How to Train a German Shepherd to Not Pee in the House

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

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