Ok, hopefully someone can give me some insight with the problems I'm having. With crate training there are times that I put my lab, 11 weeks old, in her crate when I cannot watch her. She will have been outside and there isn't any reason she he needs a bathroom break, but she will bark incessantly. This happens about 1 out of 3 times she is placed in her crate. I never go get her out when she barks this way. She eventually quits about 15-20 minutes later. We have been crate training her for 4 weeks now. How long do you think this will carry on? It's never an issue at night, she always goes to sleep. This has only started happening about the past week. Her crate is placed in my bedroom away from the family room where we all typically hang out. Sometimes, when she is tired, instead of putting her in her crate I let her lay at my feet in the living room. Should I always place her in the crate when she is tired?
I would have her with you....not away from the family room. Pups and dogs need to be with their people....you are his people and he is all alone in a bedroom when you are all together in a "far away place"! She needs to hang out with all of you. She is lonely, even though tired. Is it possible to move the crate to the family room and leave it there 24/7? By that I mean, there during the day and then, when you all go to bed, put him in his crate in the family room and that will be his place from now on. You dont want to be moving the crate back and forth. Please try the crate in the family room.....I do strongly believe that is his problem.
I have done that, move the crate to the family room. No problem during the day but at night she wakes up once to go to outside and I don't want to wake the kids. Maybe we'll try that and see how it goes. Can't hurt.
Have you thought of getting a puppy play pen instead for when you need to corral her? A little bigger and with toys and food/food toy ours was fine - preferred it to her crate as she could move around a little (though as she got bigger she worked out how to move the puppy play pen around - quite impressively once ahead 1 metre then left turn to push it a bit further out of a laundry and down a corridor. We used the play pen as needed and during the day til she was bigger and we used baby gates to restrict access - crate was only for night
We have considered a puppy play pen inside. We have a small plastic one that is only 2' tall. We used it when we brought her home so she could hang out in the yard while we were outside and couldn't watch her. It didn't take her long to figure out how to jump out of it. I'm gonna need a taller metal one because a plastic one will be easily moved I believe. Another challenge is that she never whines to go out unless she is in her crate. How do I change that? I just started two days ago giving her a treat when she pottys. Will this help or what should I do? Obedience is going great but I am struggling with this crate/potty training thing!!
Ok. The past week or so has gone well. EXCEPT for the whining! Nothing at all. This evening, I had her on her leash at my feet. She had been there probably 30 minutes or so and she had just gone outside prior to that. Then she got up walked over by my son and seemed as if she wanted to go into the kitchen, where she is fed. Then she turned back and sat next to him. Except she wasn't sitting. She was squatting. Not a sound or peep! I can't keep on like this. I won't have a dog inside that isn't potty trained. What else should I do? Obedience trading is a cake walk compared to this potty training.
I think its kinda hard to train a puppy to whine to pee. A whine can mean anything really. Why not try to teach it to use a bell? My 7 month old puppy rings the bell by the door to the backyard when he wants to go out before our regularly scheduled poo/pee times. Relax. How long did it take you to potty train your son? I bet he was wearing diapers for a good while before he would sit on the potty. Your puppy will get potty trained faster than a human. Most of what I've read here, the turning point is 4 months. It gets better as she gets bigger and able to hold her bladder longer. There are things to consider when you will need to take her out to go pee. If she had just a drink of water, take her out to pee soon. If she was just playing. If she just came out of the crate/pen, regardless how long she was in it for a young pup. Immediately after waking up. I always blamed myself when he had an accident inside. I always missed a sign or didn't pay attention to those things above. Her probably getting up and "seeming" to go to he kitchen was her probably wanting to go out and trying to tell your son. My puppy used to go haywire out of the blue and start biting me, I would crate him for a timeout, but he would pee before we get to the crate. So I would take him out first and he would pee. I trained the potty bell and the nipping for pee break ended. Good luck!
So, she's about 13 weeks old now, is that right? She's a baby. She's not toilet trained. So what, were you at 13 weeks? My puppy is also 13 weeks and it's been a long slog. I thought my last puppy was slow to train, but this one is a lot harder. She doesn't mind doing it in or near her bed, and is happy to roll around in it, too. She'll only bark once she's done it, not before. So it's up to me to be more vigilant and take her out all the time! You know, I take her out for a wee - she goes in a pen in the garden to focus her on the job in hand - and then comes out to play. But, the last thing I do before going back inside is to put her back in her garden pen for another wee, because otherwise she'll need to go again once we're inside. Every time you think "does she...?" or "should I...?" the answer is yes. She needs to go out. If you pause to do something (put your shoes on, for example) it will be too late. I bought some crappy plastic clogs (for about £3) just to keep by the door so I could slip them on with my puppy in my arms. 30 minutes is a long time for a young awake puppy to go between wees. If she's been relaxing and she moves, take that as a cue to take her outside, every time. After playing, every time. After eating, after drinking. Every time. And then again 15 minutes or so later. In time, the bladder will strengthen and these days will be a distant memory. It will pass. Until then, you have to be absolutely vigilant and take every mistake as your mistake, not your puppy's. You wouldn't blame a human baby for not holding its bladder and for exactly the same reasons, you shouldn't blame your puppy.
You sound pretty frustrated. Controlling that is going to help with your puppy. These guys sense EVERYTHING, absolutely EVERYTHING. It might help to think, as someone alluded to above, that YOU are the one needing training. I know, that sounds terrible/ridiculous but it is true. Getting a puppy is a contract. Puppies/dogs are in the business of making the people around them happy and they will deliver on that promise no matter what. Our part of the deal is that we will work with them to fulfill their needs, that means paying attention to them and recognizing when they need something, or teaching them how to let us know they need something. Trust me, in a few months you will look back on this as no big deal. When that guy comes over and gives you a big nuzzle with that nose and gives you "the look" you will know exactly what he wants. He always knows what you want, btw.
My puppy is the same age. And I struggle with the crate. My little pup hates the crate. He doesnt mind too much about being left in the bathroom but in the crate he just cries and whines the whole time. Ive been trying to leave him in the morning till lunch in the crate, then in the bathroom until I come back home from work, its been working but I know he hates the crate. Im going to give it a few more weeks before I abandon the idea but the problem is that he is starting to chew on things in the bathroom. Also, I agree with others have said. More times than not if a puppy at that age is messing up in the house, its a sign that you missed. Most of the time, my pup will whine and let me know he needs to go out but sometimes he will just start walking and sniffing. You have watch him/her all of the time. The first few months are tough but it gets easier. Just remember these are the times that you are shaping your puppy. Good luck! Its tough but it will be worth it. Hang in there!
My puppy is 17 weeks and still has accidents - this is 100% normal. Ignore all accidents, don't react at all - clean up with a good bio cleaner, ordinary cleaners don't mask the smell for pups clever noses. Take the pup out often, stay out with them and praise every time they toilet outside. A spending pen helps as its boring and a play in the garden can then be a reward. ...
I've just started to work on Luna going outside of her pen. I keep using it when I'm pushed for time, but trying to encourage her to go in the garden at large the rest of the time - unlike you with your GD pups, I want her to go on walks and not just in her area. It's funny, though, she always goes and sniffs around the pen and squats next to it, bless her
Well, when that was typed I was a little frustrated. However, when the accident occurred I didn't scold her at all. I picked her up and took her outside and asked my son to take care of the clean up. I know that if the puppy isn't doing what I want it to do then I haven't done what I need to to teach it or it just hasn't sunk into her head yet. She is doing great with obedience so I know she has the mental capacity to handle this. I just gotta figure out the key to make it click in her head! Also, I agree. If you've never had issues with crate training and then all of a sudden have problems, then yes, the people need more training than the dog. Its a different dog/ scenario and we need to learn how to handle it. That's why I'm here I never take my frustrations out on her because I know she is being a puppy. However, If within a few months we cant get it figured out I wont be able to continue to keep her inside. We'll have to try something else or specifically a different strategy. By then hopefully she'll be fine. Also, I have decided to invest in a bell. Not ones tied to a door knob but the desk type bell you see at a hotel. I figure it would be more portable for traveling. Unless folks think the kind tied to a door knob are better? I also figured that type could turn into a tug of war toy and the door knob would end up on the floor, not the door!
It's not her head or her mental capacity - it's her bladder - their bladders are not mature enough to hold it in. They mature by 5 - 6 months old. If they suddenly squat and wee it's a bladder thing, not a training thing. The trick is to judge when they are getting 'full', the time slowly lengthens. Mollie can (usually) last an hour now. ...
We only crated our pups at night. During the day time they were in a pen in the kitchen most of the time. We had (still have) a nice pet gate in the kitchen so we could let them out of the pen and still keep them in a safe area. Now they both have the run of the house, except for any rooms where we close the doors.
having one of those desk bells might not work so well. she may end up learning its a treat bell now a potty bell. when we first started the potty bell, he did think it was a tug toy and we stopped training it for a few weeks. i tried it again later and he learned all the steps in less than 5 minutes. He leaves the bell alone unless he needs it. Funny earlier today, he was so excited wagging his tail and he whacked the bell and was surprised. He was like oops! i didn't mean to do that! it is a staged training. i used a clicker. 1. click/treat when he touches it with nose. 2. hang on door, click/treat when he touches it with nose. 3. when he touches with nose, say outside, let him outside through the door, click/treat, and let him back in. 4. repeat step 3 but this time let him go potty. i guess you can try the desk bell. I've seen some people online use a wireless doorbell, but I was afraid my puppy will destroy it since it sticks out. my coworkers daughter brings her door potty bell with her when she travels and her dog knows how to use it. i haven't tried that yet. i suppose you need to put the bell where it is accessible to her and most often in the same place. please someone else chime in on this if i got it wrong. it worked for me, not quite sure if it will work for u. The downside to this is that your pup will also associate the bell with going outside. He may just hit it because he wants to go outside. Today, my wife took him outside to go pee and they came right back inside. After 5 minutes, he rings the bell. I was like no buddy nice try you just went potty. So in the beginning, he may just try to fake you out to take him outside, give him a few minutes to fake pee and go back inside.
[/QUOTE] Today, my wife took him outside to go pee and they came right back inside. After 5 minutes, he rings the bell. I was like no buddy nice try you just went potty. So in the beginning, he may just try to fake you out to take him outside, give him a few minutes to fake pee and go back inside.[/QUOTE] I suppose 5 min. is rather short for a puppy. I would also ring the bell to be let outside to play. I did it this way. I took my pup out every 3 hours for a play/walk and she did her business along the way. My walks were based on recommended times for her age. She was an "hones"t dog and never abused the bell. I hung santa bells on a ribbon tied to the door handle. It rang automatically when I opened it, so she figured it out fast. She now just sits at the door when she needs to go outside. Not just to wee but also to get her exercise. I like many others only crated her when I had to leave the house for short periods. She loves her door always open crate. I think because I also made her good and tiered with our walks. Sorry can't get the quote to work properly.
