Potty training is going, but slowly. We have good days and we have bad days. I’m waiting eagerly for the day when all the screaming finally clicks in the dog’s head and he realizes that the screaming doesn’t happen when he does his business outside, only inside, and finally lets us know he has to go by running to the front door. Or something obvious like that, but not obvious like, Oh! I have to pee! Right here! on the carpet! You! Just ! Steam! Cleaned! That would be fantastic. Because until then we will continue to act like 5 year olds and keep calling him as Mr. Pee pee. Not only because he hasn’t figured out a better system of letting us know he needs to go OUTSIDE to PEE, but because he keeps peeing in his crate.
Thank Google that we finally figured out the peeing in the kennel problem. Turns out that his space was too big. Even in the smaller crate. So, we went back to the original, larger crate, and put the divider in to make it much smaller. The vet said his space should be no longer than nose to tail, or an inch or two longer. No more. He wasn’t kidding.
I also read online that it’s better to keep them in your bedroom so that you can hear them when they wake up needing to go out and also so that they know you’re near by. I’ve heard conflicting things about the latter and prior to this we’ve kept him in the kitchen. We were at our wit’s end about this, or at least I was, about the peeing and other unmentionables happening in the crate, so I was willing to take a gamble on him sleeping in our bedroom.
How did it go?
Last night was the first time since he’s come home that he did not piss or shit in his crate and then do his best imitation of a steam roller trying to embed it in his fur. So Yay! Clean dog! Clean crate!
But the downside to this is that he is woke us up at THREE A.M. to do his business outside. Also, by waking us up, what I really mean is both of us wake up, but B takes him out and then can’t get back to sleep until probably right before the alarm goes off. I, on the other hand, wake up, go back to sleep and then wake up again when they come back in because Mr. Pee pee then proceeds to howl his head off like he’s being attacked by a mountain lion until he gets tired of hearing his own voice, which usually, takes FOREVER.
I also didn’t particularly care for it last night when we took him to the pet store and he PEED IN MY LAP ON THE WAY THERE. Then he peed in the store. AND THEN HE PEED IN THE HOUSE WHEN WE GOT HOME. How he escaped the stew pot last night is a miracle. [Insert best impression of Margaret Cho: That dog gonna end up in a POT OF RICE!]
We discussed eating him on the way home and decided that he would be more like a snack of puppy nuggets rather than a whole meal because he is very small. I think he would be the equivalent of veal. But probably tastes like chicken. /tangent
So, without trying to be too optimistic, I think we might be making progress in the whole No More Peeing in the Crate thing.
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!! Charlie Stretch-Pants peed in your lap!! Nearly spit my roast beef sammich all over your blog.
It might actually be that he has a UTI. Dogs usually don’t pee where they sleep, no matter how big their crate is. (you should have seen Sadie’s crate when we had it up. King sized!) The fact that he’s peeing so often and also ON you, might be a clue that he has a medical problem.
Also, and I know this might be a pain at first, but until he realizes that peeing outside is the way to go, take pee breaks EVERY HOUR when you are at home. Stop whatever you are doing, take him outside, and let him pee. And then HAPPY JOY! GOOD BOY! OH MY GOD WHAT A GOOD BOY! LIVER TREAT! GOOD BOY!!! Over the top craziness. He’s a small dog and he has a small bladder.
Please don’t eat your dog. It would be a bad Korean stereotype thing. *moves Sadie protectively behind my legs*
I know how it can be. I once peed in a girlfriend’s closet.
But the dog doesn’t get as drunk as I used to.