by November 2nd, 2008. Filed under: Uncategorized.
My puppy has had free roam since we got her 10 days ago. She’s a little over 2 months old. I feel too bad to put her in a crate. She does well at night, mostly sleeping through the night on her bed. I put “wee wee pads” in the places she’s gone to the bathroom in the house and reward her with a treat when she does her business outside. I can’t seem to get her to get on a schedule though. She just goes sometimes every 2 hours in the house during the day. Do I really need to confine her? Can it be done without confinement? Is that all I’ve done wrong? I need to get her trained soon. Thank you in advance. Thanks for all the answers so far! I wanted to add, I just wrote I need to do it soon because I go back to school in September.
I agree with the other comments… crate training isn’t mean or punishing to puppy. Once puppy knows the crate is its safe place, it will become puppy’s den. It also aids in housetraining immensely. The key to housetraining is consistency… for you. You have to be consistent… getting puppy outside every single time the urge strikes. If you fail, it’s your error, not hers. Every time you fail, you delay her learning process. Free roaming is OK, but it makes your job of housetraining *a lot* harder. I see it like trying to swim upriver against the current blindfolded at midnight trying to follow a fish. 
Not impossible but… to me, you’re creating a situation with so many obstacles, you have a hard time clearing one, let alone all of them at the same time. Going every 2 hours would be a dream! One of my dogs had to go out every 20 minutes. I let him roam in whatever room I was in and that’s all. I moved him with me everywhere I went (I had baby gates throughout the house). Every time he paused in play, I’d scoop him up and take him outside to wee. (other prime-time potty breaks: immediately coming out of the crate; immediately following a meal or play time) As soon as he pottied, he got lots of praise and we came back into the house. This went on for several months. Gradually the time between his potty breaks extended and he started going to the door and looking at me - his signal he needed a potty break. That’s why crate training is so helpful… when you can’t watch puppy, the crate is puppy’s crib. Housetraining isn’t hard, but it requires lots of patience, constant watching and consistency. Good luck!
Filed under: Uncategorized
November 2nd, 2008 at 9:32 am
i taught my dog by putting down the pads in a gated area around the front door. It was big enough for her to play and she didn't seem to mind it and it work for us in a week
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November 2nd, 2008 at 9:44 am
I think that once you crate train her that everything will become clear to her. You probably have a good foundation for this, though using the pads in the house is confusing to dogs and I personally have never seen this method work well at all.
I, too, was very resisitant to "putting my dog in a cage" with my first pup. But, I quickly grew exhausted what with having to grow eyes in the back of my head, and never ever letting him out of my sight. I didn't do that with my current young dog - she was crate trained from the start and the mistakes were minimal (and, of course, totally my fault.)
Consistency is the key to success and I don't think you can achieve this w/o a crate. Here's a link - good luck!
http://www.inch.com/~dogs/cratetraining.html
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November 2nd, 2008 at 9:57 am
My 2 year old chihuahua is house trained, but he is not crate trained. He had severe separation anxiety, and being in the crate only magnified it. He has free roam of the house when I am gone, and uses his puppy pads faithfully. When I am home with him, we go outside about every two hours for him to do his business…. Just keep at it, don't lose patience and don't give up.
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November 2nd, 2008 at 10:04 am
I would really recommend crate training for at night/when you are not there. It is only a temporary thing and as soon as she learns she can be back in bed with you. This is an important barrier to overcome and you're going to want to do it as quickly as possible. Your puppy will probably whine and cry the first time you put her into a crate but soon she will get used to it, accept it as her sleeping place, and may even feel safer in it. My dog often chose to sleep in his crate even though we left the door to it open.
Good luck.
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November 2nd, 2008 at 10:35 am
It can be done without a crate, it will just take longer and there will be a lot more messes to clean up. You need to keep a really close eye on her and watch for the signs (sniffing around, etc.) while you're home, then if you're gone or when you wake up in the morning, you just have to expect a mess and clean it up without punishing the dog.
10 days really isn't very long, especially for a 2 month old puppy. Stick with it and buy a bunch of carpet cleaner and you'll get there. It may take several more weeks, but it can be done. If you really can't handle cleaning up the messes for several more weeks, you will want to get a crate.
Don't feel bad about putting your puppy in a crate when you can't watch her. Dogs feel very comfortable in small enclosed spaces, especially when they are sleeping. If it helps, you can think of it like a baby's crib. She may cry at first but it's just because she'd rather be out playing with you, but you have to put her in there for her safety and to protect the house from damage, because you're not going to play with her then anyway.
As long as you make the crate a positive experience and don't use it as punishment, she will soon come to enjoy being in her crate, and may even go into it or stay in it with the door open. There is a lot of good information on the internet about crate training, so if you decide to go that route just look it up.
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November 2nd, 2008 at 11:08 am
I have done it the "old fashioned way"., putting papers on the kitchen floor , and putting a gate (like the one for little kids) between the doorways, (keeping her in the kitchen). I praised them when they went on the paper. Conversely, scolded them, and put them on the paper, and outside, when they had accidents. Its worked for 40 years….good track record!
I'd never let a dog have free roaming unless he was trained.
Can be done without confinement. Trained soon? Hardly, unless he's extremely smart. You must be patient!! It's worth all your trouble. Stick with it. You'll be fine.
My little pooch is now 2 years old….no problems.
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November 2nd, 2008 at 11:31 am
You seem to be looking at crate training as a bad thing, which it isn't. Dogs which have been crate trained tend to see their crates as their home, their save haven, and their own personal den. The BEST way to housbreak your puppy is by crate training her. It is NOT punishment and you are giving her a great service by crate training her. Be sure the crate is the right size for her though. She should be able to stand up and turn around in it. Anything bigger, she will go to the bathroom in. I got my puppy when he was 9 weeks old, crate trained him, and within two weeks he was housebroken. There are also a few things you can try along with crating. If you want your puppy out of the crate, keep her tied to you and when you see her with her nose to the floor, or walking in circles looking for a place to pee, immediately take her outside. Also, tie some bells around your door and show her how to touch them. This shows her how to alert you when she needs to go potty outside. As soon as she potties outside, praise her like a crazy person and give her a treat. She'll instantly know that doing her business outside is a good thing which she'll get treats for and above all else, puppies want to please their people. Give her her meals at the same time every day, which makes it easier for you to establish how soon she needs to potty after eating. Also monitor the amount of water she drinks. Their bladders can't hold very much and what ever goes in, has to come out. If you've seen her drinking water, take her outside after she drinks too. If she hasn't gone potty within 10 minutes of taking her out of the crate, bring her back in and re-crate her. She'll whine or bark or alert you in some way when she wants to go outside. In a short time, your puppy should know how to alert you that she needs to go potty outside. But be sure not to put puppy pads or paper of any kind in her crate. Crate traning your puppy is a good thing and not to be seen as a punishment. Good luck, and have fun with your puppy!
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November 2nd, 2008 at 12:00 pm
I agree with the other comments… crate training isn't mean or punishing to puppy. Once puppy knows the crate is its safe place, it will become puppy's den. It also aids in housetraining immensely. The key to housetraining is consistency… for you. You have to be consistent… getting puppy outside every single time the urge strikes. If you fail, it's your error, not hers. Every time you fail, you delay her learning process.
Free roaming is OK, but it makes your job of housetraining *a lot* harder. I see it like trying to swim upriver against the current blindfolded at midnight trying to follow a fish.
Not impossible but… to me, you're creating a situation with so many obstacles, you have a hard time clearing one, let alone all of them at the same time.
Going every 2 hours would be a dream! One of my dogs had to go out every 20 minutes. I let him roam in whatever room I was in and that's all. I moved him with me everywhere I went (I had baby gates throughout the house). Every time he paused in play, I'd scoop him up and take him outside to wee. (other prime-time potty breaks: immediately coming out of the crate; immediately following a meal or play time) As soon as he pottied, he got lots of praise and we came back into the house. This went on for several months. Gradually the time between his potty breaks extended and he started going to the door and looking at me - his signal he needed a potty break. That's why crate training is so helpful… when you can't watch puppy, the crate is puppy's crib.
Housetraining isn't hard, but it requires lots of patience, constant watching and consistency.
Good luck!
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November 2nd, 2008 at 12:46 pm
if your gonna leave her in the house you need to keep her to a certain area say your room and she is only allowed to go out when you go out….that would help
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