Too late to crate train?

[Genisys]

We had/are having a brutal winter here on the upper east coast. We got little Logan on new years eve and it's been really hard trying to train him to go outside in between snow storms and single digit temperatures so he's been going on puppy pads. He's gotten really good at it too! but ultimately I want to do away with the pads and move onto a fully out-door potty zone.

The crate we have for him is big. It's huge in fact compared to him. Also as I've mentioned in posts before I believe he was crated often as a young puppy so he's got the good ole dirty dog syndrome and just kind of goes in his crate if he needs to. but I noticed he makes an honest effort NOT to go in the part where he sleeps.

SO- little man has been sleeping with me (i know, horrible and some puppy trainers may say that it's way too much freedom) but he sleeps through the night if hes in bed with me or even napping on the couch next to me.

By the time the weather breaks around here I'm figuring him to be just about 5 months old.

Is that way too old for a yorkie to BEGIN house breaking via crate training after all the freedom he's had so far and all the accidents he's had in his larger crate ( I would get him a more fitting crate for this if we did end up using this method)

I feel like I've spoiled him already. He's sleeping on my feather comforter next to me as I type this right now!


If anyone has house broken a yorkie pup at a later age or has any stories, pleeeease share?

[pstinard]

If he is sleeping with you at night, what is the purpose of the crate? If you want to teach him to sleep in the crate without soiling it, start now, and get a smaller crate--one that is just big enough for him to turn around in and sleep comfortably. We started with the smallest pet carrier available, and at one year of age and 5.5 lbs, Bella is now using the second smallest pet carrier available. It fits perfectly on our nightstand so she can see us at night.

We started crate training with Bella when we got her at 8 weeks, and she took to it immediately. We trained her to potty on pads, and during good weather, she will potty outdoors if we take her for a walk. The weather has been so cold and snowy here, it's been about a month since we've taken her outside.

[Genisys]

Originally Posted by pstinard

If he is sleeping with you at night, what is the purpose of the crate?

the purpose would be for training him to go outdoors only by way of crating & sticking to a strict schedule. I don't like puppy pads. or the idea of him thinking its okay to go in the house at all. It's just our only option currently because of the crazy cold winter we're having.

To clarify, he's crate trained, as far as the traditional definition of crate trained goes. He doesn't mind being in his crate, he even likes going in there for naps, but hes not broken of his "pet store pup" habit of going to the bathroom in his crate if he has to go.(hes not from a pet store, but I have reasons to believe he was kept in a crate more often then not- don't think his breeder was as great as i originally believed.)

he's sleeping with me at night now because the crate we have for him is so big that its near pointless to keep him in it. he sleeps through the night and wakes up early with me at 6am, and pottys on the pad in the morning. which im fine with for now, but what I'm wondering is if there's a point in practically regressing and using a crate (a smaller crate) as a tool for house breaking during the day time hours full-time once he has all of his vacs and the weather is decent enough to be consistent with taking him out on a schedule?
It's just confusing him when one day its nice out, we go out all day long several times and have a 100% outdoor potty day, and the next day its raining ice out there and hes back to the puppypad. So I figure it makes more sense as far as consistency goes that I start out-door training him in once the weather lets up.

I've house broken several puppies via the crate method, but never a toy breed and never in winter so this is pretty different from anything I've dealt with before and I just want to make sure that crating him at that age wont be traumatic for him. Yorkies seem to be a lot more emotionally delicate than the other dogs I've trained so I don't want to hurt him psychologically by crating him "too late in the game" so to speak.

I simply cannot crate him up and get him out regularly right now. He wont "go" in the yard when there's snow on the ground. My husband shoveled a huge spot out to walk him out to and around, but he still just shakes and whines. I've tries sweaters, puffy coats, even put a pad down out there. He just hates it. The "good days" we had, were 45-50 degree days. anything below that and he's just looking at me like I'm punishing him by taking him out there. I know once he's trained and gets a bit older he will get better with the inclimate weather, he's just being a puppy. I can't really blame him, its bitter cold out there. Also on top of all that, he needs his final set of vacs still and that's not for another 2 weeks.

I guess in a nutshell I just want to know if anyone has used the crating method on an older puppy that has had a fair amount of free-run of the home for a while. And if it's a bad idea, what are some alternatives?

[pstinard]

We used crate training to train Bella to use the potty pads last March when we got her. When the weather got warmer, we took her outside. Once she learned that it was okay to potty outside, she was fine with using pads or going outside. If your puppy is already trained to use pads, I see no sense in using crate training to train him to potty outside. When the weather gets better, simply get him used to going outside, and slowly take away the pads.

Do you currently use the crate for any purpose? If you do, and he's still pottying inside the crate, definitely switch to a smaller crate ASAP and see if that fixes the problem.

[Genisys]

Yeah, he uses the pads like a pro- haha. What you said makes a lot of sense. I was thinking that it might just undo any progress he's made. The only thing we use the crate for is when neither of us will be home ie. if we go food shopping together, or theres an hour of overlap in our schedules, so he is never really crated up long now, but I recently started putting a pad in the crate with him now because it's just inevitable :/

Any tips on how to ween him off of the pads when we do?

[pstinard]

When the weather turns nicer, take him outside for walks, and when he potties outside, give him a treat and praise him profusely. You'll have to keep an eye on him. If he looks like he's going for the pad to potty, take him outside instead. Hopefully, eventually, he will get the idea that you prefer him to potty outdoors. I would still try to get him used to the idea of staying in a smaller crate when you leave him at home alone. That way, if you need to rely on crate training to get him to potty outdoors, it won't be such a strange concept. I'm hoping that someone with experience crate training an older puppy will chime in...

[Genisys]

Thanks for the advice yeah I really hope he catches on quickly. the few "warm" days we had up here, he did great. But then one day it actually hailed on us! :/ so that was over pretty quickly haha

[ziggy925]

Ruger is terrible at house training, but I've read a lot so here goes. If the pup is definitely going on a pad slowly move the pad to the door then to the outside. Take him to the pad outside and that should do it. If you want to use your crate put a box in there to make the crate smaller. Not sure why some dogs don't like the snow. Ruger loves it and we have snow and cold from Nov thru April. Around here, when we see a dog running loose to do his business, it's usually the owners who can't deal with the cold and snow.