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She only whines for a minute when she first gets in the crate...then she is quiet and doesnt seem to mind it. My problem is...I cant get her to go outside....no matter how long I stay out there....she wont go.....so when I put her in the crate...she is never empty!! Any suggestions???
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How long is the longest you have stayed outside? Training her to go in the designated area is the first step. If you don't have that, you have nothing and can't really expect them to know much if they don't clearly know where it's o.k.
You gotta let her know where the OK place is. Here's my methods to get a dog to go outside.
Step 1: Fill 'er up! Give her a yummy soft-food treat mixed with water, like canned eucanuba or other canned dog food, mixed into an almost soupy consistency. Messy on the face hair, but effective. At this point, put some hidden treat in your pocket for later...
Step 2: Observe, sniffing, walking in circles, uhoh...time to go outside.
Step 3: QUICKLY leash and go to a designated outdoor (or pad) place. Nothing too public please, dog's generally hate doing it on display.
Step 4: Add the command "Go Potty!" (happy voice).
Step 5: The wait. Not much to say. If it takes an hour, it takes an hour. If it takes two, it takes two. No flexi-lead, no roaming, just you standing (or sitting) like a tree with a 6 foot lead giving your pup a 6' diameter circle of room to move. This circle will become the "tainted place", used only for going potty and avoided all other times. This IS the puppy bathroom.
Step 6: It shall happen. What goes in, MUST come out. A puppy's bladder can not possibly out-wait you. Sometimes, to facilitate things, we would jump-start the praise. My dog kinda thought we were going out into the cold and rain because he was bad. Perhaps yours thinks this is some kind of time-out punishment method. Sing to her, be happy, (but immobile). If she starts sniffing and walking in circles, you are about to have a victory. "Good Girl!" sometimes to encourage her.
When at last golden droplets,
like a sparkling rain of gold,
begin to fall
upon the lawn,
covering scents of old...
"Good girl Good potty! Good show!"
Her duty done,
the battle is won!
the weary pair, prepare to retreat
let fly your hand,
not for reprimand,
but instead to bestow her a treat!
Considerations:
To accellerate your indoor discipline, make sure that not a single molecule of urine remains on anything indoors. If they smell that they have gone there before, they will go there again. And Just because you can't smell it, doesn't mean that they can't. Those little chocolate chips on the ends of their faces sure look cute, but they are damn effective smellers. I use a medical grade odor remover that my vet suggested for this use. I recomend anyone in potty training do this.
I've never tried this, but I just thought of it as I was writing...If they smell their own urine....they will go there...so perhaps take some puddle, mop it up and wring it out where you want her to go outside. This might work like the doggy-version of a "Latrine" sign. I dunno. I'd try it late at night to avoid any akward explanations of what I was doing..."Uh, you see officer...I have this dog..."