Where does your pup stay while you're at work??
 

I really need help. My Snickers is pooing in his crate again. I just don't think he likes being in there. He is 6 months old and has ups and downs with his crate. Sometimes can hold it, sometimes can't. He is never in there more than 2.5-3 hours. Yes, it's small and good for his size to just sit, stand, and turn around in. I have horrible guilt that he is unhappy in there and panics so he poops. He did not before, but I think he has seperation anxiety since we are back at work now after the holidays. I'm actually trying out having him in the laundry room this afternoon for 3 hours with a pee pad, his bed cushion, and his toys. I'm so scared his outside potty training is going to be spoiled but I just hate having him in a cage. You can see my other post about feeling so guilty about crating him I posted yesterday. Please help, any others out there with a 6-7 month pup who does not crate and has successfully outside potty trained while leaving pup with a pad during the day?? I am thinking if he goes alot on the pad, he has not tried to hold it, and if goes once, has tried to hold it. I don't know....I'm stressed! I worry so much about my Snickers! :(

Thanks-
Viv

Thanks Dara--he did do both before going in and then pooped again which is so not like him. I guess we will stick to the crate, or stick to the laundry room. I just am scared that if we leave him with a pee pad, his outside training will be ruined. And also, I feel guilty about leaving him in his crate. Myabe I just worry to much. Hmph. He is a tiny guy (only 3lbs) and maybe he just does not have good bladder control. :(:(

Canyon is in an 18 sq ft x-pen with all his essentials in there with him. Washable potty pad, food/water/toys and his bed.

Teddi was in a playpen until she was about 6 months old and then she was locked in the kitched all day until she was over a year old. She is 2.5 now and she has free reign of the house now :D

I have my two guys sectioned off in my kitchen while I'm away
I can't have them crated all that time because sometimes I can be gone for 5 hrs
They have learned to use their pee pads really well
and they are too young to hold it for that long
this gives them room to play together and sleep
when ever they want

crate
 

Well, I have one female that I have in a crate she will be really good then really really bad. I have a litter pan in her cage then a blanket too. well soemtimes she will go real well in the litter pan then other times she will pee and poop on the other side lay in it, step in it you name it! I am really getting frustrated with her. As for the pee pad thing I have tried that in a smaller section of the house she pees on the edge and it runs on the floor then she poops and drags it all over the floor... I just bought a really nice 12 wk male, he is awesome he is loose in the house and runs to that room to pee and poop in the middle of the pad... He is really awesome. I think it depends on their intellegence, where they came from and how the breeder worked with them. ( I will scrub that room once a day with bleach water so that my male does not pickup the scent of the female accidents) She has to wear a diaper bc she will squat anywhere! She starts puppy classes this saturday, wish us luck!:confused:

I bring mine out for his businesses but I always find it nice to have pee pads in the house for him to use whenever he wants so he does #1 and #2 while he is out and when he is home, he pees on the pee pads. I am not comfortable of my dog having to hold it in. It is not really that bad. You just need to clean the floor with white vinegar to remove all the smell. Bleach contains ammonia and will not remove the smell. A nice playpen or laundry room with his bed and food/water and pee pad will help you feel not so guilty and your pup will be happier too. When your pup gets older or when you know you can trust Snickers you can let him have a free run of the house.

Pao was potty trained almost as soon as we got him home at 12 weeks old. He has a free run of the house when he was about 5 months old I think and uses his pee pads 99% of the time.

Thanks Potter!! My husband tried the laundry room for Snickers this afternoon and I just came home and he did GREAT!! No pottying, he held it and as soon as I got home, he ran to the door to go outside so day 1 has been success. We will see how it goes, if we notice him using the pads alot while we are gone, we will prob go back to crating. But I hope this works...that way he does not need to be in his crate all day!!

-Viv

:p KiKi also has an x-pen....with her crate (bed inside crate) attached to the x-pen...this has worked great!! :p Good luck!

I'm 100% with yorkieforme, myself, I think crates are terrible, I hate being confined myself, and with an xpen, they have their pee pads, food, water, beds, toys. People don't think the dogs will pee/poop in their crates, but, guess what?? THEY DO! When I have to go to the bathroom, if I were confined, I would probably pee or crap on myself too if I couldn't get to go.

This was our plan but he is chewing/eating his pee pads even when they're in the pee pad holder. :confused:

What kind of pads are you using? I know in the time(years) I've been using them, there was one brand that they would chew, and I had bought them at target, arm and hammer I believe they were. Also, do you have a tv or radio you can leave on? My sons yorkie(when he was little) was chewing his too, so they started leaving the radio on, and he never chewed them after that

Hmm...I don't think that it's the brand. I think it's his teething stage and I don't think it will matter the brand really. And he does it with me right next to him, so it's not due to stress of being home alone. I think he just loves tearing things up right now!

Does he have a lot of things to chew on, a kong, toys, etc? I guess I've been pretty lucky with mine.

Yeah he has tons of chew toys after all his christmas presents from his grandparents. He's only 12 weeks...could it just be a phase?

I have never had Buddy in a cage, originally we gave him the freedom of the kitchen, then the kitchen and hall way, now he also has the front room, yes he still makes mistakes, but its mainly on the pee pad that we leave down, I am out for at least 3.5 hrs in the morning and 4 in the afternoon so I cannot expect anything less, I really would not like to be cuped up in a small cage for all that time.

Toby ( 2 yrs old) has full run of the kitchen, diningroom and livingroom while I am at work, and he always uses his pad. Rudy is only 4 months old and is still confined to the hallway behind a baby gate. He has his crate, a bed, lots of toys, water and food and his pee pad. Rudy is doing really well with the training and has been using the pad faithfully, but he is still a little chewing machine and is not allowed out until we are home.

I feel for you! I'm a teacher in another town (30 min away), so Dixie is by herself for almsot 9 hours a day (10 months old). At the beginning of the year my neighbor came over and let her out of her crate around noon to go outside, play, etc. But, due to illness she couldn't continue to help. So, I decided to put a baby gate in the door of my spare bedroom where Dixie's crate is. She has food, water, toys, treats, bed, crate...blah blah blah and seems to do fine. She does not go to the bathroom at all. I really think she just sleeps all day.
She seems to be on a good routine, I take her out twice before I leave in the morning, she pees and poops. And of course she goes out several times after I'm home.
My advice is just keep trying different things and see what works for you. Do your best:)

Dixie can hold it for 9 hours!! Wow, I am impressed!? Can I by chance ask you if she is a smaller Yorkie? I'm thinking Snickers 3lb runty size is affecting his ability to hold it. How much does Dixie weigh and how long did it take for her to be able to hold it that long. That's GREAT!

Thanks!
-Vivian:animal-pa

Yes. It's not that I expect her to. I have a pee pad by the door, but it's never used. (I've never scolded her for having accidents, only positive reinforcement) She is very small, about 2.5 pounds. She's just on a very good routine. She doesnt eat much, although her food and water are always out and available. Just not a big eater.
I feel very lucky that we are on such a good routine. It's taken a lot of trial and error, but it seems to be working for both of us.
Every dog is different though. I would say if he's enjoying the laundry room and will use the puppy pads youre doing good.

That is so great! Your should be proud!! Maybe it will come with age. Snick actually HATES the laundry room and will wait by the gate for the WHOLE time for us to get home. Today my husband came home to him standing near his puddle of pee (the pee pad on oppsite side of room!) So we crated him for the afternoon and he pee'd in there. I know...we need routine, like you said. I just have guilt issues with Snick in a cage but he seems to hate just being alone (separation anxiety.) I know we need to have 1 routine and stick to it but I think our biggest mistake was that we let him sleep with us in our bed for 2 weeks during the holidays and we were always home and he was always with us. From that we went back to work all day and him sleeping in his crate. So 2 extremes-with us 24/7 to not so much. Does Dixie sleep with you? I would love if Snick could but we are not sure if thats a good idea so we started crating him at night. We are just not sure about alot of things....hmph! I'm sad :( He has started to regress with his potty training as well...all b/c of his dumb parents!:(

-Vivian:animal-pa

We crate trained Finnigan and it worked wonderfully. We mostly had him crated at night beside the bed from day 1 and since we crated him all night I felt it would be horrible to have him crated all night and all day. We kept him in the kitchen with a baby gate in the door. His food & bed at one end of the kitchen and pee pad at the other next to the back door. We also kept plenty of toys for him to play with during the day. He would always meet us at the door when we got home, but I found out he had been sleeping in his bed all day when I peeked in the window once.

Quincy started in the crate for around 8 hrs. he was 4.5 mos old my son would come home from school and take him out. we then started leaving him in the laundry room again 8 hrs, potty pad, water, i would feed him before going to work, now he is 6.5 mos old he has free un of the house his pee pad is still in the laundry room and he goes right to it to pee and poop. he has also started to bark at the door when he needs to go out if i'm home but when i'm not he uses the potty pad.

I do not let Dixie sleep with me. I've tried it a couple times and it just doesn't work. She's such a bed hog - HAS to be in the middle of the bed, she insists! And she snores! The last time I tried it she actually woke up in the middle of the night wanting to go to her crate. So, I know she's comfortable in there.
Dixie likes to go places with me, and when I'm home from work I take her with me as much as I can. So, when I do leave her she will bark...but only until I shut the door. I've stayed and listened at the door just to make sure:)
We just have to remember that they're dogs, we love them, but we're the boss. She's just fine in her room and she has everything she needs. :)

The size of the dog really doesn't have anything to do with holding it(bladder wise). Heck, my german shepherd is 2 and it pees more than my small dogs. Just like a person that's older, some people can hold their bladders longer than others, and their size has nothing to do with it. A good rule of thumb for pups(not adult dogs) is an hour for every month. A dog 2 mos. should be able to hold their bladder 2-3 hours at the most.

This morning I woke up to find my baby Charlie squating in bed. I picked him up immediately and a piece of poop fell from his butt!!!!! He had also gone pee pee in the corner of our bed!! I am furious. He's almost 6 months. I gave up on the pee pad a long time ago since he used it only 50% of the time. When I'm home with him, he actually does pretty good with the potty. He's crated during the day, so I let him sleep with me at night. He has had two prior accidents in bed. Even though he can jump off the bed to do his business on the floor, he hates being away from me so much that he'll go potty on the bed. I don't know what to do because I'd hate to crate him at night since he's crated during the day. He's never had an accident in his crate. UGH!!!!! and he knows he's in trouble because he'll go sit in the corner and repent on his own.

Have you looked up xpens? They are a lot bigger than a crate, that's all I've ever used with mine

OMG...I can imagine you are upset. Honestly though...I would have to draw the line on my dog sleeping in my bed, especially of she peed or pooped on it. I would LOVE for her to, but it sends the message that she could be "top dog" and I want her to know I am the ALPHA - NOT her. (Remember: your dog needs a strong leader. He is NOT equal with you.) I crate my baby at night (she is 5mos. and holds it fine) right next to my bed. I would go for using the xpen during the day & crating her at night. That's what we do anyhow. Works OK, but my baby does like to shred up her pee pads! That's what I'm working on now. Best of Luck.

Oh my word! That would be the last time the dog was in my bed!!! Dont feel bad for crating him at night...he doesn't have accidents in there because he doesn't want to lay/sleep in it. So you know he CAN hold it! Like others said, maybe the xpen is the way to go during the day...