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Old 12-05-2009, 09:34 PM   #1
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Question How many crates should we have?

Hi everyone,
I'm new to YT - I don't even have my little man yet! We pick Baxter up on January 10 and it's literally all I can think about.

I have a couple of crate training questions because I want to be certain I'm prepared. Currently I have one wire crate with an adjustable wall inside of it. I was planning on putting it in our bedroom at night and then moving it to the main area of our condo during the day. I plan on having him sleep in the crate, but I want to give him a little cave to escape to during waking hours.

Should we consider getting two crates so that he can put himself to bed if we're up late? Otherwise he'll go into the crate in the main room and then we'll have to move him when we hit the hay. Alternatively, my friend has a bed for her Yorkie in the main room, and that's where he hangs out during the day...my only concern is that this might slow the crate training process.

Another question (seriously, people, I'm FULL of questions and I apologize): I looked into getting an xpen for Baxter to sleep in at night, but we just don't have space for that in the bedroom. That's why I've decided to have him sleep in the crate (with a Water Buddy attached so he can get some sips if he needs). However, I've read that you're not supposed to force them to stay in the crate - you have to gradually lengthen the amount of time they're in it, and reward, reward, reward. How does this work with bedtime? I plan on getting up and taking him potty throughout the night, but still...I'm just worried he'll start to hate his crate if he's forced to be in there most of the night before he's used to it. My breeder (Sarah at Yorkies of Walnut Hill ) says he's fine with going in a crate now, but who knows how he'll feel when he's in a strange home without his littermates?

So...sorry for the novel I just wrote. Any advice would be great!
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Old 12-14-2009, 12:56 PM   #2
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Default Crate training - bump!

Hi friends,
Just wanted to give my very first post a li'l bump in case there's anyone online now with some advice. I know there are a lot of threads about this very question and I'm doing my best to find and read them - any other hints would be greatly appreciated!!

27 days until I my Baxter is in my arms!
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Old 12-14-2009, 01:35 PM   #3
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Hi and welcome to YT. Sorry no one has responded to your thread. As for how many crates, it sounds as though you have a game plan. The only thing that I do not understand is, are you planning on have him in the crate when you are in the living room with him? I wouldn't think that you would need to do that. The best thing to do is to learn his signs of needing to potty and catch him as soon as you notice it them.

I only have 1 crate but probably a dozen beds, lol.

The babies usually wind up falling alseep someone on us, in a bed or on the sofa and then go into their expen when we go to bed. so if you wind up carrying him up to bed, it shouldn't be a problem.

with potty training, I would suggest that you gradually increase the time between potty breaks. At 15 weeks, I got up every 2 hours with Hot Rod and then 3 hours. I kinda let him lead me on it though. I knew that it was time to increase the time when he didn't want to wake up when I took him out of his crate. lol. I had a baby monitor since he was in the family room at night. This also helped me because if he did need to potty, I heard him rattling around. But then again, he was only in a crate for maybe 2 weeks at the most, if that long even (til we got his expen). I had his crate, pad, water and food in his pen. Good luck with your little one. Sounds like Baster has got a really good mommy waiting to welcome him home.
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Old 12-14-2009, 01:45 PM   #4
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Default Thank you!!!

Great advice - I love the idea of Baxter falling asleep in my arms or on my lap.

In response to your question, I don't plan on crating him in the living room with the door closed unless I'm doing it for training purposes (perhaps while we eat dinner so he knows not to beg?). I just want him to have a little cave that he can escape to when he chooses - I'll leave the door open for him and he can wander in there if he wants. I'm definitely going to watch him like a hawk and give him potty breaks as often as he'll let me.

Sarah at Walnut Hill Yorkies (his breeder) says that he's fine going in a crate right now, but I'm just preparing for the possibility that he won't like being in there the first few nights he's at home. I'm going to put the crate where he can see us in the bedroom and get up to take him out...I just hope he doesn't get negative associations with his crate because we have him sleep in there (with frequent breaks) before he's used to it...

Thanks again for your response! I'm glad someone saw my little cry for help.



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Old 12-14-2009, 02:01 PM   #5
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We have two crates with Jack (8 months). One smaller one for our room upstairs that he sleeps in. I cover it with a towel at night to keep any light out. We have a second, larger crate that we keep on the main floor of our house. I use that one if we have to go out somewhere during the day. A friend of mine lent me that crate, and it is fine for now, but was too big when we were potty training him. He could pee in one end and then just sleep in the other so we ended up buying the second crate.

Before he was housebroken we would just let him sleep on dog beds (and a couple of old bath mats) that we have scattered around the house. We kept him on a leash and we watched him CONSTANTLY! I very rarely put him in the downstairs crate if I'm home. AT night he goes out to potty and then to his upstairs crate when the last person up is ready for bed.

He seems to like the small crate he uses at night but will bark if we put him in the larger crate. I was considering only using the small crate but, since he's never gotten up in the middle of the night, I didn't want to ruin a good thing. I think he just doesn't like the larger crate because he knows we are going out.

Not sure if this really answers your question or not!
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Old 12-14-2009, 02:09 PM   #6
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That helps a lot, actually! I think I might end up going with the two-crate system, so he knows two places in our home that he can go to when he wants some "me-time." The crate we have for our bedroom has a movable wall, so I'll be sure to keep his space small and cozy.
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Old 12-14-2009, 02:19 PM   #7
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I use an ex-pen in the living room and I have it set up elongated way about 2 ft by 6 ft. I have a plastic runner underneath for accidents. Then at one end I have Pixie's bed and in the middle is her food and by the door of the expen is her pee pad. That is for day time.
At night I have a crate by my bed and with a bed in it and I always have food and water in there for her in case she is hungry in the middle of the night.
She wakes me up around 2 or 3 am to go pee and I take her to her ex-pen where her pee pad is. Now it has been about 2 months that we have had Pixie and during the day when I am home I leave the ex-pen door open and she will run in there to pee and poo. when I am not home she goes in the ex-pen for her own safety. I hope that helped, if you have any questions you can message me I will be happy to help with advice!
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Old 12-15-2009, 06:12 AM   #8
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If your Baxter is anything like my Dunkin, you may not want to give him access to water at night (refering to your mention of the water buddy). Our puppy trainer told us that most puppies tend to OVER hydrate themselves. He suggested cutting water off by 7pm. This really helped us get through the night without accidents or potty breaks pretty early on. I just made sure to take him out as soon as we woke up, and I carried him out to make sure he didn't go on the floor on the way to the door.

Good luck with the little one!!
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Old 12-15-2009, 09:36 AM   #9
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We did the same. We took away both his food and water after 7:30. When he was younger it was a race to get him outside in the morning because he REALLY had to go. Now, especially since the cold weather started, I think he'd be happy to wait until noon if I let him.
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