Nre Handful of a Puppy (peeing in crate, biting)

[ClemsonJeeper]

New Handful of a Puppy (peeing in crate, biting)

Hi all,

We have a new addition to the family named Bojangles. We got him at 10 weeks old, and he's now currently 13 weeks. I had an English bulldog previously raised from a pup and didn't run into any of the issues that I'm running into with this guy (he got crate training/potty training very quickly). This one not so much.

We've been attempting to crate train him. We have a crate upstairs in the bedroom where he gets put about 10pm or so when we lay down for bed. My girlfriend has been waking up around 2-3am to get him out and let him out to go pee (on a harness and leash) and sometimes poo. She puts him back in the crate and he'll sleep until about 6:30-7 when he wakes us up and he goes out again, then gets fed/watered, and put in a crate downstairs for an hour or two while we relax/wake up/get ready.

At this point she goes to work and I work from home so I play with him a bit, take him for a short walk (he's got a short attention span for walks, and I don't want to drag him), and hang out for an hour or so before I put him back into his crate for a couple hours. He's usually not in his crate during the day longer than a couple hours when I'm working/at lunch/etc. When I take him out of the crate I take him immediately outside to go pee. He's pretty good at peeing immediately when he walks out (lots of praise, treats, etc).

However, recently he's been taking to peeing in the crate downstairs even after I've just taken him out. I'll put him back in the crate and check back in a half hour and he's laying in a small puddle of his pee (usually have crate pad down so I can wash them). He doesn't seem to go in his upstairs (nighttime) crate.

Is this just a phase? I feel like we're doing everything we can right, but just want to see if there's anything more to do other than just try to wait it out.

There also is a period of each day which I like to call "Puppy Terrorist" time. Where he goes bonkers, races around downstairs, and lunges and bites at us. He's drawn blood a few times and it doesn't seem to be just puppy play. We've tried to redirect his biting to toys, but he usually just works his way up the toy onto the hand. We've tried "No" loud, yelping and walking away, leaving room, etc, but this has been going on for weeks. It doesn't seem to be lack of exercise - he'll do this after a 10-15 minute walk as well. This is the main issue I'm concerned with right now. Any suggestions?

Thanks again!

(here's a pic when he's not in puppy terrorist mode)

 

[Lalaloopsie]

Hey, congrats with your cute little Bo! For crate training I cannot help much as in Europe we rarely keep dogs in crates, have no experience. But for biting I think you must be a bit harder on him, now it’s time when you still can overpower him and soon it will be not that easy. I would recommend to grab him by the skin on the back of his neck, shake a bit and then press him gently but firmly into the floor and hold him until he stretches on the floor and stops trying to free himself, accompanied with firm NO. This is the way dog mommas punish their puppies and this is a proper reaction to puppy aggression. All these human punishments like time out obviously don’t work on him as he is too excited with running and playing, so you need something a bit more “primal”. My dog is 2 yo and he has “zoomies” like you describe - runs at a high speed around the house, up and down the stairs, then suddenly sits, jump at us, but his bites are gentle nibbles, he never forgets himself, no matter how hard we play.
You must ingrain in his brain that biting humans is absolutely inacceptable, and you better try to do it right now when he weighs 15 pounds, not 50!

 

[oscarmayer]

Potty training can take many months for some. Keep doing what you are doing. Elevate the treats and praise for good behavior. Ignore Bo for unwanted behavior...put your hands behind you and/or kennel him for a bit in addition to what Lala said.

 

[2BullyMama]

Re: New Handful of a Puppy (peeing in crate, biting)

Great insight and advice from the gang.... patience is key


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