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Ladylavender · 10-25-2005, 07:59 AM

I work all day and keep Millie in the crate all day too. She does real well. but at night I was concerned about leaving her in the crate, because she had been in it all day and I would not let her sleep with me. So this is what I did. I got an x-pen. I placed an area rug in the x-pen, her crate, her bed, her water and food bowl and her toys. When I was home and could not watch her closely, I would put her in her x-pen. I would leave the crate door open, but I would not put her in it. When I was away from home, either at work, or on the weekends, shopping or going out to eat, I would put her in her crate.

I think because her food and water were in the x-pen, she did not pee or poo in this area, but I was very good about taking her out at the proper times for potty breaks. (also there was very little floor space to potty on. But whatever the reasons, she viewed her x-pen, the same as her crate and would not potty in these areas. After a while, (only on weekends when we would be home in 1 - 3 hours) we would put her in the x-pen and let her decide if she wanted to go into the crate or stay out on the bed in the x-pen.

so at night, she stayed in the x-pen and when she cried, I would get up and let her outside to potty. If I put her to bed around 9:30 - 10pm she might cry at 1:30 again at 4:30 or 5, but no matter what time it was, no matter how I annoyed I or my husband was, we would get up and let her out. We were imprinting in her little mind that there is no excuse to go anywhere but outside.

We also, in the begining when we were home and had her out, contained her in one room and one room only. this was the room that her crate/x-pen was in. So this room became an extension of her "den". Her 1st den was the crate and x-pen. I slowly introduced her to each of the other rooms, little by little. And I, somewhere along the line, remove her bowl and water from the x-pen and had her start drinking and eating in the kitchen.

She did have some accidents along the way, but when we caught her we told her NO-NO really stern and mean and put her outside and told her good girl when she finished up out there. If she had an accident and we did not catch her, we would clean it up without saying anything to her at all.

At some point, we taught her how to ring the bell when she wanted to go outside. This worked pretty well. And now she has a doggie door.

Millie is 6 months old today. I am not going to say she is 100% trained, because it has not been quite a month yet since her last accident, but she is pretty gosh darn near 100%. I know she knows she has to go out to go potty, because if we don't time it right and she has to poo, she will go out the doggie door herself. I have caught her by the door and waiting for me to ask her if she has to go potty, and she will go when I let her out.

But we are still religous about taking her out in timed intervals and making sure to ask her if she has to go when it has been awhile. I am hoping that eventually we will not even have to do that.

10-25-2005, 07:59 AM	#8
Ladylavender YT 500 Club Member Join Date: Feb 2005 Location: Soddy Daisy, TN Posts: 733	I work all day and keep Millie in the crate all day too. She does real well. but at night I was concerned about leaving her in the crate, because she had been in it all day and I would not let her sleep with me. So this is what I did. I got an x-pen. I placed an area rug in the x-pen, her crate, her bed, her water and food bowl and her toys. When I was home and could not watch her closely, I would put her in her x-pen. I would leave the crate door open, but I would not put her in it. When I was away from home, either at work, or on the weekends, shopping or going out to eat, I would put her in her crate. I think because her food and water were in the x-pen, she did not pee or poo in this area, but I was very good about taking her out at the proper times for potty breaks. (also there was very little floor space to potty on. But whatever the reasons, she viewed her x-pen, the same as her crate and would not potty in these areas. After a while, (only on weekends when we would be home in 1 - 3 hours) we would put her in the x-pen and let her decide if she wanted to go into the crate or stay out on the bed in the x-pen. so at night, she stayed in the x-pen and when she cried, I would get up and let her outside to potty. If I put her to bed around 9:30 - 10pm she might cry at 1:30 again at 4:30 or 5, but no matter what time it was, no matter how I annoyed I or my husband was, we would get up and let her out. We were imprinting in her little mind that there is no excuse to go anywhere but outside. We also, in the begining when we were home and had her out, contained her in one room and one room only. this was the room that her crate/x-pen was in. So this room became an extension of her "den". Her 1st den was the crate and x-pen. I slowly introduced her to each of the other rooms, little by little. And I, somewhere along the line, remove her bowl and water from the x-pen and had her start drinking and eating in the kitchen. She did have some accidents along the way, but when we caught her we told her NO-NO really stern and mean and put her outside and told her good girl when she finished up out there. If she had an accident and we did not catch her, we would clean it up without saying anything to her at all. At some point, we taught her how to ring the bell when she wanted to go outside. This worked pretty well. And now she has a doggie door. Millie is 6 months old today. I am not going to say she is 100% trained, because it has not been quite a month yet since her last accident, but she is pretty gosh darn near 100%. I know she knows she has to go out to go potty, because if we don't time it right and she has to poo, she will go out the doggie door herself. I have caught her by the door and waiting for me to ask her if she has to go potty, and she will go when I let her out. But we are still religous about taking her out in timed intervals and making sure to ask her if she has to go when it has been awhile. I am hoping that eventually we will not even have to do that.