Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I've owned my Great Dane for about a month and a half now, and she is still NOT housebroken. When I am not watching her, she is in her crate and is taken out numerous times a day. She will usually go days, maybe even a week without having an accident, but about once every week she will squat to pee, and maybe get a tiny bit out before i catch her, but I just dont get what I am doing wrong. I've been doing this everyday for about a month already. When i take her out, she goes pee and poop at the times she usually does, so I dont get it. If she does have an accident, it is almost all the time just pee. It's been weeks since she has pooped in the house. I wake up at 7:00 and take her out, she poops and pees, then i bring her in to eat and drink water. A few hours later take her out to pee, then a couple hours from them I do it again. Then on my lunch break at about 5:00 I take her to poop and pee feed her again and when i get home around 9 to 9:30 I take her to pee. So i dont know if I should maybe change something, or give her treats instead of just saying good girl and petting her when she poops and pees outside. PLEASE HELP...I DONT KNOW WHY IT'S NOT WORKING

you didn't say how old she is?

Sorry, she is about 5 1/2 months, and I didnt mean that those were the ONLY times i take her out. It's just that those times are the ones that NO MATTER WHAT she will be taken out. I would say that she is in her crate for about 6 hours out of the day, even a lot less on some days. But at night she does sleep in there. Just to clarify it is not actually a crate but a little room in my house. She does seem to love it in there though. She gets lots of toys and bones/treats to chew on.

How old is she? You might try feeding her *before* she goes out, and then taking her out about half an hour later. If she's still a puppy, she'll probably need to go fairly soon after eating, even if she went just before.

I don't know if that will solve your problem, but it's just a thought..

Also, is she in her crate for most of the afternoon/evenings, and at night for bed too? That's a lot of time in her crate, some people would say too much, particularly if she's young..

>>I've owned my Great Dane for about a month and a half now, and she is still NOT housebroken. When I am not watching her, she is in her crate and is taken out numerous times a day. She will usually go days, maybe even a week without having an accident, but about once every week she will squat to pee, and maybe get a tiny bit out before i catch her, but I just dont get what I am doing wrong. I've been doing this everyday for about a month already. When i take her out, she goes pee and poop at the times she usually does, so I dont get it. If she does have an accident, it is almost all the time just pee. It's been weeks since she has pooped in the house. I wake up at 7:00 and take her out, she poops and pees, then i bring her in to eat and drink water. A few hours later take her out to pee, then a couple hours from them I do it again. Then on my lunch break at about 5:00 I take her to poop and pee feed her again and when i get home around 9 to 9:30 I take her to pee. So i dont know if I should maybe change something, or give her treats instead of just saying good girl and petting her when she poops and pees outside. PLEASE HELP...I DONT KNOW WHY IT'S NOT WORKING

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

This doesn't sound like nearly enough potty breaks for a dog of any age. There are complete how-to instructions on housetraining in the articles starting with that word at the link below my signature.
-----
Kathy Diamond Davis, author, "Therapy Dogs: Training Your Dog to Reach Others," 2nd edition, and the free Canine Behavior Series articles at http://www.veterinarypartner.com/Content.plx?P=SRC&S=1&SourceID=47

Food treats for a job well done do fascilitate a dog learning what you want faster than just verbal praise and some petting. That doesn't mean eliminate verbal praise though, just use it with the food.

Potty training a dog is not all that easy. It does take great timing and the dog has to be willing to learn. If you have ever even accidentally made the mistake of scolding the dog for eliminating in the wrong place, that will make your training process take even longer.

My recommendation is to start the whole process over again. Start as if you just brought a new puppy home. Set a plan, and stick to it. Leash your dog to you when you can not supervise with your eyes 100% of the time. You will be able to pick up on the subtle ques they make faster that way. Dog's don't automatically tell us they need to go outside to use the bathroom. It is up to us to just take them out. Older dogs can sometimes learn this "trick" but in the case of my dogs it's just to go outside and play and not necessarily go potty.

Training can be frustrating at times if somethign isn't working as you would like. Your best bet is to modify your method and go forward from there.
-----
PHReign
Email me: HReign@pethobbyist.com" target="_blank">PHReign@pethobbyist.com
Dear dog,
I can not buy anything larger than a king sized bed. I am very sorry about this. Do not think that I will continue to sleep on the couch to ensure your comfort. Look at videos of dogs sleeping, they can actually curl up in a ball. It is not necessary to sleep perpendicular to each other stretched out to your fullest extent possible. I also know that sticking tails straigt out and having tongues hanging out the other end to maximize space used is nothing more than doggy sarcasm.