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Originally Posted by JiggityJig A few questions of my own, if you don't mind me throwing them in!
...if the crate is only supposed to be big enough for them to turn around in....do you have to keep buying bigger crates as they grow? Does it confuse or bother them if you switch from one kind of crate situation to another? What general size should I look for?
Can you move the crate from room to room, or is that confusing or disconcerting for them, too?
When they're crated overnight....they don't need food or whatever overnight, when they're puppies? |
Ok, first I will answer these questions, and then I will address the first thread....
You do not have to keep buying new crates. What I did was put a cardboard box in the back of Hobbs' crate to make it basically half of the original size. It is only big enough for him to stand up, turn around, and lay down. As he grows, I put in smaller and smaller boxes in the back. If he doesn't ever get big enough to need to whole crate, then he will always have a box in there with him. How big is your puppy?? Look for the smallest crate possible. The smallest one I have been able to find is 12.5" x 19" x 10". You can order it from Petsmart. Here is a link:
http://www.petsmart.com/global/produ...N=2035805&Ne=2
I would get this size unless your yorkies is expected to reach over 10 lbs. DEFINATELY move the crate from room to room. When we leave Hobbs in his crate, he likes to be up high instead of on the floor. So, we either put it in the middle of our bed or in a chair in the living room. But, make sure that it cannot fall off whatever you put it on. But, when we are at home, we leave the crate open on the floor either in the living room or bedroom. This way, the dog will be able to go in it without having the door shut. We often put treats in there and leave it open on the floor. The dog will learn to love his crate by going into the open crate and getting the treats. We also put a dark towel over the top of the crate to make it more "den-like." But be sure to leave the front of the crate uncovered so the dog can get air and see out. It is really up to you whether you want to give your puppy food and water during the night in their crate. If you decide to give them food & water at night, you need to be listening for them whining to go to the bathroom. Then you need to take them outside. If they eat & drink during the night, most likely they will have to go to the bathroom during the night. But, it is fine to not give them food & water during the night. Just give the puppy some Nutrical before bedtime.
OK, now as for the first thread...these are just my opinions, but we have crate trained all of our yorkies so I have some experience. I would either teach your puppy to go inside on a pee pad or outside in the yard...not both...this would be very confusing. We ultimately decided to outside train because I did not want Hobbs thinking that it was okay to go potty in the house. We pee pad trained for about 1 week, but Hobbs thought it was okay to go potty anywhere in the house, not just on the pee pad. If your puppy can hold it through the night, I feel confident that he can hold it for 4 hours at a time during the day. that is the same thing we do with Hobbs....he's in his crate for 4 hours during the morning, then we come home for 1 hour for lunch, then he's in there for 4 hours in the afternoon until we come home from work. Then, in the evenings, while we were potty training him, we took him out every 2 hours. Eventually, he started running to the door when he had to go potty. It really only took about 2 weeks to potty train him.
I have so much more info about crate training. I can share all my many many experiences, but it would take up the whole page!!!! Please feel free to PM me if you have more questions!!! I would love to help!