Is crate ruined once pottied in?

[uabutterfly]

Hello all, I read on here a while ago that once your baby pottied in the crate that you must get a new one because the smell will linger in the old one, telling them that it is okay to potty in there. I feel like I must have misunderstood this post. Can't I expect a 9 or 10 week old puppy to potty in the crate? We can't possibly all be buying a new crate every day? Also a friend with young malteses said not to put any blanket on the bottom of the crate because they will just potty on that and it sops it up, not teaching them not to potty in their bed? The cold plastic seems so uninviting by itself.
Sorry, I am still a little confused on the whole crate training thing and I know I need to know what I am doing before she gets here so I do not confuse her. Thank you!!

[JeanieK]

I believe if you use white vinegar to wash it out, it should be fine. They don't always go back to where they went before, if they did all of our problems would be solved. Ollie seems to find a new spot each time. LOL

[hogan]

My puppy did good for a week in his crate. He is in an airline crate, that fits nothing but his bed and a toy. The past 2 days he has pooped and peed in the crate, more than once. I took the bed out to wash and now there are just newspapers at the bottom because I cant wash his bed several times aday. Now with the newspapers, he is just tearing them uup. I don't know what to do

[troubletb]

If a puppy is going in his/her cage it could only be one of two things. They can't hold that long or the cage is too big. Most of the time its the cage is to big. I have never heard of having to get a new cage because the dog went inside it.

You should all try to make your cages smaller. Hogan if your puppy is chewing up the newspaper just remove it. Don't put anything in for a few days, or try a very small towel.
Good luck.

[hunniebunnie]

bunjee's poop'd and pee'd in his crate a few times while crate training. i just washed it out with soap and water or with an enzyme cleaner like nature's miracle.

although i can see how the crate can be cleaned more easily without laying down a blanket, i just don't see how cold hard plastic can be comfortable for my puppy either. afterall, i want to make the crate and nice cozy, comfortable place for the puppy for the purposes of crate training. but at the same time, i don't want to ruin a perfectly nice blanket either. so i got a bunch of cheap $1.50 towels from target and lined his crate it. if he pee'd on the towel, the stain gets sprayed with teh enzyme cleaner and then tossed in the washer. if he poo'd on the towel, i just toss the entire towel.

now that bunjee's potty trained, i lay down a nicer fleece blanket on the bottom of his crate.

[abbie's mom]

I think that expecting a 9 - 10 weeks pup to 'hold it' is unreasonable, and setting oneself (and the pup) up for disapointment. JMO. They don't even realize the urge until after 12 weeks. I've read, also, that they "won't soil where they sleep"; but, if we have them contained, what choice do they have?

I have several blankies for Abbie's crate bedding, as that's where she sleeps. I use 3/4 of the crate for bedding, and then newspaper the rest. When she was 8-14weeks, I'd need to change her bedding almost every morning. She hit the paper most times, but as you pointed out, the blankie soaks up some. At 16weeks, she RARELY soils the crate. But, she is READY to go potty in the morning! My plan is, eventually, to remove the newspaper entirely once I'm sure she is physically capable of holding until morning.

[hunniebunnie]

oh, i forgot to add, on the few occassion when bunjee did go in his crate when he was younger. he definitely lets me know if his crate is soiled. he'll cry bloody murder to be out and will refuse to go back into the crate unless it's been cleaned.

[YorkieRose]

Puppies should not be confined to a crate more then an hour at a time...they need a pen. Roomy enough for a bed, play area and potty area. They can not control and hold their bladders for longer periods of time until nearly 6 months...being confined in a small crate teaches a puppy to be dirty and use it's bedding for a toliet.

[Rhanna]

My puppy had a few accidents in his crate the first week we brought him home at 11 weeks old. I washed it with a little bleach and water. Rinse it well. Same with the blanket. I think you need to keep a blanket in the crate. Your puppy is still very young but probably in a few weeks she will have less accidents in the crate. My puppy usually had one hour in his crate then go potty. He is almost 5 months old and sleeps all morning in his crate.

[Yorkster]

Not only do you need a crate but I would suggest an ex pen or exercise pen. The crate sits insde the x pen. This way your pup will sleep or nap in his crate and use it as a safe place and potty outside of his crate on a pee pad within the x pen if given the choice. Give that a try.

[RLC12345678]

Hobbs peed and pooped in his crate ALL THE TIME....from the day we got him at 8 weeks until he was about 5 months old. We tried EVERYTHING....towel in the bottom, no towel in the bottom, leaving him in for shorter and shorter amounts of time, no eating or drinking before 5:00 pm, etc. etc. etc. Someone told me to buy a new crate, but I already had an expensive crate, and I certainly could not afford to go out and buy another one. The ONLY thing that worked for us is that we put a cardboard box in the back of the crate to make it half the size. There was only enough room for Hobbs to stand up, turn around, and lay down. Magically it worked!!!!!!!!!! Hobbs has not gone potty in his crate a single time since then. He is 6 months old now, but we don't leave him in the crate more than 3 or 4 hours at a time. We were even able to take the box out. I would recommend making the crate smaller, put a towel AND a recently-worn T-shirt in there (so it'll smell like you), and put a dark towel over the crate to make it a den-like area (leave the front open so he can see out). I honestly tried every single thing, and the only thing that worked is making the crate smaller, as someone on here suggested. But I think that as long as you clean the crate out real good after he/she goes potty in there, that buying a new crate is unnecessary.

[Yorkster]

Dogs will usually move away from where they sleep to potty if they can. One reason to put an open crate (it can be small in fact I think they like it better) inside an ex pen. They can sleep in their crate, wake up during the night and move away from the sleeping area to potty and go back to their crate and they do think of a crate as their den or safe place..and I don't use it as punishment but sometimes for their safety.....sometimes I will miss a Yorkie....and has crawled into a small soft crate somewhere, snoozing.

[jkat]

Instead of putting towels in Aggie's crate, I put her bed in there. Instantly, it minimized her actual space. When she was even younger, smaller, I'd put several stuff animals in there as well.

Underneath her bed, I put a pee-pad for just-in-case.

It worked out perfectly. She now holds her pee overnight (from 11pm ~ 8 am) without any problem.

[Madison Avenue]

You've gotten lots of good advice. I wanted to add that our new puppy (thirteen weeks) sleeps in his small crate with a sheepskin-like crate pad in it. It is always left open so that he has access to his wee wee pad in a plastic frame (purchased at Petsmart for $15) which, like his crate and toys, is in his exercise pen. He does occasionally miss his wee wee pad, but he never goes pee or poop in his crate. When he comes out of his exercise pen to play, we place his wee wee pad and his sheepskin-like crate pad on the floor with some toys.

[Yorkster]

Sometime I think, that if they get their front feet on the pad, in their doggy mind, they think they are completely ON THE PAD! Easily forgiven.