Toilet traininh

[Oops4]

So we have a 14 month and 10 week old border terrriers. Toilet training is well underway with pup and she is starting to realise outside is for the toilet. She came from the breeder using pads really well but we are trying not to use them and don't want to confuse her. The problem we're having is that instead of her crate being a "clean" space, she is actively seeking it out as the place to pee/poo. Our older dog has never done this and so the crate was really useful in training him but not this time. She not stressed by the crate, she chooses to go in it to pee and then comes back out.

I'm doing everything the same, outside very frequently, lots of praise when she goes outside, ignoring accidents, cleaning mess with appropriate enzyme spray and keeping the bedding clean (my washing mashine can't keep up). I just don't know how to stop her using her crate as a toilet, and what's worse, she shares it with our older dog who is looking very confused that it's now ok to go there.

Ignore the typos 😒

Can you shut the crate when they're not being left in it?

Does she sleep in the crate? It's very unusual that she would use it as a toilet if it's her bed. Has anyone ever told her off for going on the floor as maybe she is going in the crate because she thinks it's safe and nobody will tell her off there.

It really is a matter of cleaning the hell out of the crate and giving her the tastiest treats for going outside. Try giving her a command for going to the toilet so you can ask her on demand outside.

I feel your pain, toilet training is arduous and that's why I only get adult dogs now!

We have two crates. One upstairs for bed which she doesn't tend to pee in, and one downstairs for when we're out which she does. She will also sleep in the one during the day when she wants. She'll also choose to go on their beds/cushions etc in the other rooms. It's like she prefers the softness! That's a good idea about shutting the crate, I'll try that. We have a stair gate in the kitchen so she can still be contained without being in the crate. It's just odd because our older dog never went in the crate, even before he was trained, he just knew not to.

Nope, she's never been told off. She does it then merrily comes trotting over for a treat (which is ignored)

So we seem to be making some progress. She is now definitely associating going outside for doing the toilet and is starting to link her queue word with it. Yay. We've kept the crate locked when she's not sleeping and not had an accident in it for a few days so thanks for the tip. Also washing all the beds in biological washing powder.

Just need to work on her realising that we don't want her to go inside! Just had her out in the garden and she happily peed when asked, ran around for about 20 mins with no sign of needing anything else. Brought her in and before I got through the door she'd done a poo. 😒

She's contained mostly to the kitchen until the evening so atleast it's a very cleanable floor. I clean with antibacterial cleaner then an enzyme spray but she does seem to be going back to similar spots so thinking my enzyme spray just isn't good enough. What ones do other people use?

(Nancy, I could have happily skipped the puppy stage this time round but with two young kids, a cat, a existing dog and It being terriers, our best option was a puppy 😊)