crate training is definitely the way to go, in my opinion! and they like it - it's sort of a safe haven to them.
i've had jackson for 6 days now and he's been doing so great & impressing me! i've been impressing myself as well, haha... i've never been so into training a dog and it seems to be working, whatever i'm doing. luckily, i'm out of college until the end of january to work with this little guy, but anyways
i've got him on a pretty set schedule so far... he wakes up around 7-7:30am, i pick him right up out of the crate and put his collar/leash on him and bring him directly outside, through the same door, around the same spot outside. so far, he has peed every morning! sometimes more than once. and he pooped three times outside. and every time, i bring a little doggie treat and praise him a TON and them let him have about 20 minutes of playtime inside with me in my room which is gated off. he usually eats & drinks during this time too. then i'll usually put him back in his crate and go back to sleep for another hour. he whines at first but quickly goes to sleep.
then we get up again, this time around 8:30 - 9am, i again take him directly outside to go potty and bring treats and praise. and then he gets more playtime where i watch him for about an hour and let him run in his little gated room.
this continues for the rest of the day where i'm constantly letting him outside, giving him playtime, back in the crate, etc. and whenever i leave the house, he stays in his crate obviously. crate training really seems to be the way to go! he doesn't go when he's in the crate because they naturally don't like to sleep where they go to the bathroom. i would never trust jackson locked up in my room while i was gone, no way! lol. even though he's been doing great... that's too much freedom for such a young puppy with such a small bladder.
he definitely constantly needs to be near me though. if you put him in the crate, he barks obnoxiously for about 20 minutes before stopping and it's quieter and more of a whine if i'm near him while he's in the crate, but he eventually will fall asleep. he constantly just has to see me and know i'm there. you probably have to deal with this with rocky as well... and you just have to ignore it, as hard as that may be. they learn that they are not going to get your attention by barking like that.
and yesterday he had NO accidents in the house. he peed and pooped first thing this morning, and did both again at lunch time. and dinner, and before bed, etc. today has been a great day as well. he pooped twice this morning outside and peed twice outside! and he's had his breakfast & lunch & naptimes. today, he peed SO quickly and i caught him but i didn't want to really yell because he actually went on the potty pad which he always seems to do when he has his 'accidents' so that's fine with me if he can be potty pad trained and go outside. i'm not sure what to do about that... because i don't want him to think it's ok to go in the house though. so i simply picked him up and set him outside and said "You go potty outside!"
so i am a true believer in crate training! and would highly recommend it, as long as you're not OVER-doing it. leaving them in it while you're at work is totally fine, but it would definitely help if someone could come home at lunch to let him out. and at nighttime, it's a good thing too since you can't keep your eye on him. my personal advice is to get him on a strict schedule and get him used to it... schedule is key in my opinion. and not too much freedom!
sorry for the longgg post!
Last edited by Britster; 12-18-2008 at 08:58 AM.
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