Hi. I have a Jack Russell I acquired very late in the Fall. He was 8 weeks old and not housebroken. He had not been crate trained, never left alone and was allowed to eliminate anywhere in the house.

I successfully trained him to pee outside, but it was a challenge to get his BMs on a routine. By the time we did, it was deep Canadian Winter, and his diminutive size and puppy coat made it very difficult to walk him for long enough to get him to BM outside. I did not spoil him, but even with a good, windproof, fleece lined coat a puppy can get hypothermia here. And Spring comes late here, so suffice it to say we had a lot of poop in the kitchen (sigh).

Spring is finally here, however. His coat has hardened and he is on long walks, social time and hard exercise in the park with bigger dogs. He is not bored or defiant. He will happily BM outside and gets praised lavishly for it. But here is the problem: He has no concept that leaving puppy logs in the kitchen is not OK. All the materials I’ve seen say never to punish a dog for eliminating inside, just use positive reinforcement. I’ve tried an hour of crate time after meals before going out, but if we miss his time of need he still uses the kitchen floor. I assume he does not realize there is a difference. How do I stop this, please?

Thanks!