Puppy Crate Training Questions

[Coooleeey]

Whats up peeps?

I have a 4 month old golden retriever and we are currently crating him overnight. He is tearing apart my house during the day and I feel bad thinking of crating him for even longer. He also is not doing well with potty training. When we are home he goes to the door and waits but when we aren't he has his own little area. I hired a dog walker, she comes everyday b/t 12 and 1 and feeds/walks him for 20 minutes.

I'm thinking at this point, at least for a couple weeks so he understands he needs to wait for the walker or us to get home, that we need to crate him during the day. We leave at 7:30, he gets fed and walked at about 12:30, I'm home at 5.

If anyone with some experience can tell me if this is alright...

[gbear]

I always heard an hour per month old when we were crate training our youngest pup. With the dog walker mid day, you should be fine.

I've also heard no more than 8 hours straight, but I know this is too strict (kind of like oiling a car every 3k instead of what the instruction book says). Before I lived with my wife, she had to crate our old dog for 13 hours while she went to work (12 hours shift + commute). The dog did fine.

Good luck. Crate training is one of those things where dogs complain a lot when you start, but after a few months the crate is "their place." Our 2 dogs go there now on their own, and they don't complain at all when we put them there because people are coming over. They only complain if there is only one of them in the crate.

[The Brave Little Toaster Oven]

Whats up peeps?

I have a 4 month old golden retriever and we are currently crating him overnight. He is tearing apart my house during the day and I feel bad thinking of crating him for even longer. He also is not doing well with potty training. When we are home he goes to the door and waits but when we aren't he has his own little area. I hired a dog walker, she comes everyday b/t 12 and 1 and feeds/walks him for 20 minutes.

I'm thinking at this point, at least for a couple weeks so he understands he needs to wait for the walker or us to get home, that we need to crate him during the day. We leave at 7:30, he gets fed and walked at about 12:30, I'm home at 5.

If anyone with some experience can tell me if this is alright...

You should buy some puppy pads and designate a spot in your house for him to pee or crap on those pads. It helps when they're young because they can't hold it too long. That should help keep him from leaving you presents between the dogwalker and you letting him out.

Instead of crating him for extended periods, you should get a play-pen type thing and let him play in that for a while so he can use his brain and he won't be frustrated and chew on things he's not supposed to.

Hope this helps

[Coooleeey]

I have only heard bad things about puppy pads with males dogs, and large breeds. Apparently it confuses them and may cause potty training to take longer. Thats just what I have read/heard though.

We tried the playpen, the little bastage is resourceful and kept getting out. I'm not as worried about my belongings as I am really sick of picking up his gifts when I get home.

[Coooleeey]

I always heard an hour per month old when we were crate training our youngest pup. With the dog walker mid day, you should be fine.

I've also heard no more than 8 hours straight, but I know this is too strict (kind of like oiling a car every 3k instead of what the instruction book says). Before I lived with my wife, she had to crate our old dog for 13 hours while she went to work (12 hours shift + commute). The dog did fine.

Good luck. Crate training is one of those things where dogs complain a lot when you start, but after a few months the crate is "their place." Our 2 dogs go there now on their own, and they don't complain at all when we put them there because people are coming over. They only complain if there is only one of them in the crate.

But do you think I shouldn't crate him at night as well? He loves his crate, when its bedtime he walks right into it and lays down. I never hear him unless he has to go potty. The last three or four weeks he has only woke me once in the middle of the night. He knows when its time to get up too, if I try to sleep in he starts barking like "get up fool I'm hungry". I swear to you if he could talk he would probably say "daddy is my *****" :doh:

What a handful this is, but its worth it cause I miss the little bugger when I'm at work or if I go away for a few days.

[DButz65]

Going through crate training ourselves with our 2 new puppies, we are using the pads inside for when we are home, for the most part they do use them. We got it by the back door now and plan to move it outside once the snow melts and stuff Our puppies are small

Also, say your puppy is 4 months old, add 1 (+1) to that, and thats how long your puppy should be able to hold his/her pee/poop. So we crate ours for 3 hours at a time (they just turned 3 months old , we should be able to crate them longer now) Dont worry about them doing anything in the crate, puppies will not pee/poop where they sleep, ours havent yet.

p.s. we noticed the more we put them in the crate, the more willing they are to go outside instead of inside. Dont leave the gate to the crate open, always close it to keep them in it.

Also early evening time you should take their water up and dont let them have much after that. Also puppies usually have to poop about 15 mins after eating

[rincewind]

With my puppy we crated her overnight - but during the day we just kept her in a small area (our kitchen). They do not like to piss/poop in 'their' territory, so she stopped going inside rather quickly. The small space also helps getting them to stop tearing things apart as we simply don't leave anything she can tear up within her reach. :2cents:

[EersSkins05]

With the dog walker you should be fine crating him during the day. We have a lab that was potty-trained via crate, and while he was a puppy and couldn't hold it very long, he stayed in there at night and then 9-12 and 1-5. I let him out for a walk at lunch, and obviously before and after.

Once he was old enough (about 6 months), we didn't put him in the crate at night for a while to see if he could handle it while we were there. He chewed on a few things he shouldn't have, but we learned what not to leave at his level.

Then eventually we didn't put him in there at any time, b/c he'd been sufficiently trained by then not to use the bathroom inside. Now we don't even have the crate and he wouldn't pee in our house if his life depended on it.

It makes me feel alot better about caring for a dog when I know that it can play during the day without being confined to a small crate.

[jbooma]

i believe and Huly correct me if I am not the puppy can hold it x many hours with x being the age in months, so if the dog is only 4 months old then it can only hold it right now for 4 hours

with a puppy this young you need to continue to crate it, unless you are around a lot, but don't leave a dog home by itself for like 8 hours in a crate

what we did with our dog was put it in small room with a babygate so it would not think the door was shut on them and if we noticed the dog had been chewing on things spray the apple bitters, works like a charm, the crate would be in that room as well since the dog would normaly sleep in it

at night we let the dog sleep in a dog bed in our room, at first when very little used an old TV box and put that next to the bed after a couple of months the dog would sleep through the night so did not have to worry about crating the dog then at night

[DButz65]

i believe and Huly correct me if I am not the puppy can hold it x many hours with x being the age in months, so if the dog is only 4 months old then it can only hold it right now for 4 hours

Almost, add 1 hour to how many months old they are , i stated this in my previous post in this thread

[Coooleeey]

With the dog walker you should be fine crating him during the day. We have a lab that was potty-trained via crate, and while he was a puppy and couldn't hold it very long, he stayed in there at night and then 9-12 and 1-5. I let him out for a walk at lunch, and obviously before and after.

Once he was old enough (about 6 months), we didn't put him in the crate at night for a while to see if he could handle it while we were there. He chewed on a few things he shouldn't have, but we learned what not to leave at his level.

Then eventually we didn't put him in there at any time, b/c he'd been sufficiently trained by then not to use the bathroom inside. Now we don't even have the crate and he wouldn't pee in our house if his life depended on it.

It makes me feel alot better about caring for a dog when I know that it can play during the day without being confined to a small crate.

That's the thing, I feel bad thinking of locking him up...but then again he doesn't have the resources to pay for the leather sofa he chewed up or remote control he dismantled. Wait a second, he should be in crate right now :mad:. J/k

Thanks for the help. I think we'll crate him starting Monday and see how it goes. Poor little guy will get over it. I think after a month or so we will give it a few days to see if he can do better. We will also be getting a doggie door sooner or later, he needs to get older for that.

[scuppajones]

I have a 2 year old Chesapeake Bay Retriever. I crate trained him for about 1 1/2 years, every night and during the day when I went to work. I would let him out once during the day in the afternoon, and then when I got home from work take him for a long walk. After he was a 1 1/2 I started leaving him out when I went to work, and he turned out great, every once in a while he still gets into something, but for the most part he is good. He is probably the most mild mannered Chessie I have ever seen.

[Popeman38]

We have a 2 and 1/2 year old rat terrier. We crate trained him, and still crate him during the day. Usually it is about 4 hours in , an hour out, and 4 hours in. The crate is his "den", and as a burrower, he buries himself in old sheets and towels. During the long Sundays for home games, we place his crate, water and food in out large master bathroom with an extra blanket outside and some old newspaper for emergencies. He stays in his crate the whole time we are gone and has never had to use the newspaper The breeder told us that this type of dog gets insecure when left alone for long periods, and would cause trouble if not crate trained.

[Huly]

What size crate?

[Coooleeey]

What size crate?

I dunno, its plenty big enough. We have it reduced in size right now cause at first the whole thing was too big so he was dropping duece bombs in it. That hasn't happened in a long long time and as he is growing we are making it bigger for him.

[PSUHeckler]

But do you think I shouldn't crate him at night as well? What a handful this is, but its worth it cause I miss the little bugger when I'm at work or if I go away for a few days.

I think you should, it makes him feel comfortable. That way too he's used to it during the day. You may feel bad for crating him but as long as you give him enough exercise it's alright. At night you could let the door open....

I got a lab almost a year ago and she had the potty problem too. You just have to keep an eye on them - don't let them go to "their spot" in the house. Put a gate(s) for where in the house you are.

I wish my lab took so kindly to her crate at first. Every night she'd howl for me, and same would go for if I left her by herself, and also if she could her people in the other room.

[Coooleeey]

I think you should, it makes him feel comfortable. That way too he's used to it during the day. You may feel bad for crating him but as long as you give him enough exercise it's alright. At night you could let the door open....

I got a lab almost a year ago and she had the potty problem too. You just have to keep an eye on them - don't let them go to "their spot" in the house. Put a gate(s) for where in the house you are.

I wish my lab took so kindly to her crate at first. Every night she'd howl for me, and same would go for if I left her by herself, and also if she could her people in the other room.

He still sleeps in my room by the door inside his crate. I'm working on stopping that cause he doesn't need to be around me or my bro at night anymore he is old enough. I think having him in the room made it easier for him to like his crate. There were some problems at first but now its his den.

I watch him like a hawk while we are home, he only has part of the basement as his area everywhere else is blocked off. He does hang out upstairs and in other parts of the house when we are with him.

Hopefully your girl is better now with her crate.

[Huly]

Here is a few pages from a friend of mine's book. It gives good advice!

[Huly]

A few more

[RyansRangers]

I crate trained my lab pupp for a long time actually he stayed in his crate 6-7 hours a day and at night while he slept for a year.. We just changed crate size. at the end his crate was huge and he loved it like his home. He weould tear it up occasionaly but thats ok, better than my furniture.

anyway dont feel bad about keeping them in crates for long time. ALl you have to do is remember to walk them at least 45 min every day and you will be fine.

[Coooleeey]

I crate trained my lab pupp for a long time actually he stayed in his crate 6-7 hours a day and at night while he slept for a year.. We just changed crate size. at the end his crate was huge and he loved it like his home. He weould tear it up occasionaly but thats ok, better than my furniture.

anyway dont feel bad about keeping them in crates for long time. ALl you have to do is remember to walk them at least 45 min every day and you will be fine.

Thanks bro. I think when I started this thread I had already made my decision but felt bad and I'm a wuss so I needed reassurance :laugh:

[ZoEd]

You should buy some puppy pads and designate a spot in your house for him to pee or crap on those pads. It helps when they're young because they can't hold it too long. That should help keep him from leaving you presents between the dogwalker and you letting him out.

Instead of crating him for extended periods, you should get a play-pen type thing and let him play in that for a while so he can use his brain and he won't be frustrated and chew on things he's not supposed to.

Hope this helps

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!

Puppy pads are a terrible mistake IMO. It teaches them to go in the house instead of outside. When my wife bought our new ****zu she was ruined from being in a pet store. She would crap in her crate then lay in it. You would bring her in from outside and she would pee, didn't matter how long she was out. So I started doing some research online and found a guy who said he doesn't allow his pets to have the run of the house until they're about 2 1/2yrs old. He said it's out of the crate, outside, in the house for 15 minutes then it's either back outside or back in the crate. He also said that you need to exercise your dog real well when you do have it outside so it works up a real good deuce. Furthermore, only feed your dog in the morning and leave the food down for 15 minutes, if it doesn't eat then put the food up.

There is no way I could leave our dog out to run around the house with us being gone during the day. She'd crap and pee on every inch of our home. It's only cruel to leave a dog in the crate if you don't play with it and exercise it when you are home. Give the dog a year or two to grow up before letting have the run of the house, unless of course you don't mind cleaning up crap and having all you stuff chewed up.

Also the guy said it's not a good idea to leave a dogs toys lying around the house because it makes them feel like anything lying on the floor is theres. Pull the toy out when it's play time and put it away when you're done. Speaking of toys, I've found the cow hooves are great for dogs when they're in the kennel and so are the Kongs. Gives them something to do while you're gone.

[RyansRangers]

Thanks bro. I think when I started this thread I had already made my decision but felt bad and I'm a wuss so I needed reassurance :laugh:

hey puppies are like having a familiy memeber and they alwasys look so damn sad... So I hear ya

[RedskinsNation]

Great Thread.

By the way...when the Dog not considered a "puppy" any longer?

I have a lab mix who is about 6- 6.5 months old. We just got him a week ago and not sure how long before its suitable to let him out of the crate on days we work (m-f). Also not sure how much longer his teething stage will last for.

Thanks.

[jrockster21]

I'm not sure about crating (always thought that was kind of cruel) but I know that dogs who tear up your house aren't being exercised enough. I hope in addition to the dog walker you are walking the dog in the morning for a good 20 minutes and when you get home for even longer.