Quote:
Originally Posted by dawn27  I am all for cage training, its how I trained all four of my Yorkies and with that there should never be a potty pad in the cage with them it really defeats the whole purpose but with the an x-pen its different since the sleeping area and potty area are totally separate from one another and the pup doesn't get confused.
Yes, those tell tell signs are hard to notice. The rule of thumb is that within 5-10 mins from the time the pups eats or drinks they will go potty. So it is important for you to monitor eating and drinking habits so that you can get them right outdoors or into the x-pen to use the pad. With puppies there are 3 noticeable signs 1. they will start to pace 2. will walk with their bottoms lowered to the ground and 3. with their noses to the ground in search for the perfect spot. Which is why I choose to paper train my pups. With papers you can transfer the bottom cleaner layer but still has their pee scent to the top of an new clean stack. Puppies will go anywhere but you will soon notice that they will also frequent the same area. The reason being is that they smell their own scent and will go in that same spot over and over again. You can read more about this on my web site. |
OK, so this is the set up. I have the crate where he has about 10x12" or space it is attached to the ex pen, so that if I have the crate door open he can pass between the two at will. Which I wanted to get him to like to go into the crate on his own. This is only his second full day with us so I first wanted to establish the crate as a happy place. At night I close the door, during the day I close the door when he is napping, but open it shortly after he wakes up and move him to the potty pad. I am guessing now (with my one day experience) that I am jumping the gun on opening that crate door. He shows no fear of containment. Do you think I should really wait until he is looking more like he has to go before letting him out? A couple times I have had him on the pad for 15 min with no success, but him back in the crate, 15 min later tried again, and back again. I am concerned about the hypoglycemic risk, so I am nervous that I am waiting too long delaying his eating with the potty training. (Its ok you can laugh and say NEWBIE, about now!) I am also fearing that I am making the standing around on the potty pad seem like punishment and I don't want to do that.