and try those more consistently.

Thanks again!!

[Marhcarter]

If it is any consolation, I have a similar problem. Huey is almost 5 and he has peed my entire house. He pees outside and gets treats every single time. (I have to make sure I see the evidence, because he will fake it to get a treat) He poops outside, too. We have the poop down to specific times of day with his feedings, but sometimes he likes to throw in an extra one indoors to keep us on our toes, I guess. Also, as a nurse, sometimes my hours are erratic, so sometimes it is my fault if I am not home at designated poop times. Since he eats dry kibble, he makes tootsie rolls, so picking up the poops is not an issue for me. The pee is, though. No matter what I do, how many times I take him out and no matter how many times he gets a treat for good peepee, he is still gonna pee inside at least once if not 2 or 3 times daily. The door to the deck (his designated potty area) will be OPEN and he will pee on the kitchen garbage can or the dresser in the bedroom, or on a multitude of other areas in the house. I have scrubbed, sprayed natures miracle, sprayed no marking spray and left down pee pads, all to no avail. I have finally resigned to keeping down pee pads in the most peed upon spots, just to keep the hardwood from even more damage than it already has. I think I should own stock in Swiffer and natures miracle, as much as I use every day. I have pretty much given up, because like my husband said, "you're not gonna get rid of him, so just deal with it". I still try with the treats and frequently running him outside, but I pretty much have resigned myself to daily mopping & playing "search for the pee spots", since he likes to change it up frequently.
I do have several belly bands that we use when visiting other homes, because he will mark new placee. I got him neutered at 6 Months old and that made very little difference in his marking.