NOBODY SAID IT’D BE EASY: POTTY TRAINING & CRATE TRAINING HELP!

Hi Everyone,

I recently got a vizsla puppy two weeks ago (10 weeks old today), and he's quickly become the love of me and my partner's lives. The first day we brought him home, he was pretty against the crate. He'd take 15 minutes to settle, but any movement in bed would wake him up and he'd repeat the process all over again – overall not bad, could have been way worse! Since then, I feel like he's been well adjusted to the crate, not fussing, crying, whining, or any of that, up until 2 days ago where I feel like things have relapsed big time. He refuses to be in the crate to be put down for naps after coming in from outside, playing, or even some exercise outdoors. We have a fresh patch grass pad, and he's beginning to pee on the outside of it or throughout the house. He's inpatient with me about getting his food ready and has even peed while I'm actively prepping his meal. I love him to death, but he's beginning to drive me up a wall.

Does anyone have any advice on how to make his crate a desirable place for him? He currently has a bed that came with the crate – durable, although his sharp baby teeth are beginning to penetrate the fibers. He's currently teething, and I've made the switch over to non-fibrous toys to prevent him from swallowing anything harmful. I'm also new to this but what is meant by high-value treats?

Additionally, it was noted by the breeder that his father could literally pee a river until he was properly potty-trained, so I'm thinking a lot of my struggles are genetic at this point. For the most part, he does a great job at peeing on his grass patch, but for those one-off, two-off, and sometimes three-off instances, I'm wondering how to combat this. When I first got him, I tried to get ahead of him having accidents by limiting his water intake, but I've since then left his water out so that he could self-manage his intake, while keeping me aware of when he's probably ready to use the bathroom. I currently take his water away after about 6:30 at night so that he doesn't have an accident (we go to bed at about 8:30/9 at the latest).

I'm wondering what I'm doing wrong since in the past two days he's ended his streak of not having an accident in his crate, peeing multiple times throughout the house after me even placing him on his grass patch, and getting incredibly fussy when in the crate.

Any and all advice is much appreciated!

Thanks!!