We are desperate!!! Our Titus will not potty train!

Hello all! New member and first time poster here. We are at our wits end with our pug puppy, Titus. He is 6 months old and is the most stubborn little sucker we've ever seen. My poor wife is almost in tears because everything we try does not work. We are now convinced that he knows what he is doing is wrong and is doing this out of spite, lol

Titus is the most energetic pug I have ever seen. He seems to be very high strung which is strange for a pug as far as I am concerned. We know he has control over his bodily functions as he will not go to the bathroom in his crate. A typical "bathroom break" goes like this...We will let him out of his crate and either take him out back in our yard, or out front on a leash. He will have a blast outside, but won't go to the bathroom. He waits until he comes back in the house and when you turn your head for a second, he will poop or pee wherever he sees fit. 5 minutes ago, he jumped up on the couch and peed on it. My wife is livid. He will pee anywhere and everywhere including on bed's (we have 2 beds in our house low enough for him to jump up on), furniture, on curtains, clothes, etc.
We want him to be a part of the family and we don't want to keep him locked up in his crate, but he really leaves us no choice. He is indiscriminate in where and when he goes, and we have tried everything including positive and negative reinforcement. We praise him as if he scored the winning touchdown in the Super Bowl when he does go outside, but it doesn't help. He will pee the second he walks back through the door. Titus is very smart, but he seems to have this evil streak in him. My wife and I have had numerous different types of dogs throughout our lives and both of us agree that this dog is unlike anything we have ever seen before. My wife and I would never think about getting rid of a pet, but this one is breaking us and we don't know what to do anymore. If anyone has any insight whatsoever, it would be greatly appreciated.

First off, go back to the basics.

Every 2-3 hours he must go outside and absolutely NO free roaming, after he eats or plays or wakes up from a nap he needs to go straight outside ON A LEASH. Do not let him just run a muck out there either, he's out there to do his business not play, ignore him out there until he goes then throw a party. If he doesn't go to the bathroom outside, back in the crate for another 15-30 minutes then try again. You can also tether him to you with a leash and that way you can learn the signs that he needs to go and get him outside.

I always tell people, if your dog is messing inside, roll up a newspaper and whack yourself with it because it is your fault not your puppy's you were not paying enough attention.

At 6 months, barely any puppies will be reliable to free roam. Also a male at 6 months might be starting to get his hormones going and starting to mark. Make sure to get him neutered to help curb this behaviour.

Also, any accidents he has in the house make sure to use an enzymatic cleaner such as Nature's Miracle to clean it up. Their noses are much much stronger than ours and they will think that spot is where to go if not cleaned well enough. If he has poop accidents inside the house, it's also helpful to take the poop out to the spot you want him to go then when you take him outside he will smell that and think that's where to go.

ETA: I'd also suggest enrolling him in a Positive Reinforcement Puppy Class or Puppy Agility Foundations Class. This will help him expel some energy and give you some exercises to work on to tire him out. Also look into "smart" toys like Kong Genius toys or other Puzzle toys like that for him to use some brain energy on.

Welcome to Pug Authority.

First - calm down. Your pug is not evil, and he does not pee out of spite.

Is your boy fixed? Neutering can go a long way in helping a male that likes to "mark", although that does not sounds like your problem.

This sounds like this may be your first pug. Contrary to what you may believe, pug puppies are highly energetic. Your belief that this is strange is completely incorrect. The misconception that pugs are lazy couch potatos is not true, at least for the first few years. Some never settle down, while others do chill as they get older. Either way - you should expect a lot of high energy and crazy puppy for at least the first 2 years.

If he is in his crate most of the time, it is understandable that as soon as you let him outside, he wants to play rather than pee. He should get plenty of play / exercise while inside with you, and then go outside to pee. Pugs are notorious for taking quite a while to fully potty train. My girl trained quickly (a few months), but my boy took at least until 1 year of age. And, my girl loved to pee on soft stuff, like the couch, bedding and clothes.

There are some really, really great articles on here about potty training, and taking care of a pug. Things you should expect. I suggest you read those.

I must encourage you to stop with any negative training. It does not work. When you scold, he does not learn to pee outside, he learns to pee somewhere else, hopefully where you won't find him. Positive reinforcement is the best way to go. Pugs are very food motivated. You should be able to use treats as a way to positively reinforce. But, you will need to be consistent, and expect to put a few weeks to months into training, not a few days.

Titus will feel your stress and your anger with him - none of that will help him learn.

http://www.pugauthority.com/training-and-behavior-f20/puppies-can-be-very-discouraging-t3382.htm

Here is the link to a good thread on here about pug puppies. It is a sticky at the top of this forum.

Welcome to the forum! If you haven't already, check out this post and follow it to the letter :

http://www.pugauthority.com/training-and-behavior-f20/the-only-housetraining-article-you-ll-ever-need-t506.htm

Welcome to PA and welcome to the struggles and joys of a pug puppy. Reward, reward, reward good behaviour. Follow the house training article posted and you will ultimately find success. Here's another article that may make you feel a bit better about your struggles.

http://www.pugauthority.com/training-and-behavior-f20/what-the-books-didn-t-tell-you-about-pugs-t3372.htm

Don't have anything to add to the others except that it is not untypical pug behavior. I have three boys. None of them reliably house-trained until between one and two years old. They are 6, 8, and 9 now and my middle one still pees in the house when it rains because he doesn't like to get wet. They have very strong personalities. One of the hardest to potty train breeds I have heard of.

Don't listen to your friends who swear they house-trained their golden retriver, terrier, whatever, in 10 weeks. That just doesn't happen with pugs. But trust me, they make up for it in other ways -- they will make you laugh your head off til your dying day.

Sounds like a pretty typical puppy! And I wish I knew where this mythical "couch potato" pug resides, he's a legend, and like most legends, the couch potato one is false too.

There's two great puppy articles at the beginning of the training and behavior forum, where you posted this. It sounds like you're in desperate need of some obedience classes as well. You sound like most of the people in my obedience classes back when I taught them. Get your guy in a good positive reinforcement training class and pugs are amazingly easy to train since the majority of them are highly food motivated. You'll learn about potty training and the classes will give your puppy something to do, most youngsters have lots of energy and classes are a great way to drain off all that puppy energy.

Feel free to ask any questions, there's a wealth of pug information here!

I don't have much more to add as I think everyone else gave good advice. But I do want to say that my oldest pug Gracie was housebroken at about 11 months, although she's now 7 and gets a little something up her pug butt and goes on my bathroom rug every once in a while. She did this last night in fact. It doesn't happen often but she does it. Emma wasn't housebroken until she was a year and 3 months old. It took her a while but she never has an accident in the house anymore.

You have come to the right place for advice on this!

And

Pugs are energetic, they are more challenging to housetrain than some other breeds, and they don't really pee all over the house just to make us crazy, although it can seem like it, I know.

You might want to have one spot in your yard where you always take Titus when it's time to pee - try putting a decent-sized rock there, so he has something to aim at and that will hold the scent. This will act like a beacon for future bathroom trips. Initially, if you have papers he's peed on in the house, bring them outside and put them under that rock. He'll catch on.

Try to associate one word or phrase with his peeing. I use "find your spot" - at first, whenever he pees, say the phrase. Eventually, he'll make the association and on those cold winter nights when you want to get back inside RIGHT NOW, you can use the phrase and hurry him along. You might want to take some treats out with you so if he pees when you say the phrase you can reward him immediately. Pugs are so food oriented that this will help a lot to cement this behavior.

Good luck. And tell your wife that Titus isn't evil, he's just a typical pug pup.

You've gotten great advice; I just wanted to chime in and say my Wally wasn't really house trained until he was almost a year.

Seeing this was posted some time ago, your probably well beyond this now but I'm going to post anyway and maybe someone else will take it up.

They say pugs are hard to train cause their so stubborn. When I got Onyx I was givin the best advice from my landlord at the time who had a puggle. She told me if I want him potty trained quickly she told me when I brought him home, if possible to take a week of vacation. That way he gets a good idea right off the bat that going outside to "potty" is the right way. She told me take him out every 15 minutes every hour. By doing this I can honestly say he was probably 80% potty trained in the first week I had him. A hand full of accidents and probably 100% by the time a month rolled around. I give the same advice to everyone. Every 15 minutes is a great time cause it really doesn't give them a chance to go in the house. As long as he/she's being awarded for doing a good job they should learn extremely quickly. At least in my experience, any dog I own in the future I will use the same routine and I know by telling others that I know they have had little problems with potty training also. Just my two cents!

I think it's just all about consistency and the amount of time you can spend with them once you bring them home.

I have nothing to add other than welcome to PA. You'll get the best advice here.