What does Rambo do all day??!!
 

hi. i'm a new mom to my 4 month old yorkie Rambo. he's very smart and is starting to get the concept of crate training (after he peed in my bed) :eek:
and potty training. he still has accidents which is to be expected.
my question is, I live in a two bedroom apartment, I block off the hall way to the bedrooms and let him have full run of the kitchen, living room, dining room and outside patio. Is that too much area for such a tiny pup? My fellow animal lovers say I need to keep him in either a larger crate (he sleeps in a small taxi crate) or block off a smaller area.. I am unsure what is best. Rambo leaves poo and pee that I find when I get home, he hasn't figure out to go out on the patio to do his biz when I am not there...
I work from 745a-5ish p and i get home after the gym after 6.. It would totally suck to leave him in a crate all day! right?? :confused:

any suggestions?

I wouldn't leave him in a crate, but I think thats too big of a space. I would block off a space small enough for him not to really run in. Like for Aubrey I block off my room and then I put the gate right out in the hall way, but hes potty trained and hes almost 1 yr. So for a little puppy I wouldn't leave him in a big space.

Are you trying to pee-pee pad train him or train him to go outside?

Hi Superstarkba - Yes I want Rambo to pee outside on the patio (he has rug out there that is all him) I think you are right about not putting him in a crate all day. I will put him in the kitchen for sure now.

What about punishment. What do you do? Water squirt gun, (I don't like spanking) or maybe one of those coins in a can things??

Thanks!

Crys

I also live in an apartment style condo, and so I had to come up with a plan for Spike, especially since I live alone and work shifts. I didn't want to leave him alone in a crate for too long, either.

When I first got him I put a baby gate up in the corner of my bathroom with his kennel, blanket, food and water, and a pee pad. It was a bigger space than a typical crate, but still a small area (maybe three feet by three feet). I sprayed the pee pad with the training spray and made sure the rest of the floor was covered with his blanket that he would sleep on. He used the pee pad right away, and I would also let him out once I got home.

Once I was sure he understood the pee pad concept, I took away the baby gate so he had the run of the whole bathroom, and put down an extra pee pad. Once he got the hang of that, I let him also have the run of the bedroom and bathroom combined when I wasn't home. I put down two more pee pads in the bedroom. If he had an accident, we would move a step back until he was reliable in the smaller space again.

Now he's very reliable in the bedroom/bathroom, although he has the very occasional accident when I'm home and he has the run of the house. It's gotten much better now he's older, though, and I try to take him outside every once in a while when I am home, as well as first thing in the morning and last thing at night.

The important thing is praise, not punishment. Unless I caught him having an accident on the floor, there was nothing I could do or say. If I caught him in the act, then I immediately got his attention (called his name, clapped my hands, etc.), said "no!", and picked him up and put him on his pad or took him outside. Whenever I saw him do what he was supposed to, he got lots of praise and a treat.

Funnily enough, he also improved loads after we stayed with my sister for a week - she has two dogs who are perfectly housebroken. I think he learned how it was supposed to be done, or he wanted to be just like the big boys!