Puppy scared to go to the bathroom outside - please help!

[Julie]

Greetings. I have a 9 week old mini goldendoodle puppy (Dexter) that we brought home 3 days ago. he is absolutely precious.

we live in a city in an apartment building, and it is very busy outside. we just started using a crate 2 nights ago (and he HATES it and howls for many many many hours into the night -- it is so sad/hard).

he will not relax outside and refuses to go to the bathroom out there. mostly, he tries to crawl b/w our legs and sit on our feet. we will be out there with him for 15/20/30 minutes, trying to force him to go to the bathroom (even after he's been in his crate all night) and he will wait to go until we come back up to the apartment. will poo/pee within the first 5 minutes. we have nothing to positively reinforce since he won't even go out there. we are trying to keep him in his playpen or crate until he goes to the bathroom, but he is so miserable/howling & shrieking b/c he wants to be with us.

it doesn't help that the weather in boston is currently HORRIBLE -- rainy & windy so it makes it even scarier out there for him.

Any help at all would be much appreciated!!

[Jane, Guinness and Murphy]

Your puppy is so cute! Can he see you from where you have the crate placed? We brought our puppy home a week ago and the trick we found is that he's okay as long as he can see us from his crate. We're in CT, so we're also dealing with the awful weather, and we have another 3 days to go before it clears. Do you have a spot with grass where he can go? We live in a condo with designated dog pens, but he doesn't like to go there. He only will go on grass. We bring him out to his "grassy spot" and wait quietly saying "go potty". When he goes he gets praise and a treat.

[sandy b]

I would suggest using pee pads inside until he get use to the outside. I know it may be more difficult to then have him potty outside but he is so young and all the noise is bound to frighten him. Maybe you could take the pee pads outside to get him to potty in the same place. I've never used them but I know some on DK have. We are fortunate to have a small backyard for potty but we had the same problem with Max being frightened when trying to walk him on our busy street. All the cars/noise scared him. It just takes time.
As for crating it probably took Max about a week to stop crying at night. We had the crate by our bed and had a little stuffed toy for him.
I think what you are experiencing is just normal puppy behavior. The good thing is you'll get lots of support and very good suggestions here on DK.
Dexter is adorable. Can't wait to see more pics.

[Allyson, Peri & Taquito]

I don't really have a suggestion for the pee time outside, but I do for your crate. Do you have a sound machine? We bought a baby sound machine and keep it on "white noise" at night and "songbirds" during the day while we are gone. It helps her sleep through the night. We also put a blanket over the kennel to make it feel smaller and more secure. Give those options a try if you haven't already. Our mini looks like yours! She is 11 weeks and slept 8 hours with no sounds last night! And when our alarm went off, she was just playing with a toy. The sound machine definitely helps.

[HANNAH 8/2/07 & HONEY 7/2/08]

Is there any way you can try and use puppy wee wee pads and train him with them on bad days, than start moving them outside when the weather is nice. He still is really young and has a lot to learn, a lot of patients, practice, and praise will help him along the way.

[Adina P]

Normally I'm against pee pads, but it just may be the solution for you temporarily while you work on socializing your pup to the outside world, puppy kindergarten, etc. I do know one member who has used them successfully and she lived in NY city for a while...so it CAN work.

[Julie]

thank you so much everyone for all of your responses! am feeling v greatful for DK at the moment. my mom (who happens to always be right, i keep learning & relearning & relearning over time) found this site for me.

so i think we may have a good intermediate solution for the pee issue...tell me what you think.

the parking garage under our building is very small, quiet & not busy at all -- there are only about 10 cars that park in it & it is v quiet. i am thinking that until dexter gets used to the commotion outside & until the weather gets better, we use the parking garage for the time being. he will still be going out of our apartment & down the elevator....just not outside. at some point (with nicer weather & once he gets the hang that he is supposed to potty outside of our apartment), we will transition out. maybe we will do this in combo with pee pads...

thank goodness for the support here....the crate howling is just so traumatic! hopefully he will adjust within the week (or else I don't know if I'm going to be able to keep putting him in there).

Thank You (and hope you are having weather better than Boston's)

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Hi Julie,
In addition to the advice the others have given you, I have a few thoughts that may help with the housetraining.
Your puppy doesn't have anything that makes him connect being outdoors with going potty, any more than if you set him down in the center of the Ritz Carlton ballroom, lol. Even if he had been started on outdoor potty training by his breeder, it was most likely in a rural or suburban setting with grass and a lot of smells of other dogs having gone before him. If he is from a commercial kennel, he may never have set foot outdoors before in his life. He has no idea what is expected of him when he is brought outside. If he went from a breeder to an airport, his association with noise, pavement, big buildings, cars, etc., is a scary one. It will take some time, as Jane said, to socialize him to the outside environment. Start walking with him, when the weather allows, in your arms if necessary, to get him used to everything in the area. Once the weather clears, hopefully you can find an alley, side street or some other area nearby where it is quieter & other dogs are walked.
I agree that a grassy area of some kind would help, or even a lamp post or fire hydrant, anything where he can pick up the smell of other dogs having relieved themselves. Bringing the pee pads to the garage or outdoor area as a hint might be a good idea, although I have no experience with them personally.
Decide on a word to use when praising him for going potty in the correct place, and use it every time he does, whether you use pee pads, the garage, whatever. Say "Good pee pee" "Good potty" or whatever in an excited high-pitched voice; You can also pet him, treat him, act as if he hung the moon, but use the words. Then when the weather clears and you start trying to potty train him outdoors, you can say "Go pee pee", "go potty", or whatever the phrase is, and it will be easier for him to understand what is expected when he is brought outside.
I hope some of this will help.