I'm picking up my new 3/4 Yorkie 1/4 poodle boy on Monday, and I am trying to figure out the best way to contain him (for potty training purposes) while still letting him be with us and be happy. I plan to take him outside for his business, not use pee pads.
His crate with comfy bed inside will be in our bedroom on my nightstand for nighttime comforting and sleeping. The kitchen will be gated off for him to stay in while I cook or we play with him or whatever. And the workshop (we work out of our home) doesn't really have a super good area to pin him in, but I suppose we could figure something out if we don't bring his crate in there to keep him in.
I have two big questions:
1. Should I move his crate from room to room with him during the day, or should it stay in the bedroom? Is it bad to move the crate around? If I don't move it from room to room with him, should I lay a soft towel down for him to curl up on, or is that just an extra invitation for him to pee on it?
2. Would it be too much in the very beginning to take him to other parts of the house, so long as he is sitting on our laps (I'm picturing sitting with us when we watch TV or work on the computer or something like that).
See, I just don't know how extreme to be with this crate training / potty training / containing the puppy thing. I want to make potty training as easy as possible for me and for the pup, but I don't know how far to take it all - or how far I'll be
able to take it all.
Aargh! I'm being an obsessive parent, lol. This is our first ever dog (and we don't have any kids), and I just want to not screw up!!!
Oh jeez, I'm going to be such a nutcase, lmao.
Thank you everybody. I'm sure I'll be leaning on everybody's experience here in the coming weeks and months as I slowly lose my mind. :-)
Lauren