Cross Breeds

I have 2 pit bull puppies(7mo.) and they are not housebreaking, we have tried the crate system all to no avail

we have tried to crate them, separate them, u name it we have done it but nothing seems to be working. Help!!!!

Public Comments

1. PIT BULLS ARE DANGEROUS DOGS, AND NOW YOUR DOGS SHOW BEHAVIOR PROBLEMS....IT WON'T GET BETTER!
2. First off, confine him when you can't supervise. I can't stress enough the importance of this. For potty training, use a crate that is only big enough for her/him to comfortably stand, lie, and turn around in. He should not be able to potty in one end and lie down in the other. Make sure he's not confined for too long -- generally the age in months plus one hours (so 5 hours for a 4 month old pup). If you have to be gone longer, use an exercise pen with his open crate inside for sleeping, a potty pad for relieving himself, and some toys. Every time you take him out of his crate take him outside. He should be on a leash. You should go through the same door every time. Take him to where you want him to potty and start repeating his potty command until he finishes. Then treat him and let him play or go for a walk. Put food and water on a schedule. Give 20 minutes to eat and then pick food up until next scheduled meal. Give water every hour (or when he's obviously thirsty.) By scheduling meals and water, you are able to predict when he will need to relieve himself. Put him on leash and take him out. Watch for behaviors that tell you he needs to go out: circling, squatting, sniffing, crouching, .... I have clients who tell me their puppies won't go while they are outside, only to come inside and make a mess on the floor! If you find this to be a problem, give him a reasonable amount of time outside and if he doesn't go confine him for 15 minutes when you come back inside. At the end of that time, take him back out. Repeat this process until he goes. By doing this, you are teaching him that he will earn his freedom by pottying where it's appropriate. Lastly, basic obedience training really can help. It clarifies leadership for your dog (and sometimes for the owners as well :) )
3. Training two pups at the same time is very difficult. you need to pick one method and stay with it. Each time you change a method it confuses the pups. I would suggest to go back to crate training in separate crates. They are only allowed to be out of the crate if they went potty when they went out. If they choose not to go put them back in the crate and try again in 1 hour. Make sure you take one out at a time. When you let the two of them out they want to play. As they go say "Go Potty" When they do praise. If you can not watch every second when they earn the privilege of being out of the crate they must go back in. You have to be more vigilant than normal because you have 2.
4. You might have to regress to the beginning stages of taking the dogs out every couple of hours. Take them outside to eliminate in two hour intervals, and be sure to reward when they eliminate outside. These dogs respond best to positive reinforcement, so use plenty of physical and verbal praise, and the occasional treat. As they begin to improve, take them out a bit less. Rework their feeding schedule if necessary. I know it's a pain to start over, but it will help.
5. I used the crate method with my pit bull puppy, but you HAVE to stick with it. Let him out every 30min. to 1 hour, after he eats, after he plays, and after he wakes up. You should crate them if you can't supervise them b/c they do like to chew on your stuff. I would not leave food and water in the kennel unless you will be gone for extended periods of time. If you have them on a feeding schedule you will know when the food is going in and around when it will come out. This will lessen the chance for accidents. Good luck and just stick with it. It may take time, but they will get trained.
6. always take them out in the morning, when ever they finish playing or eating. i have 2 pits and what i have done is put a bell on my back door and trained them to ring the bell if they needed to go out.what you do is ring the bell before you open the door. Do that every time and they will learn that it means to go outside. My youngest pit is 5 months. she now rings the bell to let me know she has to go outside. It does take time but the dogs will learn.