Questions about crate / crate training

[WaterPKMNMaster]

Hi! I'm getting a 12 week old Yorkie pup on Saturday but still have questions regarding crate training. I'm hoping I can be trained in time to train my pet!!

Alright, so my first question: how does the Yorkie know NOT to go pee/poop in its crate? I keep reading that they will not pee/poop in their crate because that's where they sleep, but if I'm putting my Yorkie into its crate on Saturday when I get it, how does it know that is its sleeping space and not to go pee/poop there? Or is it just going to be that it's going to have several accidents the first day, I need to clean it out, and then when it discovers it is sleeping there, it will no longer do it?

Secondly, a question about the process in general: The "logic" is that since the puppy will not go pee/poop in its crate, leaving it in there causes it (most of the time) to hold its pee/poop until I let it out? And then when I let it out and take it to where I want it to do its business, eventually it will come to understand that that is its toilet? Is that the logic behind crate training, or is there something more to it?

Thirdly, I want to make sure I have this procedure right: As soon as I pick up my Yorkie from the breeder, I take him home to the area of my house where I want him to go pee/poop so he knows where it is? Then I play with him for 10-20 minutes and then happily introduce him to his crate? And then I keep him in there all day long, only taking him out every hour to go pee/poop, to play, and then to return him to the crate? I'm a little confused about the timing / procedure / steps - different websites say different things and I can't find a guide that just explains it all in one go.

Question about the crate in general: What do we put in it? Do we put the water/food bowel in there? Is that where it eats? Or only water? Do I have two bowls for the crate and two outside of the crate for when I want to feed it? And what about toys - are those only for outside the crate or inside too? I'm just a little confused about what the crate is actually for outside of potty training and what goes in there.

Also, since my puppy will still be getting his shots and I have been told never to take him outside (because of risk of catching disease or sickness), I guess I will make his pee/poop area indoors? Or is it okay to have it right outside my sliding door? And if it's outside, how should I go about setting up his "toilet?" Should I have maybe a shallow box with disposable pee pads in it?

Last question: When the doggie goes poo, is it going to get poo on it? Like, if it goes poo then plays with me, am I going to get poo on me? LOL.

Oh, and another thing. I will be moving out of my house in June, staying in my parents' house over the summer, and then moving in to my new house in September. I also usually go home on the weekends to visit my parents, meaning the Yorkie would be at my house five days of the week and at my parents' house two days of the week. So my question is, is the puppy going to get confused about where it needs to go to do its business? And if so, how shall I prevent this from happening? Maybe have like a shallow plastic box with the pee pads in it which the Yorkie will recognize as its "toilet?"

Thank you so much for your help! I know a lot of these questions are probably very basic, but I've never had a dog before and want to make sure I do everything right. I still have a lot to learn and am willing to hold off picking up my puppy too if you guys think I'm just utterly unprepared, so yeah.

[Britster]

Originally Posted by WaterPKMNMaster

Alright, so my first question: how does the Yorkie know NOT to go pee/poop in its crate? I keep reading that they will not pee/poop in their crate because that's where they sleep, but if I'm putting my Yorkie into its crate on Saturday when I get it, how does it know that is its sleeping space and not to go pee/poop there? Or is it just going to be that it's going to have several accidents the first day, I need to clean it out, and then when it discovers it is sleeping there, it will no longer do it?

Secondly, a question about the process in general: The "logic" is that since the puppy will not go pee/poop in its crate, leaving it in there causes it (most of the time) to hold its pee/poop until I let it out? And then when I let it out and take it to where I want it to do its business, eventually it will come to understand that that is its toilet? Is that the logic behind crate training, or is there something more to it?

Thirdly, I want to make sure I have this procedure right: As soon as I pick up my Yorkie from the breeder, I take him home to the area of my house where I want him to go pee/poop so he knows where it is? Then I play with him for 10-20 minutes and then happily introduce him to his crate? And then I keep him in there all day long, only taking him out every hour to go pee/poop, to play, and then to return him to the crate? I'm a little confused about the timing / procedure / steps - different websites say different things and I can't find a guide that just explains it all in one go.

That's basically it! Every one does things differently, of course, there's no one right way to do it. I find it's a learning process and you find what each individual dog needs. Most dogs naturally will not eliminate in their 'den' or their sleeping space. It's just something that comes natural to most dogs. However, there's cases of puppy mill dogs, etc, who are just used to being in a crate 24/7 and have no choice but to go where they sleep. That's a different matter. And some pups just... well, don't 'get it' I guess. However more often than not, a pup will not potty in their crate (so long as it's small enough).

Originally Posted by WaterPKMNMaster

Question about the crate in general: What do we put in it? Do we put the water/food bowel in there? Is that where it eats? Or only water? Do I have two bowls for the crate and two outside of the crate for when I want to feed it? And what about toys - are those only for outside the crate or inside too? I'm just a little confused about what the crate is actually for outside of potty training and what goes in there.

You can do whatever you feel is necessary. For the dogs I dogsit, I always put a Kong filled with some treats in there for them, or a fun toy. I never fed him in a crate nor did I put water in there, but Jackson was rarely in the crate when he was a pup. I did it for the first few weeks but discovered he hated it and honestly, he didn't really need it. I was home on winter break from college when I got him so I was lucky in that when I was home, I could really watch him 24/7. A few accidents happened, of course, but I just made it so that every hour he was taken outside. So he wasn't set up to fail, so to speak. Even if I wasn't sure he had to go, I'd take him outside anyways and praise and treat like crazy when he would go. Night-time... for the first, I'd say 4-5 weeks, he was sleeping in a crate ON my actual bed, hahha. Ridiculous, I know. But it was the only way to quite him down and I knew he'd be sleeping in my bed eventually anyways. One night, I left the crate door open on purpose and he slept in my bed all night and ever since... he's been golden.

Originally Posted by WaterPKMNMaster

Also, since my puppy will still be getting his shots and I have been told never to take him outside (because of risk of catching disease or sickness), I guess I will make his pee/poop area indoors? Or is it okay to have it right outside my sliding door? And if it's outside, how should I go about setting up his "toilet?" Should I have maybe a shallow box with disposable pee pads in it? Last question: When the doggie goes poo, is it going to get poo on it? Like, if it goes poo then plays with me, am I going to get poo on me? LOL.

Honestly, I never did this. If I had kept Jackson 100% indoors for the first 17 weeks of his life, I feel he would have missed out on alot and I am a believer that socialization is super important. Plus I wanted to begin potty training right away. So he went in my backyard only at first, mainly to begin potty training. I honestly had never heard of keeping a dog indoors until ALL shots were completed until I joined this site. We raised so many dogs as a family and I am around a lot in general who were all able to go outside before all were completed. Just be smart about it -- no pet stores, no dog parks, public places where lots of dogs have been, etc. And LOL... no if you are feeding your dog a high quality diet, poops should be firm and should not get in the pup.

Originally Posted by WaterPKMNMaster

Oh, and another thing. I will be moving out of my house in June, staying in my parents' house over the summer, and then moving in to my new house in September. I also usually go home on the weekends to visit my parents, meaning the Yorkie would be at my house five days of the week and at my parents' house two days of the week. So my question is, is the puppy going to get confused about where it needs to go to do its business? And if so, how shall I prevent this from happening? Maybe have like a shallow plastic box with the pee pads in it which the Yorkie will recognize as its "toilet?"

I have done this with Jackson since I brought him home. I visit my dads house usually every weekend. Jackson is now 2.5yrs old and has never had a problem with this. It's his second home. Potty training was a little odd -- he'd be 100% in one house, and not the other, things like that. But I just tried to be consistent. My dads house has a big fenced in yard so it would have been easy to just let him out and assume he had went potty... but as a pup, I'd have to walk him on the leash (as we do at our regular house) so that he understood what he needed to do. Now, of course, I don't have to do this. But I kept the rules the same in both homes.

Good luck! If I remember correctly, you're semi-close to my age? (I'll be 21 this year) Welcome to the wonderful world of being owned by a Yorkie. I never thought I'd spend more money on my dog than on myself. It definitely changes your world!