can't seem to get him potty trained...

[bentleyboy]

Can anyone give me advice as Bentley is now almost 7 months and still not potty trained. Obviously i am doing something wrong with Bentley. I feel like the harder i try to get him potty trained the worse he gets. I took Bentley outside with me last night while i was plowing, about 10 minutes in the truck he went poopoo! I don't get it. Is it possible some dogs never get it?
 
     Sincerely,
          Bentley's confused dad.

[Christen83]

Can you tell us what methods you've used up to this point?  It may help us with suggestions. 

[BoxerWB]

We definitely need what you've tried to far and what circumstances his accidents appear to be under.

The most often made mistake is a lack on consistency on your part.  You figure he's older, he probably knows what to do, so you don't track how long you are waiting in between potty breaks and don't keep him within eyesight around the house, etc.  We made this mistake w/Xena, I think she was 9 mos before we finally got the hang of it.  Not her fault, we just figured by 6-7 months she'd "know" and couldn't figure out her problem - it wasn't her problem, it was ours!  She could only learn what we *truly* taught her!  Once we stepped up our part, she started learning very quickly!

[bentleyboy]

My routine..
6:30 AM - Walk him to spot on Leash for peepee & poopoo
  (Usually goes # 1 & 2) not this morning because he was trying to eat the snow.
6:45 AM - Feed Him (3 cups w/ little bit of water in food bowl)

7:30 AM - Walk him one last time before work.
  
5:30 PM - Walk him to spot on leash for peepee & poopoo

6:30 PM - Feed Him (3 Cups w/ little bit of water in food bowl)

7:15 PM - Walk him to spot on Leash for peepee & poopoo
After 7:15 Walk him on Leash every hour till about 10:30 PM

Also i have not been leaving him alone if i can help it and if i do i crate him. He knows not go in there. When i am home from work he is with me all the time.

[BoxerWB]

Ok, good outline of routine - now when does he make the mistakes?  In between evening walks, when the routine is disrupted, etc?  The timing of the mistakes can be very telling.

[bentleyboy]

correct, typically accidents are in the evening and usually are only peepee accidents. We used to leave him in the kitchen when we were upstairs but now we bring him up. If i am with him he is fine, however, as soon as i let him out of my site for a moment it's a 50/50 that he will have gone. I had Bentley outside with me for about 20 minutes last night and he didn't go. 5-10 minutes in the truck he goes poopoo. I think he also gets distracted with the snow?  It's crazy..lol

[BoxerWB]

Ok, so I think you've partially answered your own question - He isn't at the "you don't have to watch him" stage yet, so keep him in sight. 

You also don't mention if he gives you any signal (when he is in sight and needs to pee) - if he doesn't, consider bell-training him, so you get an audible signal from him "hey, I gotta go!"

As for the poo accident, yes, they can get that distracted!  I've had my pups be "ready to burst" on their back ends but then a dog walks by and  they completely forget what they are there for.  You mention bringing him to a potty spot - that is very good, but you can't let him play there.  You need him to know that the spot is for potty only, play comes later (or during a separate trip).  And even though I'm sure you were freezing your hiney off, you need to wait him out if you *know* he needs to go and hasn't gone.  By putting him in the truck, you were setting him up for an accident since he didn't have a place to go and still had a "full tank."

[BoxerPerson]

Isn't 3 cups per meal and awful lot?  Gee even my big guy (90 #) gets a total of 4 a DAY! 

[BoxerWB]

Good catch - I wasn't even looking at food amounts, just feeding times.

Bentley - What are you feeding him?  Even my high-energy nutty boy doesn't get 6 cups a day!  He barely skims 3!  Sounds like you may be using a very low quality food or else overfeeding, which can lead to poo-potty issues.

[bentleyboy]

my other half is a vet tech, they all said that he is to skinny & asked for now to give him 2 1/2 - 3 cups 2 times a day. should i lower it?

[kimmer]

Wow that is a lot of food IMO.  What are you feeding him?

[BoxerPerson]

You need to be feeding a good quality food.  Science Diet., Eukanuba, etc are NOT!  Check your ingredients...if a protien source is NOT the first cpl of ingred.  then it is not a good food.  If there is corn, corn anything, it is not a good food.  Poor quality food leads to frequent poos!

I feed my 4 pups a total of 3.5 to 4 cups for all 4 a meal!  Ollie really doesn't eat too much, maybe 1/2 c, but the others get about 1 plus cup each two times a day.  Right now Neeko is thin at 8 months (the 16th) he was eating Purina Puppy Chow (yuck and more yuck!!!)  I am weaning him off that and onto Drs Foster & Smith Lamb & Rice kibble and homecooking.  He has put a tiny bit of weight on.

[PradazPurdy]

I don't feed my girl more than 4 cups - usually less (depending on her activity level throughout the day). The Boxer is a lean breed. You're supposed to be able to see their ribs. They may look skinny, but they're perfectly healthy. You wouldn't want your Boxer to get too fat, as that would be unhealthy. Since Bentley is really still a pup, I would suggest that you not overfeed him. Younger pups are going to remain a little skinny/gangly due to the fact that they're growing.

And I also agree w/Claire on the quality of food you feed. A higher-quality food such as, Canidae (to name one), is always best. Not only does this firm/regulate their poo, but they're also getting better nutrients - which would result in a healthier system & appearance - and a happier dog overall.

[BoxerWB]

Most likely they are not that familiar w/boxers, and many people keep their boxers a little too chubby, so they may not be used to a healthy looking boy.  A growing pup can go through some extra-skinny stages, and you do increase their food if you see spine or hip bones, but just seeing ribs is perfectly normal - actually, desirable! 

A dog raised on the skinny side of things is more likely to maintain a healthy weight than keeping a dog a bit more chunky and then trying to cut back. My Xena is a good example - we never knew you were supposed to see ribs when she was a pup, so we kept her at what we thought was a "lean" weight... it tooks years, learning and some convincing of my husband, who didn't think she was fat but we've finally gotten her where you can sort of see and very easily feel her ribs.  She's healthier for it, less prone to get sore (she has a bad knee) and more active and crazy.

Before suggesting a moderation of amount, I'd have to ask what food you are feeding.  Quality of "input" can definitely effect quantity.

[bentleyboy]

It may be Science Diet, i am not 100% sure. Do you think the food could be part of the problem?