Crate Training & Poop

[Stephanie]

Hi! I brought home our pup yesterday afternoon. He's been doing great with going outside and he's only had one accident in the kitchen. I've been taking him about every hour and right after his meals and water.

Last night I took him out right before bed at about 9:00 PM. I woke up at 12:00AM and took him out again. I hear him around 3:00AM whimpering so I go downstairs and I find poop in his crate! I had to give him a bath and I haven't been able to sleep.

My question is: When crate training, do you took your pup out more than once during night time? Or do you take him out a few more times? I can't decide if I should keep crate training him or keep him in the kitchen in the evening. I just don't know what to expect. Maybe his crate space is too big? I'm using the wire crate and I used the divider, but the width seems to be too wide.

[LuvMyAbby&Kaela]

OK this is what I did personally.

I had a plastic crate made all comfy with a blanket in it. I did not keep her in it other than to sleep at night.(beside my bed) During the day I kept her with me in the family room/kitchen area. We have pocket doors so we can close off the main living room and the rest of the house. I took her outside in the backyard every 20 minutes or so and made a big party of praise when she did "duties". If I had to leave the house, I blocked off a small area in th kitchen with one of those free standing portable play yard/gate systems. There she got a kong stuffed with natural peanut butter or a special chewy treat to keep her occupied while I was away. I put her crate in there with her (open doored) in case she wanted to go lay in it (which she never did - lol)

[Stephanie]

He won't use the pad :( He rather pee on the floor! I have it out, but he doesn't seem to get it. He's been going outside for the most part, but he has had a few accidents. OH and when you praised her, did you give treats? The breeder told me it was too early for treats and I should wait until 12 weeks. Will praising him alone be enough?

[Adina P]

It happens. Rosco pooped in his crate his first week once. New environment, food habits, etc... no big deal really. As his eating schedule normalizes his poop schedule will too and you'll learn it well.

The first night I had Rosco I woke up about every 2 hours. Second night was only once, after that he slept through the night mostly with occasional needs for middle of the night potty trips. Shouldn't happen again.

[Stephanie]

I'm PRAYING it doesn't happen again tonight, but if it does, oh well. He really is a GOOD puppy so that makes up for it :D

[Tricia, Shiloh, Fenway & Tessie]

Hey Steph,

Don't give up on the crate training, it will get better. He will begin to think of the crate as his bed, den, special place...whatever....and he won't continue to have accidents in there. If you have a baby monitor, you might want to place it by the crate....he made have tried to hold it or wait and you might have had a warning (him whimpering) and could have gotten him out sooner. Since his crate is pretty far away from you....either a way to hear him (the monitor) or a couple of set times to go potty (and then straight back in tha crate) might be a good idea.

[Stephanie]

Thanks for the info! I might get out the baby monitor. He seems to be liking his crate a lot more today. I still have to put him in it, but he doesn't whine anymore. He's asleep right now :D So do you think I should still keep the size the same? Here is how big it is in the picture. I had to take out his pad because he didn't like it! I realized he liked the floor much better! Oh and he's leaning against the back of the crate. I have the divider up :D

[Tricia, Shiloh, Fenway & Tessie]

I think the crate size is fine....it probably won't happen again.....you are lucky if he is already sleeping in there without whining. Fenway whined for more than a week.....talk about having to be strong....it killed me to listen to him, but he is wonderful in his crate now.

[Leslie and Halas]

I took Halas out every 2 or 3 hours during the night for awhile. His crate was on the main floor, and I sleep upstairs, so I was worried I wouldn't hear him whine if he needed to go out. That worked well for us. I just slowly increased the time until he could make it through the night. I had a wire crate with a divider, too, so I think the crate space is important, but it sounds like you have it pretty close, even if you think it's a little bit too large. I also praised him like crazy, and I did use treats. But we used training treats, and I broke those (already small) treats into smaller pieces. So he got a little piece about the size of a pinky fingernail when he went. I don't think it's the amount of the treat that's important; they just know that they got rewarded.

[HANNAH 8/2/07 & HONEY 7/2/08]

Hannah had a real difficult time with crate training, she would poop in the crate no matter how many times you took her out. I even tried just putting her in the crate everyday for 10 to 15 mins a day, with me in the next room and she could hear me there, she still pooped in the crate and would wind up needing baths. She was that quick. It got to the point I talked with my Vet and he recommended using this new collar they have out, it is suppose to help dogs with seperation anxiety. I was all set to try this, when all of a sudden she stopped on her own. She finally became OK with the crate and her new surrondings, even though it fustrated me and meant giving a dog a bath every morning and afternoon for a few weeks, she was able to work it out.

[Tammy & Gracie]

Does your pup have diarrhea? Gracie did for the first week or so, due to stress, travel and food changes. She went out every several hours during the night for the first week then every 3 or so hours for another week. Just when I though I would croak from the lack of sleep,(a couple of weeks max) she began to sleep through the night. Don't give up on the crate training. As he gets older and more mischevious, you will be glad you have a safe place to contain him! My Gracie also prefers no pad in her crate, Iguess she likes to cool bottom tray.

[Stephanie]

You know, the first day I took him home it was VERY soft. Yesterday (second day) it was diarrhea, but I figured it was due to the worming or vaccine. I saw two worms yesterday :( Poor guy! His belly is hard and the vet said it's because of the worms. Is his poop suppose to be hard by now?

[Michele, Biscuit & Mo]

When Penny was a pup I took her out about every 3-4 hours (at night) the first 3-4 weeks. I would hear her start moving around in the crate and figured "better safe than sorry." She only had one poop in her crate, the first night. As she grew and could hold it better, she quickly slept the night through.

During the day I would take her out about every 45-60 minutes (I work at home, which is nice) and doled lots of praise on her successes. She was toilet-trained very quickly.

Good luck!