New to forum; would be grateful for some advice

[TibbyFamily]

Hi, I am new to this forum. My family has a 4-year old Tibetan Spaniel, very sweet dog. Male, neutered. We got the dog (Charlie) from a reputable breeder when he was about 7 months old. He wasn't really fully house trained; we continued with crate training, and he is somewhat better, but not reliable enough to have the run of the house. Our main challenge at the moment is what happens at night. I take him for a walk about 10:00 or 10:30. He does his business on the walk. When we return to the house, we put him in his crate for the night. Every night, he wakes up barking between 2 AM and 5 AM. I end up having to take him out, where he pees about 65% of the time (he doesn't pee the other 35% of the time). We've found that if we don't take him out when he barks in the middle of the night, he pees in his crate.
I imagine this information may not be enough to really give me some advice, and I'd be happy to tell you more, if I knew what was important to say about this. But if you think you may be able to help, I'd really like to hear from you!
Thank you!

[McMegan]

Hi,
A couple of thoughts:
Have you had him examined by your vet? Since the accidents are happening throughout the day in addition to the night-time barking, you'll want to first eliminate any possible medical reasons for the seemingly limited bladder control.

Assuming there are no underlying medical concerns, do you offer any food or water after your 10:00pm walk (this includes treats, snacks, drinking from the toilet, etc)? Make sure to withhold all food and water before bedtime.

You said that he is not reliably house-trained during the day, either. Is there a pattern to the timing of his day-time messes in the house (ie shortly after eating/playing/period of excitement/period of rest) or just random?

Regarding the night-time and crate training. When you first got him and were working on crate-training, did you get up between 2-5 to take him out (when he was too young to make it through the night?) This may have inadvertantly established a pattern that persists even though he is now old enough to hold it. Likewise, did you ever use puppy training pads or newspapers in the house, including in his crate? Sometimes dogs who have initially been permitted to go in the house have a hard time transitioning to the outside-only plan.

How did you initially go about crate training? If you have not yet tried this, many dogs are reluctant to potty where they eat. Begin feeding him all meals in his crate. If there's room, you could even leave his empty food dish in there at night to remind him "This is where the food goes." Some dogs, particularly those who have had a traumatizing experience with their crate or who have, for an extended period of time, had no other option than to go in the same small area where they eat (ie puppy mill dogs) will unfortunately not have this inhibition and it is much harder to housetrain them reliably. However, sounds like that is not a concern here. Make sure the crate is large enough that he can stand up, turn around, and lie down but not any larger. If the crate is too spacious, he will still be able to potty in one corner and avoid it in the rest of the crate and you don't want him to have that option.

It takes 21 days to learn a new behavior and 3-12 months to unlearn an established habit. If you want him to learn to remain quietly in his crate throughout the night, it will take some time and you may have to endure some early-morning barking and clean up some messes before he catches on that this behavior is no longer getting him the reward (getting attention, getting out of the crate, and getting to eliminate are all Good Things For Dogs, therefore, rewarding to him) - remember, this is an established behavior that you are now trying to change so it won't happen immediately.

Finally, consult a trainer in your area. APDT.com is a great resource. Like all professions, there's a wide spectrum of trainers out there so you'll have to ask some questions and find the one who works best for you and your dog and with whom you are comfortable working. The trainer can help you lay out a positive plan for managing your dog and helping him to relearn better bladder control.

Best of luck!
Megan