Hi everyone,

I feel as thought I've posted a billion posts in the "training" section, but Royce is causing all sorts of trouble. He is the sweetest dog and he's incredibly energetic, as well as incredibly smart. He's about 3 1/2 months old now and we got him when he was 2 months.
We've been crate training him since the day we've brought him home, and he's made steady improvements over the weeks. At first, he would scream and cry throughout the entire night, but as the weeks went on, he would cry for a short period of time, but now, at the point where when we put him in his kennel at night, he doesn't make a peep, which is a great start. The problem we seem to be having, is that he sleeps in hour 1/2 shifts, before he'll scream and cry, until we let him out. He falls asleep about 5-10 minutes later, and we put him back in his kennel, where he still doesn't make any noise, until an hour or so later. I haven't had a full nights sleep in about a month. I've been told by numerous people to suck it up throughout the night and ignore his crying, but the few times I've done that, he literally hadn't stopped crying for 2 1/2-3 hours. The thing is, in those hour 1/2 shifts, every time I take him out, he pees like he hasn't peed in ages, as well as poops like he's been holding it in for quite some time. So, I don't know what I should do. Should I just suck it up and take him out, until we know for sure that his bladder is stronger (he still isn't 100% potty trained, which is another problem we've been having), or should I just cover my ears the best I can throughout the night, even though after awhile, I'm sure the upstairs neighbors will have something to say.
Has anyone else had this problem? This is the first ever puppy I've crate trained, as the other dog I had 5-6 years ago wasn't crate trained, and it did take awhile for us to potty train him.

I am a huge proponent of the cry it out method with kids when i was teaching them to go to bed on their own. I have 2. I used pretty much the same method for Dakota. Over a week I let him cry a little longer every night. Example:

Monday go in every 2 hours
Tuesday go in every 3 hours
Wednesday go in every 4 hours by now it was once per night
Thursday go in after 5 hours

I think you can see a pattern. I ignored any crying and let him out at these arbitrary times. Believe it or not he held his bladder just fine. When you start getting to only once per night and near morning make sure you make the potty time as boring as possible. This is not play time this is go potty then back to bed.
This worked for us it may or may not work for you. Good luck and hang in there

The reason people advocate crying it out is because if you get fed up and let him out while he is crying, he learns that crying gets him out of the crate. And then he will never stop. Crate training can be rough. Also, if his frequent peeing and pooping seems weird, it can't hurt to have the vet check him out to make sure there's nothing physical causing it.

I agree with Sara. I would get him checked out by the vet to rule out infections.

However, what are you feeding him? When he poops is it formed and firm or is it soft and mushy?

The last time we were at the vet, he had a small infection, but that was a couple of weeks ago and all it took was a quick shot and he was back to good health.
Somehow, around 3:00 am, when he woke us up, I took him out, he peed, then he came right back inside and fell asleep. I was so exhausted, that I brought him back to his kennel, shut the gate, then fell asleep almost instantly. I heard him cry again around 5:00 am, but this was the first time where my body must've been used to to the barking and somehow I fell asleep and didn't wake up til around 8:45 am and he didn't make a sound, until he heard one of us wake up.
We feed him Purina smart diet and he scarfs it down (he has a little bit of food aggression). These past 2 days, he's had a bit of diarrhea, but before, his poops were firm and solid. He hasn't gone to the bathroom yet today, but I'm hoping it'll be better than yesterday!

Sometimes the treatment for infections isn't enough. It's possible that it didn't treat the infection completely, so I would just double check with the vet. If your description is accurate and "he pees like he hasn't peed in ages" everytime you take him out, I would be concerned.

What are you doing to work on the food aggression?

If his stool remains firm and solid and you're happy with Purina, then by all means keep him on it. But if his stool is soft or inconsistent, I would consider switching to a higher quality kibble with less filler and more protein.

With the food aggression, we are in the process of purchasing a food separator, so he'll learn to eat around it, which helps him slow down. When he eats his food, he eats it violently. Even if we walk by him, he buries his face even farther in the bowl, which usually shakes the entire tray he's eating from, sending pieces of food, as well as his water, all over the floor.
The breeder, whom we got Royce from, told us not to be concerned with food aggression, because would eat from a giant bowl with his brothers and sisters and wouldn't do a single thing. We tried to assure her that he would change, since he's in a new environment, but she was adamant that she was right. We're slowly starting to believe that although she breeds the dogs, she doesn't know exactly what she's talking about when it comes to raising them. We also let her know before hand, that we were going to crate train him and we asked her to start putting him in a kennel, so he could get used to it. Instead, she constantly left him out, up to the day we picked him up. When we asked her if he used the crate, she said, "oh, I would put him in about 5-10 minutes a day, but when he would start crying, I would just let him out, because I know he didn't like it." A little frustrating, but thankfully, we're over that hurdle now.
We have a vet appointment on Tuesday, for his rabies shot, so I'll definitely bring up his nightly bathroom situation.

The food separator will help, but only to slow down his eating, not with any sort of aggression. Is he actually agressive with it or does he eat fast? He could just be eating fast because if he didn't before, he didn't get any food (especially if he was sharing a bowl).

I wouldn't spend the money on a separator. I would start feeding him by hand. Little bits at a time. Eventually I would work my way to placing it in his bowl and then leaving my hand in his bowl, until he was okay.

If he just eats fast, try putting his food on a cookie sheet on the floor or wedging a bone or kong in the bowl for him to eat around. Don't waste your money.

Sounds like a Backyard Breeder to me. Hopefully it's a learning experience for a future puppy.

I had the same problem with mine. I brought her home at 8 weeks, and immediately started crate training. I did everything they recommended. Warm water bottles, old t-shirts, keeping her crate where she could see me, a ticking clock, I tried it all. She was the same way, she would cry and cry and cry the most awful cry Ive ever heard. It broke my heart! I was a sucker and let her out after an hour or so because my heart just broke for her. I thought it was maybe because she was in a new place and was scared. Since she was so small she couldn't jump off my bed once I got her out, nor would she potty in my bed so I started letting her sleep with me. I was crate her while I was at work, but as soon as she heard my unlock the door she was back to the screaming and crying. I didn't figure she would ever like her crate. Now, she is fine with her crate. I had to work a lot with treats and praise to get her to go in on her own but after a while (a long while) she finally realized it wasn't so terrible. I honestly have no idea what to tell you about getting her to stop crying at night because I had no luck, regardless how much I "let her cry it out" because it just didn't happen for her. I guess my advise is to just stick with it, because I am sure it will get better. They're very smart dogs, and know how to manipulate the situation.

I also think you should have the vet check him out again. He should not be going that frequently. Also, by letting him out when he cries he is training YOU! You should be training him. It might be tough, but you are going to have to let him cry it out, and buy some earplugs! It should not take but a few nights for him to get the point. However, if he has an infection of some sort that makes him potty that many times you will need to have that cleared up first.

When I got Nikko I was a first time dog owner. I heard that they can only hold it for a few hours when they are young, so I got up at midnight, 2am, 4am and 6 am. I was EXHAUSTED! Then the vet asked me why I was doing that, and the pup should be able to hold it throughout the night.

With Yukon, I did not give in, so I put him to bed at 10pm, and we don’t wake up until 6am. Now he does not whine at all, not even when I go to work! Remember to have the crate just big enough for him to lay down, if you make it too big he will eliminate inside

Alright, so even though it's been a few days, it really doesn't seem to be getting any better. I have Royce on a schedule now, where I take him outside every few hours or so, or when he goes by the door and seems to wait. There was about a day, where he didn't have an accident in the house. I couldn't believe it and I was more than excited, because I finally thought he was on the right track. He even slept through the entire night at one night!
Yesterday, it seemed like he had forgotten everything he learned, as he never hovered by the door and would pee where he pleased. At night, he did sleep a little better, as he woke up around 3:30 am. I took him out, he did his business, then I brought him back inside and back into his kennel. He woke up again around 5 am, but I ignored him for about an hour or so and when I let him out for a quick second, he walked back into his kennel and fell asleep til around 9:30 am, when I usually wake up, which was a huge improvement for what he had been doing before, so I'm not sure if he's going in the right direction, or if that might hit a reset button as well.
The incredibly strange thing I noticed today was around 3:00 pm, he was sleeping, then when he woke up, as I was getting ready to take him outside, he jumped up on the couch and started walking back and forth. As I reached for him to take him outside, he squatted and began to pee on the couch, something that he has NEVER done before. I was so upset, because I couldn't believe that he decided to choose the couch to pee on. I'm still going to ask about a bladder infection or something like that at his vet appointment tomorrow, but I feel like his potty training is headed on a road to nowhere.

We all feel like this. It gets better and do your best _ at 6 months it's like a light bulb turns on.

I am in the same boat, Thunder does very well, Legit will go two days without an accident, and then pee's non stop the following two days(keep in mind no change to his schedule or feeding) Its like you stated..It seems like everything they learned went out the window...I really hope that Light bulb goes off at six months, that means he has another month of this crap lol.

Yes it does get better...and you will days where everything is going great and you will think everything is good, and they will have more accidents. I would agree that you should bring it up to the vet and maybe take a pee sample so they can check. When Nikko was about 4 months he was doing fine and all of a sudden he would start peeing inside, and it happened to be a UTI.

Like they said, it takes until they are about 6 months old to be completely potty trained..some are less, some are more. Yukon has been the exception, but today he's had 2 accidents in the house, when all weekend he did not have a single one. Stock up on paper towels and a good cleaner LOL

Its a relief to know there is a breaking point lol, I can put up with it for another two months, Iv heard horror stories from people how huskies can "Never be fully housebroken"(Load of crap).

I've never heard of that, just that it takes longer to housebreak them and more difficult to train them all together. Nikko took a very long time, about 3-4 months to fully housebreak. You will go through several days where you think they are finally potty trained, then they will have an accident. Don't be discouraged though, they will eventually get it! Invest in a lot of paper towels and a good cleaner that will get rid of the scent. Oh, and get a black light to check for spots you missed LOL.

When we first got Loki we kept his kennel in the living room. My fiancée and I would take
turns sleeping out there with him and we had a Momma bear beside his kennel.

http://sites.target.com/site/en/spot/mobile_product_detail.jsp?tcin=10423262&keywords=mommy%20teddy%20bear

Hopefully things are going better now. I have been having success with Yukon, he has gone about a week with no accidents!

I would have the radio on for Nikko when he was little because he had bad separation anxiety. Yukon seems to do pretty well in the crate, he will only start crying when he has to potty or he is hungry in the morning.