New puppy and training.

[hippywife]

Did anyone else's puppy go crazy when they were put in their crate? We have a 7 week old black lab mix, which we got Sunday. She's been sleeping in the bathroom at night and staying in there during the day.

I did a search last night and read the threads here about how to train. Tonight on the way home, I was finally able to stop and get a good size, but not too big kennel. I came home and put her new collar on her and put her food in the kennel with her in it. I also put in a nice soft plush towel for her to lie on.

She's in there going ape shit! You'd think I was killing her! Is this normal? Do you think she'll stop doing this and get used to it?

Edited to say: I took her out for now because I didn't want her to hurt herself or be terrorized by the kennel. But she is going to have to sleep in it tonight. I can't take all the peeing on the floor another day.

[malta blue]

1. I hope you have some earplugs...

or you won't make it through the night. :(

I did not have good luck training my 15 y/o Luna with the crate when she was younger. She stayed in it during the day but I had to wrestle with her to get her in, and then run away because she complained so much and I felt so bad. She sleeps in the bed with me and stopped needing the crate once she was about 2.

My 2 y/o rat terrier came crate trained, and I was opposed to doing it at first - going against the advice of the woman from the rescue group and all rat terrier owners I know. Well, that lasted two days - she destroyed six pairs of shoes, ate who-knows-what and used the entire house as a toilet.

She is still rather destructive if not supervised, so she stays in the crate.

There is some good crate training information on the internet - and maybe radfringe will check in this thread. IIRC, her Tovah had some issues at first with the crate.

Good luck - and your new puppy is beautiful. Bless you for taking her in...

[hippywife]

2. Thanx, MB!

It's definitely a battle of wills. She has a chew toy she loves to chase and a faceless, stuffed woolie baby to cuddle with. But she still can't be left to her own devices or she'll chew up everything. I know it's typical puppy behavior but she's wearing me out! LOL

We've always been lucky with dogs dumped out here. They've been several months old and remained outside dogs. This time it's a real challenge.

[malta blue]

3. A rat terrier forum I post at had this link for crate training....

http://www.hsus.org/pets/pet_care/our_pets_for_life_program/dog_behavior_tip_sheets/crate_training.html


Good luck - and she is soooooo precious!

[hippywife]

4. Thanx, again!

I'll give some of those tips a try. I really appreciate the advice. I really don't want to fail her or take a rolled up newspaper to my own head! LOL

[China_cat]

5. Make the crate a happy place.

Leave the door open during the day to allow her to go in and out at will. Feed only in the crate (with the door open to start), treats only in the crate. Make the treats really good stuff that she wouldn't get otherwise.

Close the door on her for a few minutes at a time and let her know that she'll get out shortly. Do this several times a day.

For now, not only a nice plush towel but a t-shirt or something you've been wearing and really needs washed. Your scent right there with her will do more to calm her than anything else.

[hippywife]

6. Thanx, China cat.

She's going to have to stay in it most of the day. Both of us work and can't let her in and out all day long. I could take her to work with me but I'm worried about doing that since she isn't potty or leash trained yet. She's getting used to her collar now but she just yanks and pulls on the leash like crazy.

I did give her a little treat in the front of the kennel about half an hour ago and some more food. Plus we've been throwing her chew toy for her most of the evening to wear her out and make her really tired. We had a smaller cat carrier in the bathroom for her until I could get this bigger one. She did crawl in there and sleep with the door open for the DH while he took his shower this morning. I'm hoping we can tire her out enough that she will do that tonight.

Wish us luck! :hi:

[MiniMe]

7. What kind of crate are you using?

Wire or solid? Some dogs do better in one over the other. China Cat has given you great advice. How long is the pup in the crate during the day? In general, a pup can usually hold it as long as their age in months + 1 in hours. That means that a 7 week old pup can only hold it for about 3 hours. If you are gone for longer than that, she will most likely end up going in the crate. For a while, you may need to hire somebody to come in several times during the day to let the pup out and take her for a bit of time outside. At night, you may want to restrict her water a bit for the last few hours before bedtime, it should allow her to be able to sleep a little longer, but this should only be done at bedtime and only for a few hours before bedtime. You can still put some water down with very little of it in the bowl during this time.

Be careful about leaving her in the crate too long without a way to go out to relieve herself. If she tries to hold it, it may result in a bladder infection. If she does pee or poop in the crate from being in there too long, it may make them harder to housetrain later. First, you want them to be tell you when they have to go, and know that they will be able to get outside to pee in a short amount of time. Second, if they start going in the crate, you won't be able to use crate training as a way to increase their bladder control.

Good luck with her, she is very cute.

[hippywife]

8. So far,

we haven't left her in the kennel while we are at work. We took the door off of it and just leave her in the bathroom with it during the day and at night. I've been giving her treats only in the kennel and she will now at least go in there and lay down.

It's a solid type kennel because the open wire one was too expensive for us. We are just trying to keep an eye on her and take her outside at regular intervals. When she does mess on the floor, I take it outside with me and put it in one place and show it to her. She really fights the leash quite a bit so husband figured out that if he lets her just go, she did find a spot and go potty on her own.

We just have to watch letting her go because our bigger outside dog gets fed up with her jumping on her after a while and heads for the road or over into the cow pasture next door (complete with big cows!) And the little one will follow her.

Thanx, MiniMe. I'm sure we'll get there with alot of patience and some more time. :hi:

[IowaGirl]

9. I don't know how the crate training is going but my puppy book said to keep the crate to the minimum

size possible so the dog couldn't jump up and down and work itself into a state. I'm training mine, too, but I'm lucky in that I have an older dog in the crate next to it. That gives the little one some comfort and she's coming around. I do feed them in their crates and always give them one of those little 3 cal treats as soon as I shut the door. However, that kind of got the puppy excited for more treats so I kind of grind up the treat and toss it in so she has a fun time rooting around. :popcorn: