You all were so helpful with my first post, thank you to everyone who took their time to give me advice and support! I'm back to tap your massive pool of experience and knowledge again!

So Kobe is getting better when it comes to accidents in the house; we set up his potty area on the back patio and he has been so good about telling us when he needs to go out for biznass (I hung some bells from the handle and he has actually rang it several times to be let out and potty, i was amazed at how quickly he picked it up!). I stocked up on Nature's Miracle enzyme cleaners thanks to everyone's advice last time; but there is still one spot under a low table in the living room where he continues to mark no matter how many times we've cleaned it. I even got some of the Nature's Miracle dog block and No More Marking sprays; but we really don't like how it smells,  my bf thinks it's just as bad as the puppy pee stank; not to mention it didn't seem to deter him anyway! 

 

We've been working on crate training; i watched half a dozen YouTube videos and went sifting through this sub and have been running with the "Make the crate his favorite place in the world", i have a special avocado treat toy that I put some pate and chicken in then freeze it; and that's his special crate-only treat. I praise him every time he goes into the crate on his own; he'll often take whatever chew he's working on into the crate with him and hang out for a few minutes... we've had a few sessions where I close the door and just sit with him; sometimes he's pretty chill and just works on his avocado meatsicle,  other times he's immediately pawing at the door and biting the metal on the crate; everytime he cries or tries to bite at the crate I tap the top of it and it does kind of startle him enough to stop the behavior for a few seconds but never for very long... he's only fallen asleep in there once for about 15 minutes.

The main issue I came on here to ask about was he keeps going into his crate and peeing/marking! I have a washable cooling crate mat in there but no extra blankets; and I've been keeping the door open so he can go into and get used to the crate hoping he will make it his happy place and as I said, most of the time he does go in there to chew his toys in peace. But like last night I had just gotten done washing his mat AND crate, had put the mat back in and he immediately went in and peed on the mat 😭 i thought he was just going in to sniff and chillax again but I was wrong! Also didn't want to spray the No More Marking or dog block spray in there becauseI'm sure that would derail any progress we've made making the crate a happy place! I also got him a smaller crate per everyone's advice on here! He doesnt pee in there when the door is closed, only when it's open....does anyone have any advice about the no more Marking sprays? How do I get him to stop marking in his crate?

Photo for attention 🥰 TIA!

Crate training trials and tribulations 🫠