Crate training basics--seeking guidance

[Amy N]

We welcomed Archie home on Friday (3/21) and, not surprisingly, he didn't love his crate the first night. He yelped a lot, but it's getting much better every night. Last night was great. He settled in after a few minutes when we went to bed at 11 and again after we let him out at 3am.

He walks in and out of the crate for quick sniffs (and to try and eat the towel) during the day, so clearly he's not freaked out by it, but he yelps incessantly when we crate him during the day. I've tried having him in the room with me and putting him in a quieter place away from me. Same result--constant yapping. Or yapping, quiet, yapping, quiet.  But he never settles down completely.

Everything I've read says to crate him during the day after meals and playful fun. If he seems to sleep well outside the crate during the day on the floor by me, are we going to slow down his housebreaking process if he's not crated during the day? We want to do whatever is going to be most effective. He's holding his bladder very well at night and does his business outside nearly every time we take him out, but he's having at least one tinkle accident every day in the house. Surely this is normal, but I'd love advice if actually making him go in the crate during the day for rest/downtime is the best approach to curb his inclination to pee on the floor.

Also, he does understand that peeing outside is the right thing to do. At what point will he alert us that he needs to go? Does it suddenly click? He gives ZERO warning for #1, so it's hard to watch for behavior cues.

Thanks in advance for the advice!

 

[Rosemary (Ro) and Enzo]

I'm guessing, if you've just brought him home, he is just 8 weeks or so. This is all so very normal. A very young puppy is not going to give you a warning. LOL...he doesn't even know himself until it happens.
I see no reason for him being in the crate if you are right there with him. It is one thing if you are not available for him for whatever reason. But crating him when you are with him, makes no real sense to me. Letting him sleep at your feet or near you is perfectly fine. When he wakes....get him out..PRONTO. After he eats...get him out PRONTO, and get him out every 45 min to an hr. Also....tethering him to you with a leash is a great way to be able to keep a watchful eye on him.
Many of us have used potty bells with great success. They are a set of bells used on the door that you use to take him out. Before going out each time, have him nose or paw the bells and then take him out to potty. Once he's done, praise the heck out of him and come in. He will learn quickly. But be aware,most puppies are not considered fully house broken until 6 months and later. This doesn't happen over night.

[Stephanie and Ragley]

I second everything Ro said. Ragley caught on to the bells extremely quickly- within 3 days of being home. I prefer to use the nose to hit the bells so that I am not training her to "hit" the door whenever she wants something. Nose seemed more polite to me haha. You will see everything start to "click" and you will quickly learn his cues and patterns.

You may want to try to keep a log of the times you feed him, when he pees, and when he poops. You will be able to better be able to gauge his body's patterns that way. Ex. he usually poops 30 mins after eating, or he needs to pee about two hours after breakfast, or the longest he has gone between breaks is one hour, etc. This may help potty training and also help avoid some of his accidents! Good luck!

Also, as Ro mentioned, being fully housebroken doesn't come for a while. I have a 6 month old puppy, and just within the past couple weeks would I call her fully house broken (and I still pay attention to avoid any slip ups in that).

[Bonnie and Kona]

If you have a wire crate, my suggestion is to cover the crate on all but one side. We used a quilt. It made the crate more den-like. That way the puppy wasn't so distracted by the outside world, it was darker and cozy. 

[Stella]

Get a copy of Susan Garretts Crate Games DVD to help with crate training. Training him to ring Poochie Bells will allow him to alert you when he needs to go outside.

[Melissa Bissell]

We brought our puppy home on 3/15, so we are just about a week ahead of you.  We found that putting a treat in the crate with him each time he goes in has helped him get comfortable with the crate.  Since we are doing a lot of training (of all kinds) I break his treats up into very small pieces so he isn't getting too many.  I will usually give him 2 tiny treats before I leave for work ( I work 3 hours a day).  He does bark and whimper a bit as I am getting ready to leave but is usually quiet by the time I am actually out the door.  Also, when he is particularly over-excited I will give him something good to chew on like his nylabone or antler and the process of chewing seems to help him calm down and make it easier to crate him.  During his first week I would sit outside the crate with him, and keep the door open and hold the antler/nylabone for him to chew before crating him.  It was very calming.  I haven't felt the need to do that this week.  When when one of us is home and in the kitchen we are comfortable letting Hugo nap on the floor.  I bought an inexpensive soft mat that fits right under the counter which is his favorite resting spot.  He also uses this spot to chew on his favorite toys are bring his treats over to munch.  I think he really likes being in the midst of the family activity.  Since day 5 he has been "accident" free.  We watch him like a hawk and take him out a lot!  Whenever he wakes up from a nap we potty him.  If he gets ancy or distracted, or over-excited out he goes.  Sometimes for #1 he will go to the gate at the kitchen entrance and scratch at it, or pace by the gate or just sit quietly at the gate and stare at us, I guess it depends on his urgency/mood.  For #2 we have found that he starts sniffing the floor madly while pacing!  He literally will not take his nose of the floor.  He will do this outside as well, so I always know when he is about to have a BM while outside.  He is really starting to be able to hold it and we now have him "sit" by the door to put his leash on, and get him under control when he starts trying to bite the leash.  This seems to be a time when he gets frenzied and the sit command gets him back under control.  I am amazed at how smart these doodles are!  We have already come so far after only having him home for about 10 days!  He will be 10 weeks tomorrow.  Also, I second the tip about putting something over part of the crate.  We use 2 old towels to cover up the back half of the crate.  I keep the front part exposed so he can look out which he seems to like.    

[Leslie J]

I read a puppy book before I got Cocoa and it recommended that I take Cocoa out every 20 minutes when she was out of the crate. It sounds crazy, but it worked- she only had one accident while potty training. I also always waited for her to pee twice when I took her outside- then I knew she had really emptied her bladder. I would tell her "go potty" and she learned this command quite quickly. I also kept her tethered or gated in he kitchen with me unless it was just after she had pooped and peed. Then I would let her run around the house for a while.

I gradually increased the time between breaks, adding 10 minutes as I felt she was ready. It sounds like a lot of work, but it really worked!