Puppy Wont Go Outside!

[renae]

Our 12 week old Murphy (multigen labradoodle) has been with us since late Monday. Tuesday went pretty well with getting him out every hour and he only had 2 small (started to go) accidents. Wednesday was a totally different story.
The second I get him outside, he wants to get back in the house. I take him across the street to the 'potty place' but he wrestles with me so hard and tries to make a B-line back to the house! Also, he had accident after accident in the house all day long. At one point, he peed in the house 3 times within an hour and that was right after he was out and had gone (or probably only partially gone) and was taken out immediately when he started going.
I'm going to try and take him out every 45 min today instead of hour and see if that helps but I've got to get him over this fear of outside first.
Help!! He's lucky he's cute : )

[Jane, Guinness and Murphy]

Does he get a treat when he goes outside? At the beginning, I always showed our puppy the treat bag before we went out the door. He quickly learned that the treat comes after he goes potty outside. Now there is no need for the treats, but it did help those first couple of weeks.

[renae]

That's the other thing - yes, I reward him if he goes outside (immediately I give him a treat) but after that first day, he really seems like he could care less about the treat. I've tried a few different kinds and even cheese. It's strange. Today I was going to try cheerios...I've heard they love that...and with 2 kids, I've certainly got plenty of those around!
He did the same thing again this a.m. - got out right out of the crate and outside, peed then came in and 5 min later, peed in the house!

[Jane, Guinness and Murphy]

Well if the treats aren't motivating him, you may have to keep him really confined to just where you are. That way you can catch him as soon as he starts to go, pick him up and bring him outside. He should get the connection pretty quickly. The good news is that it usually doesn't last too long. Our puppy is now five months, and I still keep an eye on him for the signal that he might have to go out...smelling and circling. He still is not totally reliable about going to the door and ringing the bells, but we're pretty much over the "accidents" in the house.

[renae]

I took him out about 10 min ago, he wouldn't go so when we came in, I put him in the crate and I'll take him out in about 5 more min and try again. I guess I'll just do this all day with the crate. I just would hate if he then didn't like his crate (but I am very positive about when he goes in there).
Thanks Jane - Fingers crossed that we get over this hurdle soon!

[Betsy D.]

I am sorry I can't address the fear thing, but I can tell you what I found with the accidents immediately after going out. We have a 19 wk. GD who was house broken pretty easily. What I found was that she doesn't release all of her urine at one time. When I take her out she will go potty two, three, somtimes four times before she is finished. I walk in our yard for 10 to 15 minutes sometimes just so I can make sure she is finished. This helped a lot and potty training was very easy after I figured this out. Just a thought on the fear thing. Is there another place you can walk him? Maybe there is something about the area that bothers him. As I said just a thought. Good luck.

[renae]

Thanks Betsy! I'm sure this is the problem - him not finishing - the trick is to get him to stay out there long enough. Now when we bring him out, if he doesn't fight us to get back inside, he just lays down in the grass. It's a tug of war to get him going!
That could be. There are a lot of dogs in our neighborhood, maybe one of them has him scared. I'll try a different route next trip out; which is in, oh, about 15 minutes! At least I'm getting my daily steps in!

[Lynne B]

make sure you are cleaning up every trace of urine from the accidents, I used Nature's Miracle, I tried other brands and they didn't work. If the dog can smell his urine in the house he will return to that spot, he's not being bad, he thinks that's his personal potty spot. The other advice you've been given is excellent, as already suggested, I would tether him to you or confine him to one area so you can take him out quickly

[Adina P]

I would take him out more often than that. Do you take him out on leash? He should be going out on leash. Just plant your feet somewhere on your lawn and hold on to the leash (maybe get a slightly longer one) and wait 5-10 minutes...if you need to mosey around a bit, that's fine too. Then RIGHT back inside and into his crate if he doesn't pee. It's not meant as punishment, only as containment so he doesn't practice peeing indoors. 30 min later take him out repeat. Until he's peed outside, I'd keep repeating. When he does pee...be ready to PARTY with him and give him some excellent play time =)

But when he's indoors, at this age he needs to be on a leash attach to you or in a crate or playpen.

[renae]

Thanks Adina! I do have him on a leash when we go out and I've tried to stay put in that one spot but he just lays down and wont budge. It's crazy.
I just heard from my vet from our first visit and he has an ear infection along with giardia (sp?) so I'm wondering if maybe he doesn't feel great?