13 wks pottying in kennel

[Kerri & Mazie Belle]

We've had our pup for 3 weeks now and she did very well in the beginning not going potty in the crate. She would whine at nite if she needed to go and we would take her out, then put her back in. No problem! Now all of a sudden she always goes pee or poo, during the day and she doesn't whine at night to go out she just goes in her crate!? Any advice?

[Kerri & Mazie Belle]

Also, we gave her frontline a week ago, could that be why? Upset stomach?

[Gracie, Jade, & Barkley]

Does she have too much room to move around? They just need enough to stand up and turn around until they are potty trained and then they can have full reign. We had a partition for our crate so we expanded it as she grew.

Also, how long is she crated? I think the rule of thumb is 1 hour per month so at the maximum she should only be crated for 3 hours. Of course not every puppy abides by the guidelines, so you know your puppy better than what the guidelines dictate. If she can only hold it for 2 hours, then you would have to make adjustments.
If she's not alerting you at night, I would just set your clock to take her out until she gets adjusted. She also may have used her crate as a potty area at the breeders or wherever you got her from, so she might not know to only use the outside for potty yet.
Also, from what I've seen from others - you want to thoroughly clean it with an enzyme cleaner. Plus, if she has any bedding it's probably best to just remove it. They really don't need it until they are old.

[Cindy and Olive (Ollie)]

Lyndy, according to your rule of thumb of 1hr/month, a pup at 11 wks would have to be taken out every 3 hrs overnight? That can't be right, especially for when they're inactive -? I never woke a sleeping pup (Rip slept 10 pm to 5am at least from 8ish weeks on...) but maybe we were lucky...? Also our room was super dark, with covered crate, heartbeat going in his snuggle puppy, his litter blanket with him, crate divider in place, and we were right nearby. Kerri, I'd remove any bedding too, and like Lyndy said size the crate if not done already. Is the poo solid? Hope this helps. Best,

[Gracie, Jade, & Barkley]

That's not my rule of thumb it's all over the Internet and in books. It is for a guide of the maximum time they can be crated during the day. But, at night would be longer because they aren't awake or as active as they would be throughout the day. If you google "how long can a puppy be crated" or "how long can a puppy hold its urine" many articles give this guideline, but then add that overnight you can double the amount of time generally.
Gracie slept through the night after about the first week, but she woke up once or twice during the night and cried. So, I took her out and then back to her crate. I never woke a sleeping puppy either and I didn't recommend that.

[Cindy and Olive (Ollie)]

Thanks for clarifying, Lyndy!

[Laurie, Fudge, and Vern]

How long is she being crated at a time?