Pooping in crate
 

We have a 13 week old Yorkie who is doing excellent with going outside to go to the bathroom except when we leave her. Then she will poop in her crate. I have made the cage smaller but so far isn't helping. Also she has started whining and barking. Anyone else have these issue and were able to resolve them?

Welcome! She is still pretty young. I'm sure someone will be able to give you some advise.

Hi,

Welcome.

You have a baby. She's probably not pooping in the crate out of spite. At her age, she can only be left in the crate for short periods of time before nature calls. How long is she crated? I'm a proponent of crate training. I also think the crate can be used in combination with an ex-pen and then limited freedom (restricting puppy to 1 or 2 rooms.)

How are you feeding her? Remember, what goes in, must come out. And it can be all done on a schedule. You have to give it a little time to figure out what her "timing" or "pattern" is.

You should feed her on an EXACT schedule. After she eats, then you have to figure out WHEN it's time to go. After some time, you'll be able to know her business patterns. If you know HOW MUCH she's eating, then you'll be able to guage whether she went "enough" when she goes outside.

WHAT are you feeding her? That's very important. The better quality food will yield smaller and denser stools. I recently switched from Royal Canin to Artemis. I believe the latter is a better food. (However, I haven't yet noticed smaller poops.) If you're feeding a low quality puppy kibble, then there will be more stuff coming out the back end.

Even though the really premium foods cost more, I found that the puppy/dog actually consumes less. Also, yorkies eat so little generally anyway, that a bag lasts a long time. It's worth the investment.

So much work with a puppy has to do with YOU watching/observing and scheduling puppy's day. If you stick to a precise schedule with feeding as you do with taking her out for business, I think you'll find fewer accidents overall.

I remind you again, however, that she's a baby. Accidents happen. Repeated accidents happen. Repeated, repeated accidents happen. It's the owner's job to help the puppy learn correct behavior. The learning process for a yorkie puppy can take some time.

My Lucy wasn't fully trained until after she was a year old. And even now, I still leave pads on the floor for her "just in case." It does "happen" occasionally.

Be patient. Don't blame puppy. It will get better with proper training & time.

Good luck.

Tracey

If you leave them in there to long they will simply poop. Best thing to do is mack a pen so they can leave the crate and have a potty pad. Small dogs don't train as well or easily as larger breeds. They can't seem to hold it as long. But a potty pad with a frame or washable one. If you leave a disposable they may chew it up and injects some which is dangerous.

Look up my login name and check my blog. I did a writeup of how I housebroke Julie.

Starlette

She is in there some times only two hours and it happens different times of the day. I am feeding her Wellness which is a good brand of food. I don't work so I don't leave at scheduled times. She sometimes poops twice a day sometimes three.

Part of the problem might be "nervous pooping" when you leave. However, keep in mind that for a 13 week old puppy, 2 hours is a lot. I would definitely not go over 2 hours.

How much does your puppy weigh? Depending on her size, I would also be cautious about scheduled feedings. If she is smaller, she needs frequent or free feeding. Max was 3 pounds at 13 weeks, so I was able to do 3 scheduled meals with 2 snack times, and potty training treats.

Teddy was a nervous pooper when we was left alone (which meant in my bedroom while I went outside to work in the yard). We used xpens and piddle pads. I would put the boys in my bedroom, leave for 5 minutes, and then come back to take care of the poopy pad. Then I would leave again.

You can work on leaving your girl in the crate for brief periods, starting with 5 minutes, and then gradually increase the time. Tell her you will be right back, but don't make a huge fuss coming or going. Practice this each day and then she will learn not to panic when you leave. (you can increase the intervals in one day, but start with 5 minutes each day)

Make sure she is getting plenty of opportunity to go potty in the right place.

Sophie Kate was a nervous pooper also, it took some work so she was comfortable in the crate. Now I can leave for about 4 - 6 hours in the crate and she is fine but she is 5 years old (I never leave her longer, she may be able to stay and hold her functions longer). You are doing the right thing by limiting her crate space.

13 weeks is pretty young, you need to learn her schedule and keep her on that schedule, this is if she even knows her schedule. Good practice for me was to start taking her out about 30 mininutes after she eats and continue every 30 minutes until she went.

I went in the wrong direction with thinking that at Sophie Kate would tell me when she had to go, she didn't - I was setting expectations for her that she did not understand.

Final word from me, potty training for me was frustrating, keep trying every bit of advice you get (that is what I did and finally mastered it)

Funny thing is she loves her crate. Will go in there during the day to sleep and also sleeps during the night without any problems, it is just when we leave her that I am having the issue. I am a soft heart and feel bad only giving her enough space to stand up and turn around and not leave a blanket or crate cushion down. When I do this she seems to cover up the poop with the blanket. I hate leaving with the thought of what i am going to come home to which leaves me to not only clean the crate but clean her up also!!!