hi im new to this forum and im a 1st time owner of a siberian husky, he is 16 weeks old and getting quite big now too, we connot seem to progress with the toilet training, i will often (every few hours) take him into the garden for the toilet and when he does he he gets all the praise and fussed other times we will stand there for up2 20min and he wont do a thing, gets back inside the house and oops there u go all over the carpet again, he is even soiling inside his cage aswell.

if i go out the house im gone for 20-30min max and i come back to either a mess spread all over the kitchen or a mess spread all over the inside of his cage, (before i will go out i will take him to the garden to do his business yet he wont just walks around or lays there)

is there something im doing wrong because we cant seem to break this habbit, any help or advice would be greatly appriciated.

thankyou, simon.

Wow! That's a tough dilemma! Can you or have you ever moved some of his poo from the house into the garden to the spot you want him to start using for potty? I think they smell the smells of prior poops and pees and that is where they go. Currently those smells are inside the house (no matter how hard you try to remove them, a dog can still smell them).

Funny story: Once when visiting my husband's mother and the dog was not understanding where to go when outside, my dear husband whips his out and pees right there in her yard! He said it showed the dog where to go ~ lol.

I have seen a product at pet stores that you squirt on your lawn to leave a scent and teach the puppy where to go potty. I have not tried it.

Good luck!

First question, are you crate training? Crates can help tremendously for some with potty training. You mentioned he messes in his cage, what size cage are you talking about and what "mess" exactly does he do in there?

Second, I think you need to be taking your pup out more often than you do. Every 2-3 hours is not good enough, when potty training I would be taking the dog out every hour or more until you start seeing results. Don't be suprised to spend 20-30 minutes of every hour outside hoping for potty from your pup. You wanted a pup and it comes with the territory.

Third, when the dog is inside is he within your eyesight at all times so that you can catch him in the act or pick up on the signals that he needs to eliminate? If not then I would highly recommend either crating or tethering him to you so that you can keep a constant eye on him.

Lastly, for now, how confident/comfortable is your pup outside?

i would suggest some puppy training pads, and regarding your carpeted areas, i would get puppy crates until he is fully potty trained.

Some things that helped--we adopted our husky from the pound at 16 weeks or so and she was a stray/lived in a kennel, so she didn't care if she went in her crate or the house.

--She had a full sized crate already, so we partitioned off the back of the crate so she HAD to lay where she eliminated. Helped discourage her

--is your pup healthy? We ended up with 2 major intestinal issues that caused what should have been her "normal" ability to regulate herself and because of her diarrhea she was a mess and didn't seem to care if she went in her crate and then layed in it.

--associate a word with going when he "goes" and then immediately treat/praise and say "Good ________" <insert "go" word here>

--TETHER. I hated it. It was a real PITA. We still have to not really let Nut out of our view and have to crate her if neither Joe or I can watch her. For us it's less about accidents in the house and more about what did the dog steal and eat now?! It really helped though.

--We graduated from tethering to restricting her space and cordoning off doorways etc when we're in the living room

--the stuff that you spray: http://www.petsmart.com/product/index.jsp?productId=4075961 I haven't used it but heard good things.

Oh, and feed him in his crate. He's less likely to "go" where he eats.

For us, it's still a work in progress. Nut gets separation anxiety during the work week so Mondays are tough. She still tends to go in her crate at least 1-2x a week, but uses a bone, her feed bowl etc to hide it.