God love ya for savin' the lil scudder and also for your wonderful sense of humor!!

this is a tough one. i have always heard that "puppy mill" dogs (and i would sure consider him one or very close to it) are very hard to housebreak. methinks you will need to go back to housebreaking 101 as if you are dealing with a tiny puppy.

one thing you can do that i will admit is inconvenient but i know it's very successful is to tether him to you. when he is not in his crate or not being watched every second, he is tethered to you with his leash so that he CAN'T scoot off to the back room. keep him tethered to you and take him out every hour to see if he needs to potty.

no playing, no running around...take him to his spot, give him the command you want to use and wait. and wait some more until he either does his business or you decide he just doesn't have to yet. then, back inside and still tethered.

and when you ARE outside and he DOES potty, praise him like you have completely lost your ever lovin' mind! dance, sing, act the fool...whatever you have to do to let him know you are over-the-top happy!

i have an almost 7 year old great dane boy. he pees like a girl. i have repeatedly told him he isn't going back to the dog park until he learns to lift his leg. it's embarrassing. he keeps telling me leg lifting is so overrated and he rather likes the squat/pee method. i rather think he is just plain lazy! whatchya gonna do, right? :)

With puppy mill dog's U have your hands full. but they can learn. Many many moons ago I took in a cocker that was a puppy mill. She had never see the outside of a cage. We are talking something that I wouldn't put my cat into that is how small this things was. It took lots of time and it always meant that I was tired to her. She was fed in the morning so by supper time she had to poo and it was getting to the point she was doing it outside and not in my house. Have faith that your little guy will over come all this and U will have a great little dog when all said and done. But U will have to go back to puppy 101,till he gets it. good luck!!

Thanks, we'll switch dinner to breakfast. He won't understand at first so he'll get a snack at dinner for a while. Me and my shadow are about to head out for the morning constitutional, hopefully to great praise and accolades!

Are you saying you feed him once a day? I'm one that doesn't believe in one meal a day since I've seen too many dogs that end up with stomach issues from it. I suggest you feed him either 3 small meals a day or at least twice a day.

Read up on basic crate training, and continue with him sleeping in the crate at night since that seems to work. Take him outside immediately after waking in the morning, then feed him breakfast. After that, take him for your regular walk. If you're home during the day, take him out several times during the day.........give a gentle command (I use 'go tinkle' and 'do you business') each time he goes then praise or give a treat. Walk him after every meal and right before bedtime. ALWAYS take him outside whenever he's allowed out of the crate.
Major tip: no punishment when you find the accidents. Just clean them up and work more on his & your training.

As for the barking in the morning.....it may be because he needs to go outside. Or, he just may have you trained well. : )
Is the crate located in your bedroom? If not, consider moving it to your room to see if he'll sleep longer knowing you're nearby.

Don't know why he's being referred to as a puppy mill dog.......

Here is a link that might be useful: Tibetan

Annz, I think another poster considered him a puppy mill dog because his feet had rarely touched the ground, grass, etc. and lived most of his life in a crate.

Ninapearl you are so funny about your Great Dane. He's a girly boy, so what!? Ha ha! Anyway, it's hard to lift that big ole' leg!

Noworries, good luck with training your pup. I hope it goes well for you and you soon have "no worries."

it sounds like he was kept as a breeding dog. in a crate. feet never touching grass. that's about as close to puppy mill as you get even though i suppose on a smaller scale.

yes, socks, bentley is quite a character. he came to me as a foster dog at the age of 3. raised in st. louis, left alone in the yard all day, jumped the chain link fence to play with the neighbor kids. rather than training or doing something to solve the problem, they gave him up. their loss, my gain. bentley doesn't know a stranger, he will happily lean on anybody and everybody who comes here, including delivery men. once they get over their initial "OMG that dog is HUUUUUGE!!!!!" they are more than happy to give him some attention. he was here exactly 24 hours as a foster when i called rescue and told them to send me a contract. he wasn't going anywhere! :D

Thank you for taking on this rescue! And I think you've gotten great advise from others...

I'm just curious about feeding him once a day. This is the second post recently where someone was having issues and also mentioned feeding a dog once a day. Humans eat 3 or more times a day, dogs have much smaller stomachs so I can't imagine how hungry they would be if they only get to eat once a day?

I have a rescue dog with some eating issues and he gets 3 small meals a day. Even my donkeys get fed twice a day, even after they have been outside grazing all day ...

Good luck with your pup ...