I need help with crate training a puppy? Theo is a 10 week old golden retreiver pup. He's such a cute little stinker, but he is driving us crazy! For like the last 3 or 4 days, he has been going in his crate! Sometimes peeing, sometimes
pooping - yuck! <img src="http://www.leerburg.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/frown.gif" alt="" /> Everyone keeps saying that he isn't supposed to do that and I'm like yeah - tell him that! <img src="http://www.leerburg.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/confused.gif" alt="" />

This is the first time we've had to crate train a puppy - our previous dog had a little outside pen and seemed to housebreak pretty easily.

We're doing all the things you're suppose to do - we've got the divider in the crate scrunched down as far as it will go to make a very small space for him, we take him to the bathroom all the time - it seems like we're spending half our lives out there waiting for him go to the bathroom. We only put a tiny bit of water in the crate and no food. For instance, last night we took him out at about 10:30 and made sure he had gone to the bathroom then put him in his crate for the night. When my husband got up at 5:30, he had peed on his towel. Same thing on Saturday night, only he had pooped and got all in it, so he had to have a
whole bath - ugh! He's also been barking a lot more when we put him in. I moved his crate from my son's room to a basement room. Do you think the accidents could be some kind of protest and being separated from the family? I'm really at a loss to know how to deal with this.

Thanks!

Adrian in Salt Lake

We just went through this with our 2nd, now 18 week old German Shepherd male. My female NEVER peed or pooped in her crate. And when we got our male it started at about 10 weeks. Every night his last time out was 12 am. And I was waking up at 5 am with a mess. So I changed him to a 12 and 3 am outside, but still a mess - pee everywhere. I did a urinalysis to rule out UTI, no infection. So after about 6 weeks of this he finally stopped. Yes six weeks of baths 3 or sometimes 4 a day! It was awful. But now he is 18 weeks and NO mess in his crate. Stick it out, feed his final food at no later than 4 pm for a while and no water after 6 pm and no water in his crate. This is what I did for a while and set your alarm for 3 am. After he is used to this routine and he knows he will be going out, change to 5 am. If the crying bothers you-put his crate in the garage! It will save you cleaning the walls and floors of your house (and I think Ed reccomends this too for a crying pup)
Good luck and it may take time.

Try removing the towel...he may not like sitting in his own urine. (I did this also) This may get a bit more messier, but the towel soaks it up and he may not be bothered by the mess. And I don't think he is protesting, and most pups cry in their crates when they are this young. Moving him was smart- you don't want this mess being in your sons room! There will be plenty of bonding time after he is crate trained!

We got Jäger at ten weeks old, we stopped giving him water at 6:00 PM. He went out at 8:00, 10:00 2:00 or 3:00 AM and again at 6:00 AM. I did this for two months. Yeah, it sucked to be me, but, Jäger only peed in the house twice, and they were our fault for not reading him right and not keeping a close enough eye on him.

That's a tiny bladder, you wouldn't expect a one year old child to hold it all night. You expected a ten week old to hold it for seven hours.

We purchased a small crate for Jäger at first and I put it next to my bed. I slept with my fingers sticking into the crate so he wouldn't feel alone. Remember he used to sleep with Mom and the other puppies in a warm safe place. What did you do to mitigate that.

If you're using a wire crate, put an old sheet or blanket over it. Dogs want to live in caves, dens, or warrens. An open wire crate isn't very comforting.

I'd recommend putting him closer rather than further from someone. Get out of bed and give him a chance to relieve himself until he's an couple of months older. The bonus effect of this is the dog will bond with you on a really deep level.

I would just take the advice in this thread but also add that you are looking for miracles from a 10wk old.

Just wanted to say thanks for posting! I am going through the same thing with my Dobe right now.

I don't think I'm expecting miracles or anything, I just didn't have a whole lot of experience with raising puppies and didn't know what was reasonable for a 10 week old. I figured he would have a problem during the active periods of the day, but thought he would be OK when he was sleeping. At what age is it reasonable for a pup to make it through the night?

Thanks,

Adrian

Consistency is really important. So is being there to let him out. If he is in the basement, and he needs to go out, and he cries to be let out, and isn't- thereby peeing in his crate, he will soon lose his instinct to be clean. I would not have him in the basement, as 10 weeks is very young for any active pup to be able to hold their urine. Get him on a schedule where he is fed three times a day, has no water after 6-7 pm. Don't exercize him a lot in the evening (as he can't have water). Take the towel out of his crate. Feed him in his crate. When he does pee in his crate, clean it with 50/50 white vinegar and water- and wash him. You don't want him getting used to smelling like pee- dogs are naturally clean, you want to keep it that way. He may be upset that he can't at least hear the family in the basement, which is a prelude to getting very upset (dogs are pack animals). I went through something similar with my pup recently, and learned it was ALL about me leaving her- once I handled that (gave her a stuffed kong) no more peeing in the crate <img src="http://www.leerburg.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />
Julie

We took Jäger out every three hours to begin with, then we slowly increased the time between outings.

We also included the evacuate word when he did so Jäger would "Go," on demand.

Since we've taught Jäger to pick his commands out of a sentence it's much more fun it also allows us to combine commands (and really looks cool). He urinates when we use the word liberal ("Jäger what do you think of the liberal media?") and poops when we use the word Hillary ("Jäger what kind of president do you think Hillary will make?")

I love this country, I've been places where people got arrested for stuff like that.

 Quote:

I don't think I'm expecting miracles or anything, I just didn't have a whole lot of experience with raising puppies and didn't know what was reasonable for a 10 week old. I figured he would have a problem during the active periods of the day, but thought he would be OK when he was sleeping. At what age is it reasonable for a pup to make it through the night?

Thanks,

Adrian

There is no solid ans. for that as every pup is different but I would say more around the 14-16wk range. But the key is not to push it too soon. You want them to know you are there for them so they dont think they have to urinate in the crate. Trust me when I tell you I know how trying it is but keep at it. Best of luck!