Quote:
Originally Posted by Mindync  I put her in her crate last night (right next to my bed) and she slept until about 3:30am. I took her out and she went!!! It was on the patio but at least it was outside! 
Inside we are keeping her on our laps or on a leash with us at all times I'm hoping this works...she seems to be able to hold it for quite awhile for a puppy her age/size.
We put her in her crate during dinner last night though and she screamed bloody murder! How do you stand that crying? The kids were begging me to let her out. |
Mine would cry and pee herself over and over when I first crated her (I would literally clean up her accident and within minutes, she forced more pee out because she knew she got to come out of the crate for me to clean her up) and so I switched it up. Since your puppy is only 11 wks old, I would really consider a playpen with everything in there that she will need, even a puppy pad so that if everyone is gone, she doesn't have to hold it and can relieve herself although I know you are trying to potty train outside. Technically, your little one can hold it for a max of 2 hours only since the rule is they can hold it for 1 hr for every month of age. I would try taking her out every 30 minutes if you really are serious about potty training. I know that sounds like a lot of work but you really want to set them up for sucess. It'll take some time on your part for a few weeks but eventually they learn and you'll be happy that you took some of that time to really focus on the potty training.
I would consider the open playpen as others suggested or a small area of the house where you can keep her in and put a petgate up. I kept mine confined in the bathroom for at least 2 months after I got her since she hated the crate. Its really hard to figure out when they really need to go since they need to go constantly because they have tiny bladders. If she is crying that badly in her crate, maybe you can move it to where the most family activity happens and have your kids sit by the crate and talk to her to make her feel more comfortable. Ellie's crate is right in my bedroom, she is able to see us all the time and when its time to take a nap or sleep, I cover the crate with a towel, so that might help make the puppy feel more comfortable if she is crying a lot. Ellie knows its her sleeping place and her place to hide from everyone else. I've trained her to go into her house on command when she needs to go to sleep or I'm gonna have to leave the house for a while. Crate training all together really, is a separate portion of training and its something that you can't force the dog to accept right away. When I crate trained, I played games with her and would throw toys into the crate to get her to walk inside on her own and left the crate open for her to go in and out as she liked. Once she walked inside on her own, I would close it for a few minutes and sit by the crate to give her some ease of mind and fed her treats. Right now at this age, the only time she should be forced to stay in the crate is at night when its bedtime for everyone. If you want to crate her to potty train, keep the crate time short as possible because you don't want her to soil herself in there and you can really make it easy on yourself by keeping her on a schedule that way you'll have an idea of when she'll need to eliminate.