Help needed desperately!
 

Since he seem to really just hate his crate have you thought about just using a baby gate if you have an area that does not have carpet so it is easily cleaned. He may like this much better and see if you can put something with you scent with him and maybe he will be very content there at night.

I know this is a nightmare but, since you bought him from a petstore you have absolutley no idea what his life was like prior to this. It is probably something from that life that has him acting this way. Just be patient. When I was training Mollie and she would have an accident I would stearnly say bad dog and immediately take her outside. This helped her understand that it is not acceptable in the house and only outside.

Hope this helps.

Keep us posted.

Hi and welcome to yt. he probably does not like his crate because that is what he had been living in before . He is probably the product of a puppy mill before i knew about puppy mills and petsores i bought my lab frrom a pet store she is very sweet but is constantly running in circles i guess thinking that she is still in a cage. he just needs the time and patience and he will finally be house broken.

We have a kitchen that we could use it we got 2 baby gates... Im just worried that he would cry all night. Im going to try that though. Hopefully he will like that better. Its very frustrating at night time. I hope my neighbours wont hate me because our front door isn't a very good insulator and he might keep them up at night. Oh well its worth a try... :)

First off, Welcome to YT!!! I am glad that you came to this site to get some help...hopefully you will find something that will help you and Bear!!

I agree that since you bought him from a petstore you don't know what on before you got him...most likely he spend most of the day in a crate like area and has grown to hate being confined like that...I would suggest trying an x pen or playpen to keep in one area...

Bear is still puppy and some of the housebreaking issue is due to this...he is still growing and gaining control of his bladder, give him some time and stay consist with the training...there are a bunch of different threads about housebreaking and hopefully you can find one that helps with that issue!!

Just remember to be patient and try to understand and soon you will have a wonderful little baby!!

like everyone else..i'd try the baby gate ..he might still scream a lil at first but he should get use to it and it would be MUCH better than the crate!

I will send you the housetraining method I send with all my pups if you mail me at sylvanyorkies@yahoo.com. I would suggest putting the crate in the gated kitchen with the door left open and soft bedding, toys and treats in the crate. Let him go in on his own to find the treats and come out whenever he likes until he decides it's not scary. Keep a litter area away from the crate in the kitchen and put a few drops of ammonia there to give him the idea. Do not give him access to the rest of the house AT ALL unless you are following him around and can grab him to go out the second he starts to sniff or squat.

Hi and welcome!

How old is Bear?

I find that a playpen is better than a crate because I put it beside my bed nd put my arm in it and touch the puppy until they fall asleep. If they wake during the night I put my arm back in and they go back to sleep.

I put a wee wee pad in one side and the bed and food and water dish in the other.

Up to 6 months of age a puppy has to go potty after they wake from a nap, after they eat, after they play and every hour usually otherwise. it is a lot of time to potty train one.
I also use belly bands on mine to save the carpets. They don't mind them and it really saves the carpet!

Good luck.

My nemo love he's crate.
and he have the smar problem of marking.

when i put him in he's carte at night i have it right next to me.

try that, and try to pet him untill he falls a sleep.
maby he will be ok if he is knows you are right next to him and he can see you.
do you know anything about the belly bands ?
mine nemo have tham on all the time,
I honestly can say i dont think i would have him if it was not for the bally band.
eccept for the time that he sleep in he's crate.

On the issue of neighbors, you could just talk to them and explain the sitution....... i checked in whith my neighbors regularly to see if their were any noise problems that we could resolve

Ok, I have been reading all kinds of crate training sites, and literature.. And they all say, ITS HARD, TRY TO IGNORE THE BARKING AND CRYING..


You said yourself, it stops after 20 minutes. Also its been said DO NOT TAKE THEM WHEN THEY ARE CRYING AND BARKING, becuase they will learn that by ccrying and barking, you will let them out and will do it more and more and more.

Also, you said that he sleeps fine until about 4 am. and starts crying and barking, so you take him out and put him on your bed. Then he goes of to pee and poop. THERE YOU GO. He is crying because he just woke up and want to pee or poop or both. And as you might of read before, TEHY WILL NOT POO AND PEE on their beds or were they lay down. This is why when you take him out, he will be on your bed for a bit, being 4 am you will knock right out again, and he will go off to do his thing.

You should take him out of crate after he stops crying a bit and walk him were ever it is that you walk him I AM SURE he will pee at least. Then place him back in crate, he might cry again, but it might last 10 mins since he might still be sleepy and fall asleep again.

We had the tough task of potty training Penny at 5 months old. We used crate training. To be honest, for the first 2 weeks, we didn't get any sleep. And for months, she would start crying on the dot at 3:30. I would get up, take her outside, and then return her to her crate. It took awhile before she could make it through the night and it definitely wasn't fun getting up all the time, but it was important to me to keep her understanding that crying didn't get her out of her crate.

Sounds to me as if this little guy came from a puppymill and it is likely that your house is the first freedom he has ever had outside a cage/crate. Placing him in one again will only further traumatize the poor little guy so if it were me I'd put the crate away and try either an exercise pen or a child's playpen placed right beside the bed so you can put your hand in there with him.

You could also try playing a radio very softly so he doesn't feel as if nobody's there with him. Put a plush toy animal in there, preferrably one as big or bigger than he is so he has something to curl up with. An old fashioned clock that you can hear it ticking also helps as do hot water bottles.

I have had many rescued dogs over the years and the one thing I will not do under any circumstances is put them back in a crate/cage. Your little guy is the same age as our new little girl. I let her sleep with me and the minute she wakes up I take her outside, she pees and it is back to bed we go where she settles right back down again. If you are training him to pee pads you could put one in your bedroom and when he wakes up put him on it. I close my bedroom door at night just in case she gets off the bed so at least she can't get into anything dangerous.

Puppymill dogs are a challenge as they normally come with crate issues etc. Patience and lots of love are what's going to win this guy over. It will take months before he will be able to hold his bladder all night. It will likely take months for him to get over separation anxiety especially if you are about to return to school full time and he is going to be alone during the day. Is there anyone who could dog sit for you, perhaps a doggy daycare. He's not going to get over these issues in two weeks so you may want to consider if this is the breed for your lifestyle.

The other issue with puppymill dogs is that they learned at a very early age to pee and poop in the same place they sleep and eat if they were kept in cages/crates. Most dogs won't do that but puppymill dogs have no choice when they are crammed into cages all day. This makes them extremely difficult to train and requires almost constant supervision. Some doggy daycares will assist with the training process for a fee and that may be an option for you.

Welcome to YT. I agreed that Bear might had come from a puppy mill .To housetrain him you need a lot of patience and be consistent. I personally dont crate, i used the baby gate instead. Everyone has given you great advise. I think belly bands can be useful. Good luck.

I like the gated kitchen idea. That's where I keep my Yorkies and Chi. They each have a cosy-round to sleep in and I leave out dry kibble and water. We keep a Wee-Wee pad in the other corner. If you have a spare bathroom, or don't mind sharing yours, that makes an excellent small area also. However, I still take them out to do their business as often as possible. The male Yorkie is not neutered and he still tries to mark (lifts his leg), so he wears a belly band around the house. Hang in there....He's worth it! ;)

Kirst and Bear--how is it going? Have things gotten better? :)

crate training a puppy store puppie
 

first trick put two liter soda bottle wraped in towle with hot h20 in it for baby to cuddle 2nd ignore your dog do not comfort him do not talk to him do not make eye contact once the crying has stoped or ur time has gone off i would do 25 min let your dog out DO NOT PRAISE YOUR DOG act like it is no big deal but part of life you will be happly surprised at how this works im not telling you to be cruel im telling you to take in account your puppies time in a pet store if you can train yourself to do this you will be surprised

this is exactly what i did except lucky was in our laundry room. he didnt come from a petstore though. when he got him we put him in a playpen and he screamed for about 4 days non-stop :eek: except for when he would go to sleep. i was so tired and one of my neighbors complained about the noise. the next day i through the playpen in the backyard, i went to walmart and bought two baby gates and put his bed and food in one spot,and peepee pads in another and hes been ok every since. although he doesnt like being in the dark so i keep the kitchen light on at night.hope this helps with the screaming. now the potty training is a whole other thread ;)

I really think that since he was from a pet store that that is the reason why he doesn't like his crate. Quite understandable. I also agree that gating him in the kitchen or maybe using an x-pen would be better. No hurt in trying. I think that he will repsond better to that. As for the potty training. My little guys was born on April 17th, just a couple days after Bear, so they are the same age. 5 months is just around the time where they begin to get bladder control. My little Deegan does well most of the time, but yes, just like Bear hi might go right in front of me or just after a walk. I try to put him out every half hour. And be sure to give treats after he pees outside. But if he pees inside and you see him, pick him up and say "No, go pee outside." And put him outside. Then if you don't see him - you can't say anything to them because they don't know what you are refering to.

Lots of advice has been giving. I hope that you find something that works for you and Bear. Good luck and let us know how he is doing in a week or so.