Success with Crate Training at 6 mo's.
 

I just have to write and share my excitement! Rolo is 6 months (our 2nd dog. The old guy is 9 yrs) and in the 4 that we've had him, the weather outdoors has been less than polite. He is so small to be huddling out in the snow and wind trying to teach him that the reason he is there is to pee. So, I bought pee pads and tried that. That is the same as newspaper training to me, only I found I had higher expectations of him with a pee pad than I would have with newspaper.

So, I'm quickly sick of feeling like pee pad training is not progressing and some damage to my hardwood floor has pushed me to go back to what I know, and train Rolo to 'do his business' outdoors.

I went and bought a small windchime and every time I take him outside, I get him to touch his nose to the chime. Just this morning, which is day 6, he rang the chime by himself. I was very skeptical yet being hopeful promptly took him outside and sure enough, he pee'd! Now, perhaps it was coincidence but I don't care, I'm feeling pretty good now. Hopefully posting this under the title 'success with crate training at 6 mo's.' doesn't come back and bite me! Now, I still have to work on the pooping....

Congratulations! I like the idea of a windchime, and touching your dog's nose to it every time you go outside is ingenious.

Wishing you and your little one continued success. :)

Congrats!!

When I brought home my 2nd fluff, she was 4 months old, very smart, but I could tell we needed something to get the potty training on the right track. So I put 2 jingle bells on a key ring then connected it to a cut leash within days she got the hang of it. Now they all use the bell. Wooohooo!!

Wooohoooo to you too!! :thumbup:

Good luck with that, I really hope it works for you. I trained my little boy to use his paw and hit the door stopper when he wants to go out, It makes a thubbing sound which we can hear from any room. If we don't respong fast enough he hits it really hard which is quite funny. It's feels like he is ringing a bell to have us come and wait on him. Who's trained who? Problem is, he does it when he wants to go out. Not necessariely to go out and pee or poop, just go out. I can stand outside with him with my pocketful of homemade dehydrated liver treats, saying "go potty", for an hour. He usually will pee but not poop. Every day I find poops in the house. I had no idea they could poop so often when only fed 2x day. He is 1 yr old. Now I also have a 6 mth old who also needs training, some fun. Both of these dolls were rehomed to me at about 6 mths and i was told they were both housebroken and vaccinated. Not so on either account. I love them dearly but I am really tierd of picking up poops and hearing my other half complain about the poops.I have had dogs all my life and these little guys have to be the hardest to housebreak. Good thing they are so darned cute!

Hi jjflash;
That could have been me that wrote that post! You said exactly what I was fearing. is he going to ring the bell, just for a breath of fresh air or a change of scenery, not only when he pee's? How do I get him to recognize that I want him to poop too. He comes back inside to poop. I've only been at it a week so I was kind of hoping I could ignore these potential pitfalls and they would look after themselves!

I like the doorstopper idea. I can see this chime not being heard at times. Not only that, what is he going to do when he isn't at home? are we going to have to bring that chime with us everywhere we go?

When you speak about your other half complaining about the poops, I grinned. That is precisely my house!!

I had success with potty training by setting up an x-pen in the house, with a crate and bed on one side and a pee pad (or litter box) on the other. She learned to use the pee pad at night or when I was away.

In the daytime, I'd feed her and take her outside 5 minutes later. If she didn't poop, she went back into her xpen (or crate). Then I took her out an hour later. Same thing, if she didn't poop, back in the xpen or crate.

It took 8 months, but she got it. I've been able to take down the xpen. She now knows she'll be let out after she eats. And when I'm not home, she knows to use a pee pad. What I've found is she's using the pee pad less and less, and she'll go weeks without using it at all.

I stole the idea off Dog Star daily. I didn't always stick to everything he suggested and wish I had, but it worked.
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