How to Train a German Shepherd to Not Pee in the House
Introduction
You are walking through your house and suddenly you step in something wet. You groan, “Not again!” Your German Shepherd has forgotten his manners again and peed inside the house. You scold him and throw him outside, but nothing seems to be working. You find yourself scrubbing your carpet again anyway. Training your German Shepherd not to pee in the house may be difficult, but it is crucial for a good relationship with your dog. And for the health of your floor.
Defining Tasks
In general, German Shepherds who weren’t housebroken as puppies tend to be stubborn during the house training process. If they weren’t trained at all as puppies, they can become dominant and disobedient. You want to begin training your Shepherd to pee outside, and follow commands in general, as soon as you bring him home. It may take a while to break your dog’s bad habits, but with patience and consistent training you can create good manners in your German Shepherd.
Getting Started
Get ready to be patient and pay close attention to the signals your German Shepherd sends to you. Depending on the method you choose, you will need several things, including:
- Good training treats
- A comfy dog crate
- A bell
You should also choose a designated potty spot in your yard. Make sure your dog always goes to the bathroom in the same spot. This teaches your German Shepherd that he can’t pee wherever he wants.
The Crate Method
The Schedule Method
The Bell Method
Success Stories and Training Questions
Training Questions and Answers
Khaleesi
I’ve tried taking her out every hour. Limit her food and water intake. She’s been crate bound at night. During the day choose to put her in a big crate at nap time or run loose in the kitchen. She will poop in her cage and pee. I scold her and clean it up. She just peed in it and then laid in it. I don’t know why. It’s like she’s not catching on. I’ve been doing this for over a month
425 Dog owners recommended
Hello Sacanna, For a crate to be effective it needs to be large enough for the dog to lay down, turn around and stand, but no larger. If it is large enough for the dog to pee in one end and stand on the other end away from it it won't utilize a dog's natural desire to hold their pee in a confined space. Also, the area should be anything absorbent in the crate, including a soft bed or towel. Anything absorbent will also encourage peeing. If you need something for Kaleesi to lay on in the crate use something like www.primopads.com Clean the crate thoroughly with an enzymatic pet cleaner. The cleaner must contain enzymes to fully remove the smell for a dog's sensitive nose. Any remaining smell will encourage peeing and pooping in that spot again. Look on the cleaner bottle for the word enzyme or enzymatic somewhere. Even bleach will leave the smell, but many pet stores, stores like Walmart, or Amazon carry enzymatic pet cleaners. Best of luck training, Caitlin Crittenden
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I have 2 males in tact 3 yr old German Shepherds that are brothers, I’ve had them since they were 3 months old. They have never been 100% housebroken, an accident now and then, but it’s getting worse. I live in the desert so I know sometimes it’s just to hot outside but they’re not stupid. I can bring them in the house and one of them will just pee. They poop too. It didn’t used to be this bad and one of them actually wakes me up in the middle of the night to go out. They have their “potty spot” in the back yard and do use it. My last GSD wouldn’t go in the house if his life depended on it. I’m completely stumped! Is it a competition? Are they marking their territory? I’ve tried the bell at the door, that never worked. They’ve been out of their crates for ages, although I’m thinking of starting that again. I don’t know what to do, please help. Just to be clear I’m not getting them fixed and yes one is more dominant over the other. Any help you could recommend would be greatly appreciated. Thank you. GDS Mom 🐾💗
425 Dog owners recommended
Hello Joy, To find out whether it's marking or just a potty training issue you would need to know if they went potty right before they came inside - and still marked. If they are holding it while outside and peeing inside that's probably a potty training issue, especially since they have always struggled with this and poop inside too. If they both go potty outside, then pee AGAIN inside - that sounds like marking. I suggest going outside with them when they go potty to find out - you will need to go with them for potty trips for a bit anyway to help with potty training. If it's marking, have both dogs wear a belly band - which is like a male diaper that covers just their male parts. You need to stop the spreading of scent to break this habit. Also, clean up all accidents with a cleaner that contains enzymes - only enzymes will remove the smell fully and the scent needs to be removed for the competing to stop - it also needs to be removed for potty training to work so they don't associate the house with peeing. Since its more likely a potty training issue, I suggest going back to crating both of them. You need to go with them to take them potty, tell them to "Go Potty" and watch them to make sure they go. If they go potty, then praise and give three small treats - one at a time. If they are just playing or getting distracted when you take them potty, then they need to be taken on leash, one at a time right now, and slowly walked around and encouraged to sniff. It may be that they get too distracted when with each other outside and need to be let outside separately for pottying - the faster they go, the faster they can move onto playing or come back inside. Going potty outside quickly is their ticket for getting to the next thing they want to do, instead of them going outside, then asking to come back in without doing anything. Since you will be going with them to see if they went potty, then if they don't go, when you take them back inside put whoever didn't go potty into the crate. Pottying = freedom. Not pottying = being in the crate. They should only be out of the crate when you know they are empty. Check out the article linked below for more tips. The article was written for puppies so the times will be very different for your boys - pay attention to how long they tend to be able to hold it for before having an accident and create your own schedule. While in the crate they can likely hold it for 7-9 hours, and while out of the crate 3-5 hours if it's not marking. When they get close to their bladder filling up again, they either need to be taken back outside or crated until time to go to ensure they don't potty in the house. Crate Training method: https://wagwalking.com/training/train-a-german-shepherd-puppy-to-poop-outside Best of luck training, Caitlin Crittenden
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we have an 8 week old shepard who is doing well with the crate training. She is in small crate which she is outgrowing already!! She is peeing on the floor when we leave the room. Working on that. We are going to try the bell training