YorkieTalk.com Forums - Yorkshire Terrier Community - View Single Post - Switching from loose in house to "puppy apartment" concept?

Sjill · 05-29-2016, 10:57 AM

Help! Daisy is 8 months old. She's a good girl, but I have been inconsistent with training and, because of that, find myself in need of advice. I've searched teh forusm and still have questions.

I currently leave her loose in my small house all day while I'm at work, but I have a baby gate up so she doesn't have the whole house. We go outside when I'm home. She uses a pee pee pad, but not always.

Now I must move into a relative's house. This relative has very nice carpet, hardwood, and tile. Daisy's accidents will not be tolerated.

I have never tried crate training with her.

I've been researching online about possibly setting up sort of a "puppy apartment" (although not the ones with that brand name) for Daisy to stay in all day. I am gone Monday through Friday for 8 to 10 hours, and unable to come home to let her out mid-day.

For her first few weeks at home, I used a rectangular soft-sided crate that had been given to me. There was enough room for her little bed, her food and water bowls, her toy box, and a pee pee pad.

After several days of coming home from work to find the soft crate on its side with food and water spilled, I started putting her in this 45" octagon-shaped puppy play pen.

33" 45 48 57" 600D Oxford Portable Pet Puppy Soft Tent Playpen Dog Cat Crate Pen | eBay

The playpen is still set up in my house, with the door unzipped so she can go in and out. I keep her food and water bowls in there, along with her little soft bed and toy box. I keep a pee pee pad in there, too.

When she was tiny, we used the playpen with the door zipped closed and without the mesh top. Things went well.

Then she figured out how to unzip the door. I tried several tricks to keep it closed. Meanwhile, she grew and became quite the jumper. I added the mesh top and zipped it.

This worked for just a few days.

When I came home and the entire playpen was knocked on its side, with food and water spilled everywhere, I gave up on confining her to the playpen and let her stay loose in the house during the day.

HERE ARE MY OPTIONS:

1. Bring the playpen to relative's house to confine her all day, with the playpen set up in my bedroom and the bedroom door closed. Set it up with her soft bed, food/water bowls, toy box, and pee pee pad (which she is used to since it is set up like that in my living room, but unzipped and no lid). She'll jump out of it if the door is zipped. If the top is zipped in, she could roll it again, but the room is small and wouldn't roll far. She could still have accidents on the carpet rather than going back into the playpen to use the pee pee pad.

2. Buy a sturdy wire crate big enough to hold her soft bed, food/water, toy box in one end, and then put the pee pee pad on the other end.

I've read pros and cons about doing things this way.

By the way, we are making a commitment to be consistent with our training.

Thanks for any advice.

05-29-2016, 10:57 AM	#1
Sjill YorkieTalk Newbie! Join Date: Nov 2015 Location: Missouri Posts: 2	Switching from loose in house to "puppy apartment" concept? Help! Daisy is 8 months old. She's a good girl, but I have been inconsistent with training and, because of that, find myself in need of advice. I've searched teh forusm and still have questions. I currently leave her loose in my small house all day while I'm at work, but I have a baby gate up so she doesn't have the whole house. We go outside when I'm home. She uses a pee pee pad, but not always. Now I must move into a relative's house. This relative has very nice carpet, hardwood, and tile. Daisy's accidents will not be tolerated. I have never tried crate training with her. I've been researching online about possibly setting up sort of a "puppy apartment" (although not the ones with that brand name) for Daisy to stay in all day. I am gone Monday through Friday for 8 to 10 hours, and unable to come home to let her out mid-day. For her first few weeks at home, I used a rectangular soft-sided crate that had been given to me. There was enough room for her little bed, her food and water bowls, her toy box, and a pee pee pad. After several days of coming home from work to find the soft crate on its side with food and water spilled, I started putting her in this 45" octagon-shaped puppy play pen. 33" 45 48 57" 600D Oxford Portable Pet Puppy Soft Tent Playpen Dog Cat Crate Pen \| eBay The playpen is still set up in my house, with the door unzipped so she can go in and out. I keep her food and water bowls in there, along with her little soft bed and toy box. I keep a pee pee pad in there, too. When she was tiny, we used the playpen with the door zipped closed and without the mesh top. Things went well. Then she figured out how to unzip the door. I tried several tricks to keep it closed. Meanwhile, she grew and became quite the jumper. I added the mesh top and zipped it. This worked for just a few days. When I came home and the entire playpen was knocked on its side, with food and water spilled everywhere, I gave up on confining her to the playpen and let her stay loose in the house during the day. HERE ARE MY OPTIONS: 1. Bring the playpen to relative's house to confine her all day, with the playpen set up in my bedroom and the bedroom door closed. Set it up with her soft bed, food/water bowls, toy box, and pee pee pad (which she is used to since it is set up like that in my living room, but unzipped and no lid). She'll jump out of it if the door is zipped. If the top is zipped in, she could roll it again, but the room is small and wouldn't roll far. She could still have accidents on the carpet rather than going back into the playpen to use the pee pee pad. 2. Buy a sturdy wire crate big enough to hold her soft bed, food/water, toy box in one end, and then put the pee pee pad on the other end. I've read pros and cons about doing things this way. By the way, we are making a commitment to be consistent with our training. Thanks for any advice.