Crate Training Problems

[Tammyh]

Originally Posted by puppy_Love08

What did you do when you caught him peeing?

My husband picked him up and took him outside.[/QUOTE]

I was taught that when you catch them in the act, take them outside to finish (as you did) and if they finish outside, give lots of praise and they can stay out but if they don't finish outside put them back in the crate (which may be what you're doing).

I'm not sure how long your letting him stay out of the crate but the rule of thumb that we used was in the crate about 1 to 1.5 hours and then out of the crate for only about 30 to 45 minutes (they only get to stay out of the crate if they go potty outside when you take them out). If they don't go potty when you take them out of the crate they go right back in the crate for another 15 minutes or so & try again. It's a lot of work but the consistency and repetition helps them to catch on rather quickly. Also if you put him in an x-pen that should be counted as time outside the crate.

Another thing that's worked really well for us with Bella no matter what we're trying to teach her is praise. Any time we tell her to do or not do something and she listens she gets all sorts of praise and it really works well with her and it really helped with the potty training too.

You may be doing all of this stuff, I'm just trying to think of anything I can add to help you. I know how frustrating it can be.

[missPenny]

Oh, goodness. This brings back memories. We brought Riley home at 11 weeks, 1.4 lbs. Until she was six months old I had to take her outside three times during the night, every night! Now she's down to once a night; she just can't hold it all night.

Both of my girls would mess in their kennels at first, even with such restricted space. Didn't matter to them. Your baby should outgrow this. Once he gets used to the kennel and start to feel as if it's "his" private little space, he won't want to soil it.

It might take awhile for you to pick up on his signals... and for him to give them even. Until he's fully trained, if his mind's occupied with something (playing, a bully stick, etc.) he won't want to stop and go outside.

Everyone has given some great tips. Good luck!!!

[soccbydo]

Originally Posted by momof4CA

Potty training takes lots of time and patience.

You should expect to have accidents in the first few weeks. My little guy, Leo is 17 weeks and anytime he has an accident it is usually my fault...I missed his potty signal.

Leo is pad trained so somethings will be a little different for you.

Here are a few ideas to try:

**The first thing you have to do is make sure his crate is only big enough to lie down and turn around in. You can use boxes to fill up the extra space.

**I control all his food. I feed Leo every 4 hours during the day. I never let him have food and water in his crate. I believe the crate is only for sleeping and quiet time. *If you give them food and water in their crate they can't get out to go potty.

** keep a journal at first. So you can see patterns in his behavior.

** You have to learn his "potty" sign. For most it is sniffing around or running around in a circle... like they can't find something. I sat and watched my dog for the first few days so I could "watch" for his signal. Once you see it, you do not have a lot of time to respond. Their bodies are so small they can not hold it for to long. When they have to go...they mean right this minute.

** If you are going to allow him out in to house. Gate off a small area...for me it was the family room. I did not allow my dog any more space until we had a few days of no accidents. Then I added another room...the kitchen.

**Never leave your dog alone to have accidents. They have to be with you at all times or in their crate. For the first two months that we had Leo he was never left alone. Where ever we went, Leo did too. If he couldn't go, someone stayed behind.

** Do not put pressure on yourself!! You have to figure he will get it with time. He is a baby! You would not expect an infant to be potty trained!! Go into it with a relaxed attitude. Most yorkie's take a year to potty train. If family won't watch the dog until it is potty trained...find someone else. That is to much pressure.

** He will have to go potty in the morning. After play...watch for the potty signal. A few minutes after eating or drinking. After any naps, as soon as his eyes open and he startes to stir, take him out.

** Getting potty training down is a full time job, in the very beginning. But, so worth it! The more time you put in now the better. I would rather put all my energy into it now then to have a life time of troubles.

I hope this helps!

Lovely post and loaded with advice, thanks. How do we know when it is time to stop the crate? This is the question I would like answered?

[Tammyh]

Originally Posted by soccbydo

Lovely post and loaded with advice, thanks. How do we know when it is time to stop the crate? This is the question I would like answered?

I would say when he starts telling you that he has to go to the bathroom and doesn't have any more accidents. As he gets older and starts showing signs that he knows what to do (going to the door, etc) you can leave him out for longer periods of time until you're confident that he will tell you when he has to go. We never put Bella in her crate anymore (she's 8 months old now) except at night when we're sleeping or if we're leaving the house (sometimes in her crate, sometimes in the x-pen depending on how long we'll be gone). She's in the x-pen during the day when we're at work and she won't even go in that, she waits until my son gets home from school to let her out. Just be consistent. I eased up on Bella after about a month of crate training because she was doing so well and wasn't putting her in the crate very much during the day and she wasn't ready and started having some accidents and then I went back to the crate and had no more problems. I'd say by the time she was 6 months old we were able to stop using the crate. I still keep an eye on her and watch for signs and if it's been a couple of hours and she hasn't gone to the door I'll just take her out and tell her to go potty, she knows what that means and goes everytime. I still walk out with her to make sure she goes. Our Lab Lucee was a piece of cake she was potty trained in about 2-3 weeks of crate training. Bella definitely took longer.