I am at my whits ends... after several months of having Max, he has completely forgotten his potty training. EVERY morning I wake up to poop and or pee in the house. When I first adopted him he never had a problem unless he had an upset tummy but now every night there is a surprise for me. I do not know what to do.

Nothing in his diet has changed... he gets plenty of attention now considering I have been laid off for a month, more excercise than he has ever had, and his feeding times have stayed consistent since I've had him. If i put him in a crate, he scratches and tries to dig himself out and ends up hurting himself. Same goes for putting him up in the laundry room before I go to bed. I've done everything I know to do... I am moving soon in with a friend and if this keeps up, he Has to go


Any suggestions?

Go back to basics of crates. The crate is probably your best bet, so you need to focus not on the potty stuff right now, but on the crate stuff. Make him love that crate so that at night, he's good to go to be left in there and then the potty training will take care of itself.

To get him to enjoy his crate, here's what you do: make him think treats are manufactured in there. Every single time you walk past it, whether he is paying attn or not, toss a treat in, even if he hasn't found 100 treats that you already tossed in there. Put him in his crate, but leave the door open and sit in front of it for however long it takes until he sits, then lays down, then sighs really big, then finally falls asleep. Once he's fallen asleep, move out from in front of it and wake him up to invite him out. After a few times of that exercise, do the same thing, but this time close the door (oh, and make sure you give him a treat when he lays down, both when you are on the door open and door closed phases). After a few times of that, start walking away from the crate, but staying in his line of sight. Keep extending the time incrementally.

After he is comfortable with that step, start walking out of the house, but coming in at after random amounts of time have passed. When he's quiet in the crate, give him a treat and tell him "good quiet". When he throws a fit, approach the crate, tell him quiet, and once he is -- give him a treat then leave his sight again. Do these steps religiously for 2 weeks, and by the end of it, he'll likely be taking HIMSELF to his crate for his naps and stuff during the day.

You may also want to try storing ALL his toys in his crate, and everytime you put him in there, tell him "crate" so he learns that as a command. I've done this with a one-year old husky, 2-y/o husky, and 10-week old husky and it has worked on them all.

And for Pete's sake, don't forget to toss treats in EVERY SINGLE TIME you pass that crate until he is to the phase where he goes there on his own to relax!

Thanks, I'll try that.


I just can't wrap my head around why after one and half months he forgets.. especially considering he was already house broken.

He didn't forget he just for some reason isn't respecting your house right now, or senses some upheaval. Try the crate thing because chances are, it will reprogram his mind to remember he has to hold it, not just go at will, and that it's YOUR house. Lemme know how it's going as you give this a shot. I've trained 24 huskies who were having any number of issues since September of last year. I'll help you anyway I can; I'd hate to see you have to give Max up

By the way, to explain why I'm telling you to wake him up and invite him back out after he falls asleep -- if he falls asleep and wakes up naturally to see you aren't there because you've gone about your business, you risk him waking up and being freaked out cuz he's in a cage and can't see you, which will work against what you are trying to establish -- which is that being in a crate is not a trick. So if you wake him up and you are right there telling him it's okay to come out, he'll learn that he isn't being tricked or caged, that all is well. And make sure you take him outside immediately upon letting him out of his crate so he associates that with potty time, even if he doesn't potty every time.

and here is the upheaval..................... I have been laid off for a month................... did you have the problem before you were laid off?

My guess your agenda has changed and now so is Max's.

Hillary gives you some great crate training tips which should very much help with the potty training, so I won't comment there

Just to add though to the potty training... since you're unfortunately home now, you should have time to sort of revert back to step 1 with the potty training. It is true that stress or sometimes nothing at all can cause regression in potty training and the solution is just to start training him all over again. Take him out more often. Make sure you're cleaning up messes with an enzyme cleaner and praise praise praise when he eliminates outside.

It's frustrating, but it really is the best solution. Don't give up though!

Chould u be feeding him to much food now? Maybe try reducing his dinner and see what happens

Jbealer, that's what I thought at first, so I did, and made sure to put his bowl up if he didn't finish it before I went to bed.

I've been laid off for right at a month but this has been a daily thing for the past two weeks. Last night, he didn't potty in the house.. took him out at 5:15 like I normally do and instead of going to the gym I went back to bed... woke up at 8 to find a pile in the floor... I guess me being laid off could be the "upheaval" but I honestly don't want to believe that... I'm not stressed, in fact happier now than ever because I can finally start a new chapter in my life so to speak. The only difference is instead of being alone from 9 am to 2 pm, he is with me.

Could it be seperation anxiety for the hours I'm asleep? I've tried keeping him in my room but he is a wanderer? I just can't wrap my head around it.

what about the move? have you started packing already?

Yes, but wouldn't he be showing other signs if he was stressed or something?

eh, not necessarily. He could just be understanding that there's a move but not understanding what that means and it may be freaking him out... I think that's actually even MORE reason to get him loving his crate -- someplace that's his and safe and won't be getting packed up...

As I was writing this message, I looked over to see Volya passed out in his crate ... this is what you're going for. He's 6 months old today and hasn't had an accident in the house since he was about 14 weeks old thanks to that crazy crate.

Thank you thank you thank you! It seems to be going really great... Not sure how many treats we went through, or how many pounds Max may have gained but it seems to be working excellent. After a few hours in the crate this morning with no anxiety or scratching I'm gonna try all night. It's been a few hours and he is sound asleep.

oh yaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaayyyyyyyyyyyyyyy! I'm SO happy to hear that was helpful and that Max is accepting his crate now Potty training will be much easier for you now, and Max will have a place all his own to go to and relax and chill out Good for you both!!!!

Steven,

Since you're in NY and I'm in Cali, i won't ever be able to come to your house and help with anything, but I may be able to help you from afar. I adore huskies, always have, and am always willing to do anything to try to help a husky and its person based on the experiences I've had, not to mention learn things I haven't yet encountered based on others' experiences