Housebreaking woes

[Heather]

It seems like Mars will NEVER be housebroke (and therefore he'll NEVER leave here!). At 4 mos old he should start to "get it" right? He only pees alittle outside and then holds the rest (for a rainy day I suppose) and then comes inside and squats on the carpet or tile or wherever. He's also pooped in the house a few times and I caught him right as he was trying to go today, interrupted him with a loud NO and took him outside, to which he ran out in the yard and pooped. I try to keep him in sight at all times but cannot tie him to me because he freaks and struggles when Amos tries to play with him and he's all tethered up. Then they run back and forth between the kitchen and family room (I've already got the rest of the house blocked off) and I can't keep following them around. It's exhausting. He'll go run in the kitchen, playing, pee for a second and then come back to playing. It's so frustrating. How can you teach a dog to hold it and pee it out at one time? This dog literally pees every half hour or less. He does hold it in his kennel but he still doesn't empty himself when taken outside after being crated. His water intake is controlled and it doesn't matter. He could have a half cup in the morning and pee WAY more than that consistantly throughout the day. He's also regressed in his food guarding and almost bit me today when we worked on canned food (which he's done before no problem). I'm just stressed out worse then I've ever been. I am starting to resent ever taking this dog on. A puppy is NOT what I needed right now and with his issues not improving he'll probably not find a home very quick. Who wants a dog that's aggressive and pees and poops all over the house? Can anyone offer me some insight into the housebreaking? Is there something I'm not doing that I should? I feel the only way I have control over the situation is to crate him and crating him all day with potty breaks in between is not the answer for sure. I just cannot trust him in the house. Oh I've also tried lots of excitement, treats, lavish praise, play time etc when he potties outside. After 3 weeks of this he still doesn't seem to care if he pees inside and isn't praised/given treats/etc.

[Ratwings]

I'm sorry you are having such a tough time with Mars! I know it sounds cruel but what I recommend in situations like this is 100% supervision or confinement. So he really does need to be confined whenever you can't be watching him- as in your eyeballs are on him and no where else.

Some pups are so excited to be outside, they are sniffing all over the place, and they actually forget to fully empty when they potty. Then they go inside, all the fun is over, and they realize- hey I gotta go!  So if you you don't feel sure that he's fully emptied, put him back in the crate for 5 min then take him out again until he finishes emptying. Yeah, he may be in his crate a lot until you can get a good routine.  Take him on extra long walks to make up for it.  When he's having free play time inside with Amos you have to watch him like a hawk and take him outside for breaks frequently. Are you using the clicker for house training?  I found this to be extremely helpful. Don't click while he's peeing/pooping, but just as that last drop is coming out and he is beginning to un-squat. Then give a big food reward/praise. Toss it on the ground and step away if you have to so you don't interfere with his resource guarding training. Always take him to the same area, to help him get into a pattern.  Also if possible it would help to have your carpets professionally cleaned where he's had accidents so he's not stimulated to return to the same spots in your house.

I know it sounds kinda control-freakish... but he's never going to learn if he doesn't have the right boundaries (which are all relative depending on the individual dog). He sounds like a puppy who needs lots of boundaries because he's learned some bad habits, at the shelter or wherever.

Hang in there! I really admire your for taking in this pup. I always wanted to foster for a rescue/shelter, but still living at home is preventing that for now.  Fostering/raising the Seeing Eye pups was an ordeal in itself. But I for some reason feed off all the chaos and frustration, it makes it all the more worthwhile for me. So I am eagerly awaiting the day I can foster again!

[star2]

Julie gave some great advice! 
I know how frustrating house-breaking can be...trust me.  Carl wasn't reliable until AFTER he was a year old. 
Preventing accidents is the best way to get through this obviously.  Carl had so many accidents that we were never able to completely get the odor out of the carpet. 
We got our carpet replaced after Mia was potty-trained (she was fully potty-trained by 6 months...thank God she was not difficult like her brother!) and it helped soo much!!
So ya know, just replace the carpet every time he has an accident. 

Good luck!!!!  He will catch on eventually, I promise!  There is a light at the end of the tunnel!
(and apparently I'm over-tired...)

[Heather]

I may not have Mars much longer (kinda getting away from the housebreaking issue). I feel that he has way more issues than I can properly deal with.. the main one being his extreme exercise needs and the fact he is ALL TERRIER. I think his size could possibly be beagle and perhaps his tail but I see 95% jack and maybe some rat in him.. especially his coloring on the face. I am apparently NOT a terrier person (I was told he was a BEAGLE mix afterall and had no idea what I was getting myself into until I researched for a few hours shortly after getting him and finding out he's 99.9999% terrier) and I do not have the patience or the personality to deal with one. I talked to a friend of mine today that is heavy into earth dog and has contacts in the jack community and she described this dog to a tee without ever seeing him. She gave me the name and number of a rescue group that does jack and jack mixes that I am going to push for him to go to. They screen their adopters heavily and make sure the people have either had a jack, have one currently or have really researched the breed. They apparently breed jack russells too but they are pretty heavy into rescue as well. They have their own house/building built for the rescues and have staff living in it to care for the dogs. I am not sure all the details but I was told it's not a shelter-kennel situation (because Mars obviously does poorly in that environment and I wouldn't want hi to end up in that again) it's actually like a house setting. I 100% trust this is a fine place because my friend is very picky about rescues and such too. She'd never recommend them if they weren't excellent. So tomorrow I call the shelter manager and push for him to go to the rescue. I am just losing my mind around this dog. He's a good dog, really, and I know alot of it is puppy but the breed is just not compatible with me, my family, or any of our other animals at all. And apparently aggression and resource guarding and such is not a shock with this type of breed. I'm hoping the rescue is prepared to place him in a home that manages the situation and continues to work with Mars in a positive way, not a Cesar Millan type way. I understand these types of dogs need alot of rules and strict boundaries but I don't want him to be slapped around either.

[Ratwings]

Sounds like a great rescue-- I hope they can help you out with Mars.  There is no need to make your life miserable in order to help Mars by yourself. We'd like to save them all, but sometimes we have to realize that some things are way beyond our control, and we have to let someone else step in. Although I'm sure by this point you are ready to say "Good riddance!" to Mars.   Good luck, and let us know how it goes. Also some more pics would be much appreciated. If anything, he's pretty darn adorable!

Maybe you could offer to do a little training demo with the rescue, if he ends up going there. To show them what you've been doing, and outline the proper protocols for CC&D for resource guarding. I would also be very worried about people not handling the situation right and ruining any chances he has of improving.