Crate Training: Day 1
 

After reading previous posts about potty training and websites on yorkies I decided it would be best to crate train Lily so that she will sleep through the night and also get better and letting me know when she has to use the restroom instead of me just taking her out when I think she needs to go.

I put her in it for the first time approx. 5 minutes ago. I fixed it up with towels anticipating an accident since it is her first time in the crate, her dingo bone and her favorite chew toy. I also turned on CMT since she is used to listening to it in the morning while we clean and so she wouldn't feel totally alone.

The advice said to put her in the crate when I wasn't able to watch her like a hawk or wouldn't be in the house. I was going outside to mow but decided I better ask some advice first..I want her crate to be her safe place. I am a teacher and will be gone for alot of the day starting back in August and also want her to be used to staying in her crate during the day.

Any advice or suggestions would be great! She (10 minutes into the crate) is still whining and crying :( it breaks my heart but know she will get over it..right? Thanks for the help YT :) :animal-pa

I can't help you as I"m a huge wimp and could not go through with it. I say, stay strong, I think the potty training issue is a lot better with a crate. Good Luck!

I have an 18 week old puppy and we crate trained him for the most part. Whenever we were home he was out, plus he is always at my feet... but when he would wander we knew what he was doing. As soon as he would have an accident we would take him outside. He also sleeps in his crate at night and while we are not home... he cries at first when we are leaving to go somewhere, but at night he knows what is going on. It has been really good, now he alerts me when he needs to tinkle by standing by the door and letting out a little cry:rolleyes:. Good luck to you:thumbup:!! Hope everything turns out great. She will adjust. I usually turn off the TV though so Buff wont hear sounds and think its us, plus if thats something you do together it may confuse your pup. :aimeeyork

I started out right away with Keelyn and it only took her 2 days to stop whining! The first time I put her in there I sat in the room with 2 of my friends while she screamed and reached for rescue. If it weren't for their support I would have let her out after 30 seconds!
(we were acting like she wasnt there being silent/talking amongst ourselves)

Then I just started putting her in there during the day and give her a treat and praise and praise and praise...mutiple times during the day to make her think it is a good place to be. Then i put one of her favorite toys in there with her and blocked the opening while she played in there with it.

The more you practice it with her and make it a fun happy place for her to be she will learn to get used to it! Keelyn will get restless and fussy every so often, but normally she sleeps through the night fine more often than not!

Good luck!

Don't leave her the first time or even the second time you put her in it. My husband actually slept with his finger inside the crate when we trained our pom and it was wonderful once he learned to love it. He wouldn't do that with Baxter and I wimped out and now have an non-crate dog. AND I REALLY REGRET IT!! Hang in there. But stay with her and let her see and even feel you. Just don't let her out.

Let me start by saying Ginger LOVES her crate. She goes in there when she's tired or wants some alone time and literally flies into her crate when I'm getting ready to head out the door. One time, I came home and realized I had left the crate door open:eek: . Guess where she was? Yep, sitting in her crate. My advice....walk away. Do not reward the whining by getting her out. It's hard, but it works.

I brought her home in her crate and after letting her explore our yard a bit, introduced her to the other animals in the house while she was in her crate. Then we left if open and accessible while we were all right there together. That first day home she went in and out of her crate on her own. Then night hit. While she was a tiny pup (and until she was housetrained) I was determined that she would sleep in her crate...I believed it would help with housetraining and keep her safe while she was sooooo little.

The first night she wailed...it broke my heart, but I finally moved the crate into another room.:( For the next day or two, I'd crate her for small amounts of time...if she cried, I left the room (I know, what a meanie)...when she was calm I got her out. It only lasted a day or two (it's been 3 years, I don't remember exactly anymore) and now her crate is possibly her favorite place in the whole world.

She even likes to visit her friend's crates when we go to their house and she has invited one very special boy dog to to sit in hers with her (wish I had a pic of that)

Oh, and she was much easier to housetrain than I had anticipated...

It was very sad but I left her in there for about 30-45 minutes when I mowed the yard. I am going to put her in it this afternoon for a little while while I lay on the bed and watch tv so she gets used to me being in there while she is in her crate so maybe she doesn't cry at night so much :(

It is heartbreaking :( But I could only hope that she loves her crate one day! I wish I would have started it from the beginning I think it would have been easier but it still is early.

Thanks for all the advice and experiences.. It helps to hear of other people going or who have gone through the same things :)

What do your crates look like? I have one that looks kind of like a black wire cage and then one that is a 'pet taxi' it is the hard plastic.

Hang in there, mom! You'll both adapt.

Originally Ginger had the "pet taxi" type. But when it came time to buy her a new one (after she grew and grew and grew) we got her the black wire kind. At first, I covered part of it with a towel...but I don't anymore.

Foxy - the pom - had a good sized pet taxi type. he loved it so much I almost buried him in it but I didn't.

crates are great
 

Be tough...hang in there.
Johnny loves his crate like Ginger does. He hangs out in it whenever I'm in the kitchen or when I go upstairs and sleeps in it too. Like Ginger, he automatically goes in it whenever he realizes I'm going out and when it's bedtime. His glued to my hip when I'm sitting on the loveseat watching TV, though!
He did cry for two nights when we first brought him home but has never cried in his crate since then. When he cried, I told him, "No, quiet." A long time dog owner told me never to use his name when commanding him to be quiet.
So be strong, you are the alpha dog.

I have a black wire one also, its a small size so that he doesnt have a lot of room and think its a bathroom too... he started out in a little pet taxi that opens on top and bottom. We moved to the wire one when he was big enough to jump out of the top opening lol. Best of luck! you are doing the best thing you could possibly do to train your pup.

We got Lexi last week. She is 15 weeks old. She was shipped to us in the plastic "pet taxi", and she seemed to be okay with it. It was about an hour ride home from the airport, and she didn't bark or cry, so maybe that was the first big thing that helped.

I did put her in there the first night, and went up to my room. While watching TV in bed, after a little while, she started to cry and bark. I went down and lay on the floor next to her for a few minutes, and she quieted right down. I went back to my room, and she started up again. I went back and lay down by her crate. I put two fingers through the openings in the door for a few minutes. Then I took my fingers out, but stayed there. She seemed to be okay just knowing I was there. But I was thinking I wouldn't get a very good sleep on the hard kitchen floor! I figured if she thought I was there, maybe it was because she smelled me. So I left my bathrobe right in front of her crate door and (quietly!) walked away. She didn't make a sound any more. Every time I put her in the, crate, during the day or at night, I put my bathrobe or nightgown right in front of the door.

During the day, she will sometimes cry or bark. Not knowing if she wanted to get out, or if she had to GO OUT, I would wait for a few seconds of silence, take her out, walk her (she never had to go), and put her back in. She was fine then. Every night, she has been quiet, and sleeping through. I started putting a small piece of treat in her "room" so she would see it as a good place. Lexi would start to go in on her own, at first, just in and out, but gradually, she would stay in longer, and even lay down and nap. Three nights ago, she started going in on her own at around her bedtime, and staying there. After about 15 minutes, I would say goodnight, shut the door, and head off to bed.

She always has about 2 toys in there with her.

Good luck! If you keep it up, you might see some changes very soon. :)

I say STICK WITH IT!
I whimped out our first night with Baron. I felt so bad for him, traveling all the way from Louisiana to California.....so I gave into his crying! I slept with him on my couch, and ever since then he is a MAMA's BOY. And a spoiled one at that!
It took a while, but now he hangs out in my bathroom when I can't watch him and he uses those puppy pads.
GOOD LUCK and STAY STRONG!!!:animal-pa