crate training and other stuff!

we'llallhavetea_old

hello everyone o/

we have a new puppy he's a wee terrier mix and is 13 weeks old this week.

we have a crate for him and he loves going into it, the only thing is, is i haven't shut the door on him yet..

he started in the crate on sunday evening, waddled into it as soon as the bedding went in. when do you think its best to close the door? i really don't like the thoughts of him in there after wetting the bedding tbh.

he is eating baby rusk mixed with a half of a caeser foil tray (thats what the previous owner was feeding him!) at night and then dry iams puppy food during the day, do you think thats ok? the previous owner was adding raw eggs to the rusk mix, but that doesn't seem right to me

also, i've heard of those kong toys, any feedback on them? they sound like the right ticket for my lad, he just wants to chew the crap out of everything!

i think thats everything, he is sleeping well, only went a bit mental last night with the crying but i just ignored him so he gave up.

sorry for the long post, just want to do whats best for our little puddin

tk123

For the crate - dogs don't like to go to the loo where they sleep - this is why crate training is a great way to toilet train puppies!;) You just need to make sure you take him out to the loo when he cries in the morning - now when I say morning for our guy it was more like 4:00am to start with and gradually later as the weeks went on!
Food wise I'd be thinking of switching him to a better quality food - there are LOADS of different opinions on what to feed a puppy. Whatever you decide to try make sure you get a small bag - it could some trial and error before you get a food that suits your dog best. Also you need to gradually switch the food over a few weeks or else the pup will get the runs. Our guy is on Burns and has done very well on it - he was a bit hyper and had a sensitive tummy on Royal Canin.
Kongs are brilliant to keep them busy also our guy loves his nylabones - you can get softer puppy ones so they're no to hard.
It's a rollercoaster at first but so so worth it. My 'pup' is 15 months now - this time last year I was knackered all the time from the dawn poop partrols, my socks were all full of holes from him stealing and chewing them and he was just into everything etc etc etc. Now I have my little buddy who's coming on great with his obidience and it's great fun to teach him new tricks or commands, we have our walks every day and in the evening he snuggles up beside us on the couch and I just love him to bits - so does everyone else in the house! :pac:

we'llallhavetea_old

thanks for the reply tk123!

tk123 wrote: »

For the crate - dogs don't like to go to the loo where they sleep - this is why crate training is a great way to toilet train puppies! You just need to make sure you take him out to the loo when he cries in the morning - now when I say morning for our guy it was more like 4:00am to start with and gradually later as the weeks went on!

the only thing i wonder about is, will i have to lock my dog in his cage every night for life? is the cage not just preventing him from wetting the bed but when he's out of it it's fine to pee where ever?

Food wise I'd be thinking of switching him to a better quality food - there are LOADS of different opinions on what to feed a puppy. Whatever you decide to try make sure you get a small bag - it could some trial and error before you get a food that suits your dog best. Also you need to gradually switch the food over a few weeks or else the pup will get the runs. Our guy is on Burns and has done very well on it - he was a bit hyper and had a sensitive tummy on Royal Canin.

ah feck, i thought iams was a good'un! i'm an advertisers dream :P

Kongs are brilliant to keep them busy also our guy loves his nylabones - you can get softer puppy ones so they're no to hard.

oh good good, looking forward to shopping on thursday so!

It's a rollercoaster at first but so so worth it. My 'pup' is 15 months now - this time last year I was knackered all the time from the dawn poop partrols, my socks were all full of holes from him stealing and chewing them and he was just into everything etc etc etc. Now I have my little buddy who's coming on great with his obidience and it's great fun to teach him new tricks or commands, we have our walks every day and in the evening he snuggles up beside us on the couch and I just love him to bits - so does everyone else in the house!

i have to say i'm taking it very well, he has chewed the corner of the couch and threaded the cushions and tore up socks already and it's not bothering me too much!

are dog training classes the norm now btw? is it advisable to bring every dog for training classes?

tk123

we'llallhavetea wrote: »

thanks for the reply tk123!


the only thing i wonder about is, will i have to lock my dog in his cage every night for life? is the cage not just preventing him from wetting the bed but when he's out of it it's fine to pee where ever?

I just had him in the crate until he was house trained - he was there by 3 months. During the day we used to just take him out to the loo every 30 mins - as the weeks go by he'll be able to hold on for longer and you'll get used to his loo patterns :pac: and you'll spot the signs - eg sniffing the floor and going around in a circle or if they're farting lol Plenty of praise when he goes to the loo out the back and he'll get the hang of it soon enough. Also don't scold him if he has an accident in the house cos really it's your fault for not getting him out sooner :pac: clean it up and get him out sooner next time.

Our guy goes to daycare and obidience at dog training ireland and they're brilliant!! They take great care of him and he adores them all. Def consider puppy classes so your little guy is socialised and knows how to play and interact with other dogs. Training them is a great way of wearing them out as well

we'llallhavetea_old

oh i have his piddle signals pegged already, and when he's gonna do a poo he walks likes a child with a dirty nappy!

will look into the classes, it all depends on the price really

Cherry Blossom

Hi OP the point of the crate is the pup goes in it any time you can't supervise. Every time he comes out of the crate he goes straight outside to the toilet and when your supervising straight out when you suspect he wants to go. This way he never gets into the habit of going in the house.

On the dog food if it were me I'd just be giving him the Iams for a week or two on its own then start gradually changing over to something better quality. I don't know about the rusk but get him off the Ceaser immediately, IMO its the worst food on the market. It made mainly of meat and animal derivates which is basically dead animals, not slaughtered but the kind that dead animal collection people take away, plastic bags and all included. This is usually all mashed up and boiled to 280 degrees to kill all bacteria and made into poorer quality foods. This is not the case with Ceaser though, it isn't boiled it's steam cooked which isn't guaranteed to kill all the germs, bacteria and other nasties in it.

mymo

Do you leave him in the crate at night?
Is he peeing in it at night?

Both of my dogs are crate trained, although I leave the doors open now and have done since they were about 8 months. The older boy loves his crate and still sleeps in it all night, the younger girl would prefer to sleep on the people beds if she could(to short to jump up:D).
If the pup is wetting the crate at night set and alarm for half way through the night and get up and let him out. Once he's used to the routing, gradually increase the time over the next few weeks and in no time he'll be dry all night.
Kongs are great, I have several, the ones you stuff are good, I stuff them with mashed up left over veg from dinner and the dry nuts(the veg helps the nuts stick in the kong) but there's loads of advice about what to stuff them with(you can freeze them too, last longer that way). One thing to remember is any food you put in the kong should be taken from the daily amount, or your pup will put on weight. I also have a ball type kong that you fill with nuts and the dog has too roll it around to get the food out, keeps them busy for ages. I also had a teething one, stick shaped with grooves in it, I used to freeze it in a small plastic oblong box(just a little bigger than the kong), filled with veg and meat left overs, they loved that when teething.

Cherry Blossom

What I did with crate training was I took away the water at 8pm (which is fine at this time of year) took her out last thing at night at around midnight before putting her in for the night. I had her crate by my bed so I'd here her during the night if she wanted out but she was fine untill about 6am. As long as she didn't want to go during the night which she never has I increased the time by 15mins every day that she kept her water. She now has it up till bedtime and would sleep through untill 10 or 11am now if she was let without wanting to go. It sounds like a lot of hassell but really mine got the idea straight away, and after the first week I was waking her up in the morning instead of the other way round. She's just 5 months now and has been in the bed for the last 2 months with me with no problems and is confined to the back hall now when needs be instead of the crate as she won't do her business in there now either as that's her area where her bed is for during the day. The only problems I had with toilet training was a few accidents in the kitchen as she'd run in below the table and chairs and go in there where I couldn't get to her in time. The kitchen is the only room she's banned from now as she also stands up on top of the table any time your back is turned :rolleyes:

we'llallhavetea_old

adrenalinjunkie wrote: »

Hi OP the point of the crate is the pup goes in it any time you can't supervise. Every time he comes out of the crate he goes straight outside to the toilet and when your supervising straight out when you suspect he wants to go. This way he never gets into the habit of going in the house.

ok thanks for that

On the dog food if it were me I'd just be giving him the Iams for a week or two on its own then start gradually changing over to something better quality. I don't know about the rusk but get him off the Ceaser immediately, IMO its the worst food on the market. It made mainly of meat and animal derivates which is basically dead animals, not slaughtered but the kind that dead animal collection people take away, plastic bags and all included. This is usually all mashed up and boiled to 280 degrees to kill all bacteria and made into poorer quality foods. This is not the case with Ceaser though, it isn't boiled it's steam cooked which isn't guaranteed to kill all the germs, bacteria and other nasties in it.

oh. my. god. :eek: that is vile! ok, caeser is gone!! i have been giving him the rusk and iams, he loves the rusk and i like knowing he has something warm in his tummy

mymo wrote: »

Do you leave him in the crate at night?
Is he peeing in it at night?

no, i haven't locked him in at night, so he comes out and piddles on the floor.

Both of my dogs are crate trained, although I leave the doors open now and have done since they were about 8 months. The older boy loves his crate and still sleeps in it all night, the younger girl would prefer to sleep on the people beds if she could(to short to jump up).
If the pup is wetting the crate at night set and alarm for half way through the night and get up and let him out. Once he's used to the routing, gradually increase the time over the next few weeks and in no time he'll be dry all night.

ok, will do tonight!

Kongs are great, I have several, the ones you stuff are good, I stuff them with mashed up left over veg from dinner and the dry nuts(the veg helps the nuts stick in the kong) but there's loads of advice about what to stuff them with(you can freeze them too, last longer that way). One thing to remember is any food you put in the kong should be taken from the daily amount, or your pup will put on weight. I also have a ball type kong that you fill with nuts and the dog has too roll it around to get the food out, keeps them busy for ages. I also had a teething one, stick shaped with grooves in it, I used to freeze it in a small plastic oblong box(just a little bigger than the kong), filled with veg and meat left overs, they loved that when teething.

oh, these sound great! gonna get him the one you can fill up with peanut butter tomorrow!

well, i locked him in the crate for the first time today, he screamed like a stuck pig but when i got home he hadn't wet his bedding and went straight for a piddle when i put him down in the garden

i'm gonna wear the little rip out late tonight and then put him to bed in the crate. fingers crossed he doesn't give out for long i just can't wait for him to sleep in the bed with me!

mymo

Just remember that he won't be able to hold it for long at first, 3-4hrs to start (no lie ins for a while:(, and you may have to get up twice at the start), its important to have a set time and routine for this. Make bed time the same time each night, have a routine (I used to walk around the square, have a play, cuddle time, out the back, then bed), and get up the same time, at least for the first few weeks.
Sounds like you started well, just keep it up, my two were very good once we had a routine and we had very few accidents(usually when I was lazy or forgot) and they were trained in no time.

With the kongs, at first put the food in loosely (don't press in to hard), then once the dog gets the hang of it, pack it in and even freeze it, to make it last.
I highly recommend the ball one too, its great when you're trying to get something done and want the pup kept busy. It also tires them out chasing it around.

Best of luck and enjoy the puppy months, they are really fun.(even though they can be messy)

Cherry Blossom

If he's going to be in your bed eventually there's no harm in having the crate by your bed, he should settle easier with you in the same room and if he cries to get out give him the benefit of the doubt and take him outside and let him have a chance to do his business. He won't be able to hold it at that age and you don't want him to go in the crate, this is why restricting water intake helps, so he can gradually learn to control himself and hold it for longer. Pick him up from the crate and carry him outside because he's likely to pee as soon as he touches the ground :P

we'llallhavetea_old

thanks so much for all the replies

@ adrenalinjunkie, i want to wait for awhile, until he calms down with the crate before i bring him up the stairs. purely because the walls are paper thin and i don't want to wake up my daughter (or neighbours!) unnecessarily.

we'llallhavetea_old

well, the first night is done! locked the crate at about 1.30am and he was released at about 8am, not a hint of a piddle! he done his piddles outside and then came in.. to do his dump on the sittingroom floor! ah well, slowly but surely! off to the vets this evening for his first set of vax, hopefully he takes them well

CL32

we'llallhavetea wrote: »

our little puddin

Get used to saying that. Our Staffie is 16 months and we still say it. (along with fatbody, puddingbelly and inspector stafford)

Looks like you have the crate training nailed. Its a good start. Enjoy the new companion. If you're like me you'll have a new shadow, which is a bit unsettling to start with, but soon becomes one of the best reasons to come home from work.

we'llallhavetea_old

CL32 wrote: »

Get used to saying that. Our Staffie is 16 months and we still say it. (along with fatbody, puddingbelly and inspector stafford)

Looks like you have the crate training nailed. Its a good start. Enjoy the new companion. If you're like me you'll have a new shadow, which is a bit unsettling to start with, but soon becomes one of the best reasons to come home from work.

aw thanks! he lies on my feet while i was the dishes! oh and eh... we named him puddin! not as bad as the cat i suppose, he's called envelope

CL32

Ah I see. Must have skimmed over that bit.

Still, it'll be Puddener, Puddsy, Pudbelly etc soon enough!

Enjoy.

talkerannie

Hi - I just noticed all your logs on crate training and am looking for advice!
We have a new puppy. He is 5mths old. We continued crate training him after we got him as this was what he knew from birth. We used divider in crate and as he got older we moved divider back before eventually removing it late August. He NEVER wet his crate from the minute we got him.
Since mid August (after he had all his vacs & boosters) we have been leaving him to our nearby neighbour’s kennel during the day as we both work long hours (I work shift). Initially kennel owner was putting him in the kennels but after a few days and as she has 5 small dogs of her own (incl puppies) she was taking him into her home to mind him.
In the past week she has been putting him in the kennels again as he is peeing on her floor (we have no issue with him being in the kennel). Her own dogs are totally housebound and use pee pee mats to relieve themselves. It’s possible that our pup who gets taken out by us all the time when we are home and is not getting taken out as much in her house has got used to this.
When we leave him down to kennels we take him down in his crate – and this is his space in her house or in the kennels.
So our dilemma! This week having put him in the kennels our kennel owner brought him in for a while to play with her dogs on Monday afternoon and he peed on her dog’s bed.
Yesterday when we arrived home with him he peed & pooped many times outside before we brought him in (my boyfriend joked that he mustn’t have relieved himself at all during the day). I then noticed that his bedding in his crate had three wet patched where he had peed. As I said he has NEVER wet or soiled his crate bedding in all the time we have him.
Throughout the evening we continued to bring him outside. After one trip outside where he peed I brought him back inside and left him in the kitchen for a few moments. When I returned I found he had peed in one area & 4 poops in another area. He has only pooped once inside when he was very young.
We put him to bed after he peed later and I let him out to go to the toilet 2 hours earlier this morning only to discover that he had wet his crate bedding during the night.
Today we have left him to kennel without his crate (hoping to re-establish this as his sanctuary at home?) and instead brought down his cushion from our kitchen that he lies on during the days when we are at home etc. We are planning to put the divider back into his crate to limit his space.
He hasn’t been neutered yet (not sure if that’s relevant).
I would be grateful for any suggestions or advice any of you may have. Is his crate training destroyed now? How do we correct this?
A very subdued talker annie!