House traing/toilet training using the crate?

[Marne]

So pup was peeing and pooping everywhere so we decided to try crate traing, pup has been crated for over a week, i let him out every hour and take him straight outside, he pee's or poops, gets lots of praise and is then returned to his crate, he only comes out for walks (twice a day), trips to the garden (every hour) and to do a bit of training (i try and do this after he has pooped and pee'd in the garden so no chance of an accident. Anyway today i thought i would let him run around the living room for a bit, he had just been outside and done his buisness so thought it would be safe. Anyway i left him for 5 minutes, came back to poop, it was by the back door but he made no attempt to ask to go out, he asks to go out of his cage when he needs to go (by crying) so i expected him to do the same in the living room.

So, a few questions.

1- Am i doing this right?
2- How long should it take until he realises he needs to do it outside?
3- Do i carry on doing what i'm doing? I feel a bit mean that he's crated a lot but i cant always be in the room to catch him before he does it on the floor and dd2 has ASD and would happily play in poo.

Pup is almost 14 weeks old (still young) but would love to crack the toilet training so he can have more freedom.

The crate is only for when you can't supervise - not for being kept in all day.

For the first 8 weeks or so I took mine out after eating, sleeping, playing and every half hour or so in between that he was out - that caught most of it.

Then we got 2 or 3 weeks where he definitely seemed to associate it with going outside and he started to look towards the door when he wanted out, but it took those few weeks before he seemed to click that he could do anything about asking to go out.

Then he started asking to go out and had an occasional accident every 3 or 4 days for a couple of weeks and since then he's been fine.

Someone on here sugested i kept him in the crate at all times other than for trips to the garden, training and walks (he's not in there all day as we c an spend a good 20 minutes in the garden at a time, 2 x half an hour walks and an hour clicker training, he also comes out to be fed using his wobbler kong which keeps him busy for half an hour).

When we bough him home he had free reign of the living room and could use his crate when he pleased, but he was peeing and pooping everywhere, he seems to pee for the sake of it and whenever i pop to the loo he poops on the floor. He seems to do it due to seperation anxiety, he still hates me not being with him (still crys a lot when i'm not in the room).

I thought once he realised where he had to do it (and he does, as soon as i take him out and say 'go wee wee' he does it straight away in the correct place), i thought after a few days of having him in the crate and taking him out, praising him lots it would have clicked, i didn't plan on having to do it for more than a week .

He has had a bit of a runny tum today so i could put it down to that (tried him with a pigs ear this morning and it seems to have upset his tummy a little), i'm trying to let him have a little run around and a play after he has been outside but sometimes he choses to go in the crate with his toy.

And looking on the bright side, he did do it right next to the back door which is progress , a wekk ago he would just do it anywhere.

I don't think you should keep him crated , can you not stick him in the garden when you go to the loo then he'll be in the right place .

I just used the crate at night and as when suggested I couldn't supervise. I spent hours wandering around in garden in the rain! I took him out hourly plus after eating and sleeping. I also took him straight out if he had an accident and praised like a loon when he went outside.

I broke the crate training rule too by having a larger crate and having paper in half. He was dry at night after a week.

They do pee a lot, lol.

I'd let him out of the crate, take him outside after eating, sleeping, playing and in between and only put him in the crate if you have to leave the room.

Thank you, i am out of the room a lot, he does have a large crate so plenty of room, he plays with his toys in there but luckily has never toileted in there. He wont go outside on his own, if i put him out he just sits by the door crying, he wont even stay out there with my other dog (has to be me), he doesn't really explore the garden either, we have a large garden but he just goes out, does his buisness and then sits by me feet or by the door ready to go in. He's probably in the crate for 5 hours during the day (the rest of the time he is being walked, played with or in the garden), at night he sleeps in the crate and cries to be let out twice in the night (rarely sleeps through), he's then let outside for 20 minutes first thing followed by a bit of play time with my other dog, he's then put back in the crate when i do the school run and walked as soon as i get back, then sleeps until lunch time, fed, let out again and played with. He's crated when i'm out of the room (which is a lot some days), sometimes he comes on the school run/pick up and then has another walk late afternoon.

He also eats in the crate (have to feed him in there or he gobbles up his own food and then pinches my other dogs food) .

He's just been outside now and has chosen to go into his cage for a nap (door is open as i'm sat next to him).

When do you plan to stop getting up in the night ? Unless you go to bed ridiculously early having to get up twice a night seems a tad excessive at 14 weeks to me .

Flora- he's had a poorly tummy but its starting to settle down, he doesn't eat after 3.30pm and doesn't dring after 6pm, i let him out before i go to bed around 10.30pm, he wakes once at 2am and sometimes wakes a 2nd time (cries to go out), often poo's when i take him out. He has slept through a coulple times. He's been having extra food to gain weight (as advised by the vet) which probably makes him need to go out more, until is weight ok i cant cut the food down (he is getting there).

What are you feeding him on just out of interest - there is a lot of crappy dog food masquerading as good stuff, I can advise if you like. Secondly, beware when you praise him for wee-ing of doing if when he starts to go as the praise will distract him and he will stop, only to finish when back inside. Say the command you would like to use when he starts to go and then when he has finished massive praise and treats. The crate really is just for the time you can't keep an eye on him, not for him to be in most of the time. What breed of dog is it? (I'm a qualified behaviouralist and happy to help if I can)

That seems early for a last feed...when are you feeding him?

That sounded really judgmental about it being early, lol... I just wondered what your feeding times were.

If you fed him later he'd have a better chance of going all night before needing to poo. Maybe 6pm.

He's on wainwrights, we have tried several foods but this is the only one that has slightly helped firm up his poo's (tried JWB and it went straight through him, even the chicken and rice from the vets gave him the runs).

He's being fed at 7am (in his bowl), 11am using his kong thing and again at 3.30pm (a smaller meal in his bowl), plus he gets treats for being good (just his normal food) and has had a pigs ear today.

He seems to poo an hour or so after i feed him and then once in the night (but not every night, just most).

He's been in and out of the vet with a poorly tummy sinse we got him and i have followed all the advice they have given (with food and feeding times). He also drinks loads during the day, told the vet this but they said it could be due to the tummy problems. If his tummy isnt better by next week he has to go back for blood tests .

Vet has treated him for hook worm and other parisites this week and he seemed a bit better (until i fed him the pigs ear today), he's also been treated for colitus and giving antibiotics and probiotics. Vet seems to think its a problem with his gut rather than a food problem.

I had terrible trouble with my pups tummy Marne. Once I finally found a food that suited I had to cut out all treats for a week ir so until he was solid again. The vet told me to give him a spoonful of probiotic yoghurt once a day which he loves. Whether it is the food or the yoghurt it has made the world of difference.

I still have to watch what I give him but have been able to reintroduce the odd carefully chosen treat.

Dry food doesn't seem to suit my monster puppy at all, he either looks at it like he's not convinced it's food or he'll eat it happily, but it makes him really loose.

He's been on wainwright trays because he's on crate rest and wet food is easier for me to keep him entertained with (in kongs and what have you) and coincidentally he's pooing so much better - I mention it because he's also drinking about a third of what he was previously.

I have some of the wainwrights wet food here, I tried it a while ago but my give it a try again. Luckily he's not fussy at all and will eat anything given too him and anything else he can find ( which is not so great ), my other dog has Jwb and has nice hard poos (so much easier to pick up) but when I tried it on pup it really upset his tum. Chicken seems to make him worse too but vet said he may have a chicken allergy (apparently its quite common ).

He's been out of the cage more today, walked him early and let him run around whilst I did the cleaning. He's now sleeping in his cage but will let him out when he wakes up, have also weighed out his food and will try him on 2 meals, one in the morning and one around 5pm with treats in between. He had me up in the night 3 times to go outside, I'm not sure why he can't sleep for longer, maybe I need to tire him out more? But it's tricky when your not ment to walk them too far.