When do we close the cage door overnight?

[MotherOfGirls]

Our 12 week old pup sleeps in his cage in the kitchen with the cage door open and newspaper by the kitchen door. We never hear from him and in the morning he has used the paper to wee. We are doing this as I have read young pups get stressed if they can't get out of their bed area to wee and at this age they can't last all night. My question is, do we just wait until the newspaper stops being wet before closing the door, or do we, at some stage, close the door and hope he'll let us know when he needs to go out? I don't want to set back his training by having him wee in his bed (and I'm enjoying the unbroken nights!) but I just don't know whether what we are doing is right.

Oh and if the answer is to carry on with what we are doing - are puppy pads any good? We don't get newspapers regularly and I'm running out! Also, the wee extends to the floor, which is suffering a bit.

(I should probably mention he is a rescue pup and his age is only an estimate!)

[HereBefore]

What I do (opinion varies) is make a toileting area in the crate, big crate, half bedding, half paper. With my three dogs, one always barked to get out, even with the paper and other two stopped using the paper after a period of time, I stop putting the paper in and fill up the crate with bedding. I close the door of the crate from day one as IMO it's not just about toilet training, it's about protecting your home from little teeth.

[MotherOfGirls]

Thanks HereBefore. Our current crate probably isn't big enough for that - we may look at getting a bigger one. Do you remember what sort of age yours were when they stopped using the paper? I know they are all different but I'd like to have some idea when the floor might stop suffering! There is very little in our kitcken which could be damaged and so far he's been an angel overnight. A different story in the evenings ...

[minimu11]

Umm not quite sure why you are using a crate if you do not shut the door.

The whole point is to shut the door and encourage them to hold their wee through the night until they are let out to do it.

Most 12 week old puppies can go from 10-6 easily without weeing.

By having the door open you are training the dog to think it is ok to wee indoors.

[MotherOfGirls]

Getting him used to his crate, minimu, so he will sleep in it with the door closed when he's capable of going through the night. He also spends time in his crate during the day, with the door closed, when we need to go out for an hour or when I need to get things done without his help! He very rarely has accidents in the house now - he just wees indoors during the night, on the newspaper, so I really don't think we are teaching him to wee indoors. However, my question is, should we wait until he stops weeing on the paper before shutting the door or should we go ahead and shut the door. I guess your answer is that we should shut the door.

[HereBefore]

I'm thinking just shut the door, my first pup barked to get out, second was probably about 12 weeks when she stopped using the paper and third was more like 16 weeks. My third is now 7 months and spent a couple of nights out of the crate, she did a wee and poo on the kitchen floor one night and a wee another, the crate is still very necessary in her case!

[MotherOfGirls]

Thanks, HereBefore. Tonight's the night we shut the door!

[MotherOfGirls]

Good news - ish! Bed at 10.15pm, pup made a fuss at midnight so let him out for a wee and straight back to crate. Continued to make a fuss for the next half hour so I took him outside again. VERY pleased to see me and immediately lay on my feet in the garden! Straight back to crate and fine until morning :)