Crate Training

[Stitches29]

You are doing the CORRECT way of crate training. It probably isn't a pattern at this time, as far as his sleeping---unless you are one lucky mama. Their bladder muscles are not strong yet. If he cries in the middle of the night. Take him to PP, but no playing or talking. As soon as he PP's, then back to the crate. I took old throw cushions and made Maggie's crate a padded room. Before I put the cushions in the crate, I too thought she was sleeping all night, until one day I decided to wash her blankie. One corner was very wet. That is when I knew I had failed as a crate trainer. Broke out the book and started over. I put Maggie's crate next to me too, so she could see me. It works alot better, than putting them in a different room. Good Job. Keep It Up. P.S. It also helps to cover the crate, just like you would with a bird cage. Make is dark and cozy, just like a real den in the wild.

[Darbie]

Does anyone know about litter box training for a Yorkie
I get my little furbaby Friday July 1st...I am going back and forth
I say maybe I should take him outside. But I live in Chicago. Very cold winters. My little one my not get to 4 pds. His dad is only 2 1/2 and mother 4 pds...then I say maybe the wee wee pad...I am really leaning towards LItter box training. any suggestions??

[chewysmom]

I think crate training is great. It keeps them safe, and they have a little place to go to. For the first few weeks I got up at 3:30 AM every night to take Chewy to pee and then he would wake up again at 7:30 AM. Now he sleeps all the way through the night and no accidents. I have found it to be very positive.

[Stitches29]

Originally Posted by Darbie

Does anyone know about litter box training for a Yorkie
I get my little furbaby Friday July 1st...I am going back and forth
I say maybe I should take him outside. But I live in Chicago. Very cold winters. My little one my not get to 4 pds. His dad is only 2 1/2 and mother 4 pds...then I say maybe the wee wee pad...I am really leaning towards LItter box training. any suggestions??

I have seen the litter that is being used for the boxes. It looks like newspaper cigarette butts. You will have to change it out a lot. I don't know how willing they will be to poo in it. Fasteddie has a box outside his door with wee wee pads in it. He said it's the best of both worlds. Outside training, but on wee wee pads. They live in an apartment, so access to grass is not so close. I lean more to outside training. It was easy, fast and no clean up. You might contact Fasteddie and ask the particulars of the outside wee wee box. Congratulations on your new baby.

[typerk]

Originally Posted by Darbie

Does anyone know about litter box training for a Yorkie
I get my little furbaby Friday July 1st...I am going back and forth
I say maybe I should take him outside. But I live in Chicago. Very cold winters. My little one my not get to 4 pds. His dad is only 2 1/2 and mother 4 pds...then I say maybe the wee wee pad...I am really leaning towards LItter box training. any suggestions??

I actually use the litter box along with the pee pads. I put the pad right at the entrance to the litter box and my dog uses both. I will try to train her just to use the litterbox soon. The litter will actually last you a few months per bag if only one dog uses it and especially if it's only one yorkie. If you are going to do it though I would start off like that and don't even use a pee pad ever.

[Darbie]

Originally Posted by typerk

I actually use the litter box along with the pee pads. I put the pad right at the entrance to the litter box and my dog uses both. I will try to train her just to use the litterbox soon. The litter will actually last you a few months per bag if only one dog uses it and especially if it's only one yorkie. If you are going to do it though I would start off like that and don't even use a pee pad ever.

wow now that is one of the BEST things I have heard..the Wee pad with the litter box...Now with a puppy going to have to wee and poo soo often..how often do you take them out of the crate (if you do crate training) or do you leave him/her in an open area where they have access to wee or poo??
Or how do you do that..and how old is your baby

[AJ12]

I have had Bailey for 3 weeks now and he is almost 9 weeks. I first started putting him in his crate with the door open with a wee wee pad right outside of it. he cried most of the night and did his business wherever he wanted to.

in my last post i said how great my nights sleep was with no accidents and a full night of sleeping in his crate. it was great since the night before i think i got about 2 hours of sleep.

sunday i bought the excercise pen from Petco. after putting him in his crate he slept till about 4:30 and then started wimpering. i brought him to the pen and tried to get him to go potty. my problem is when he wakes up he wants to play only and forgets all about his poor bladder. so i left him in his pen for the rest of the night. he cuddeled up to a pillow i left in there for him and went right to sleep after he did his business.

is this the wrong thing to do? leaving him in his pen or should i wait till he eventually pottys then put him back in his crate? i just figure that if he does what he needs to do and is quiet why do something different.

so far the crate and pen are a godsend

[typerk]

Originally Posted by Darbie

wow now that is one of the BEST things I have heard..the Wee pad with the litter box...Now with a puppy going to have to wee and poo soo often..how often do you take them out of the crate (if you do crate training) or do you leave him/her in an open area where they have access to wee or poo??
Or how do you do that..and how old is your baby

She is 10 weeks old today actually. And I crate train and take her out the crate every time she wakes up(because she sleeps a lot) and when she starts to sniff inside her crate I take her out. At night when we have her out she will actually go to her bathroom area by herself. It's really hit or miss which one she uses, but her having all that space gives us a chance to cut down on accidents. She actually will go inside her crate before she goes on the carpet these days. When she does go on the pad or litterbox I will let her hang out a while and play with her. We use a feeding schedule so it's a little easier to know when she will poo. We let her drink water all the time so she is always peeing.

We used to praise her profusely and give her a treat every time she went but we have cut down on the praise and eliminated the treat. We are trying to get her to do it on command by saying the word "potty" continuously while she is doing her business and stopping once she stops. Next week we will take her away from her bathroom area and say the word potty to see if she will go on her own to the area and handle her business. I got that from the job evans book.

[CHLOE'S MOM530]

I have a 9 month old baby girl. I have had her since she was only six weeks,I know that was too early but there were circumstances. Due to this fact I was very over protective of her and let her get away with sleeping in my bed under the covers of course she has been able to roam at night. I trained her on wee wee pads she does good sometimes. The other day my daughter said our house smelled like pee. I found that my little angel is going where ever her little heart desires. now my delima I want to crate train her just like I should have from the begining. I am on my second night she howls all night long non stop I had to put her in the other room. will this harm her in any way. She is never alone besides that, she even goes to work with me daily. Is it too late to teach her to go outside. I have read up on crate training. I have been getting up at 4:30 a.m. taking her out. I am so frustrated I am trying to be patient which is not one of my strong qualities. Can anyone tell me if there is light at the end of the tunnel. If I know she will eventually be happy at night and potty trained I know I can get through this

Thanks.
Chloe's mom

[Deegan's mom]

Maybe that's what I should do too. I bought a 24"crate because I am not sure how big he is going to get. The breeder said about 5-6lbs, but the vet said maybe even 7,8 or 9 lbs. Anyway, maybe if I put a blanket in the back half he'll feel more comfortable in it. I'll give it a shot!

Thanks for the idea.

[willie22]

how long until Toby began to like his crate and not dread it? Thanks for any info=

[Carolina girl]

Originally Posted by CHLOE'S MOM530

I have a 9 month old baby girl. I have had her since she was only six weeks,I know that was too early but there were circumstances. Due to this fact I was very over protective of her and let her get away with sleeping in my bed under the covers of course she has been able to roam at night. I trained her on wee wee pads she does good sometimes. The other day my daughter said our house smelled like pee. I found that my little angel is going where ever her little heart desires. now my delima I want to crate train her just like I should have from the begining. I am on my second night she howls all night long non stop I had to put her in the other room. will this harm her in any way. She is never alone besides that, she even goes to work with me daily. Is it too late to teach her to go outside. I have read up on crate training. I have been getting up at 4:30 a.m. taking her out. I am so frustrated I am trying to be patient which is not one of my strong qualities. Can anyone tell me if there is light at the end of the tunnel. If I know she will eventually be happy at night and potty trained I know I can get through this

Thanks.
Chloe's mom

Make sure you can see and touch her. Put the crate on a table close enough for you to reach. Put something old that you have worn it there with her. If all that doesn't help try using a spray bottle with water and just spritz her when she yells. HTH

[alwayzhome]

Ok hi everyone!
My Yorkie is 7 mos old. She wasn't crate trained and was doing great, sleeping downstairs on the couch and not making a peep.
She wasn't peeing or pooping either.

This past weekend she has found things and destroyed them overnight.

So NOW we are putting her in the crate at night.
but she cries ALL NIGHT.

How do I do this now that she was free for 3 months?

I am also starting to think she is the biggest YORKIE ever. She is 9 pounds already!

PLEASE HELP ME>

[charlie005]

I love the crate. My dog charlie goes in it at night and when Im not home. I think it makes him feel safe to go into his own space.

[Flakes]

It is possible to train an adult dog, I've had many rescues over the years from puppmills who have had no training whatsoever. Because they've been rescues I don't crate train but I do take them out every half hour during the day and every two hours during the night. Praise, lots and lots of praise is what works best and consistency.

Crate training is fine but you cannot expect a tiny little pup to hold their bladder for 8 hours, it doesn't matter what you put them in they will pee if they have to and they have no other option.

I always take up the water bowl at 8 pm and take the dogs out at 11 before retiring for the night. My older dogs aren't interested in getting up in the middle of the night so it is just the pup and I if I'm training a pup. If the pup wants to play when we come back in I play for 10 minutes and then it's back to bed.

I never leave food down for the dogs. They are fed twice a day, morning and evening. It is much easier to establish a potty schedule that way.

I am home all day so the dogs have the run of the house, I do not use exercise pens. Confining a dog to a pen isn't going to train the dog to not destroy the house, it will give you peace of mind but you'll end up with an untrained dog. There is no real substitute for hands on training. Yes it takes a huge time committment but folks should think about that before getting a dog.