Hi All, I was wondering how long you guys crate trained your puppies for? Zulu is almost 14 weeks. Zulu is normally has free roam of the entire house when we get home from work, around 5pm and I put him in his crate when we go to bed, around 10:30pm. During this time, we don’t have him in his crate, but rather take him outside for toilet breaks, around 6pm, 8pm, and just before bedtime (around 10:30pm). Every time he goes to the toilet, we reward and praise him. We have been doing this routine for about a week, and in this time, he only made one wee inside. When it did happen, I told him in stern voice, “NO Zulu!”, and I then put him outside for 15mins. I then got the puppy dog eyes through the glass sliding door window. He has not made a wee inside every since Now that he has this routine is it still necessary to crate him every hour? Cheers, Robbie
Re: How long did you crate train for? Hi, Sounds like you are doing really great, with Zulu, well done. Looks like he is getting the hang of toileting. It does take awhile, and Zulu is still small, so needs to be put out frequently as he might not have the capacity to hang on. You might need the crate a bit later for this, if he continues to have occasional accidents. I personally wouldnt go overboard with the telling off, but sounds like you did the right thing as Zulu understood you, well done Zulu, isnt there capacity for language great, and he is learning what no, means . Maggie x
Re: How long did you crate train for? If he has free roam after work when are you crating him at the moment? Do you mean in the mornings? Sounds like he is going really well
Re: How long did you crate train for? Molly is seven months and I still use the crate. She sleeps in the crate so she doesn't wreak havoc in my study if she wakes up before we do. I also use it for a timeout when she misbehaves. She is always happy to trot into her crate.
Re: How long did you crate train for? Tatze's crate is her bed and always will be - she takes herself in there during the day too when she wants peace and quiet If we need to go out during the day we pop her in too - she has big teeth and occasionally will chew things which are not hers.
Re: How long did you crate train for? Scouts crate/cage is her bed and that is her space and we encourage her to use it as much as possible. When she gets a treat, when the house is loud and full of teenagers and when the hoover is on- her bed is her safe place. If a cat goes in and falls asleep they can stay there as long as scout doesn't mind, if she wants to go in but the cat refuses to move we make sure it's Scout that wins even if we have to move the fluffy feline ourselves. She goes in at night and whenever we go out. When we put our coats on she knows and just tootles off to the cage, I get her a piece of carrot and we leave. We just can't take the chance she might chew something or get too carried away while playing with the cats and hurt them.
Re: How long did you crate train for? The DivaDog adores her crate and uses it as her night time bed although we no longer close it. It's useful in that when its too hot for her to come with us in the car she can have it closed and be safe from stress and/or trouble while we (rarely) are out of the house.
Re: How long did you crate train for? we used to crate Zulu about an hour after we got home, then every hour or so. But now we just let him roam the house but keep a mental note to take him for toilet breaks every 2 hours or so i.e 6pm, 8pm, 10pm. We are more than happy for him to roam the whole house when we home. Generally he is very good indoors, but when things get a bit "busy" in the house (mainly becuase of my two toddlers), i put him outside for a while, where he is able to access his crate in the laundry (via the doggy door). The last 3 nights we have been making wood fires at home and I have just been sleeping in the lounge.. with Zulu by my side(and the cat besides Zulu). I still wake up at 2am and take him for a toilet break.
