If you have crate trained a pup and did so on a carpeted surface ...

[tellmewhenthespaceshiplandscoz]

... how did you protect (as much as you realistically can, that is) them?

We are getting a border boy end of January and want to try to crate train. We've decided a corner of the lounge (old old carpets which we intend to replace in 18 months anyway) close to kitchen door may work as it's not far to get him out for the loo. Kitchen is extremely cold at night even with heating on and garden security lights may flicker on an off).

So while we know it's going to happen we would like to protect the carpet from the majority of mess while he trains.

Any suggestions? TIA and I promise to post pics when we have him!!!

Crates come with a plastic tray on the bottom - you’d have to seriously neglect a puppy to need to protect the carpet tbh.

They only do tiny pees and if crate training is done right they don’t like to toilet in them anyway.

Do you have space for a dog playpen? The crate could initially be placed inside a playpen with washable puppy pads down. That way you can leave the crate open bur pup's movements are still restricted. With an open plan house layout, a metal playpen that can be dismantled to create fencing, can be a good substitute for gating.

We use gates not crates, but a playpen as a room divider has worked brilliantly to stop our pup accessing the cats litter tray. The pens come in different heights and with different numbers of panels. They're very useful.

We got our pup in August so this is all very fresh in my mind.

Our breeder told us puppies will not go to the toilet in their bed, which absolutely was the case for us, but I've since found out this isn't the case for many puppies. I think we only had one instance of him peeing in his crate and he must have been really desperate, so you may find yours won't go in there at all. I appreciate we were very lucky in this sense as I've seen lots of posts on here from people having to clean up inside the crate constantly.

Where the crate was situated was never an issue though. When we were toilet training he never peed around where the crate was but there were certain spots in the house he loved to go for some reason!! Mainly my nice wool rug under the dining room table 😫

We would always pick him up and take him straight out to the toilet after a nap in the crate, so no paws on the floor, which gave us a better chance of no accidents. It's more the times when he was playing, or just generally running about where he would just suddenly stop and go to the toilet. So you have to keep your eyes on them like a hawk!!

The other thing to consider too is the excited pee. Not sure if all puppies do this but every time we came downstairs, or if someone entered the house or if he greeted someone he would do a bit of involuntary peeing. So we have a rule that he can't be greeted until we are in a safe zone (hard floors that are easily cleaned!).

We slept downstairs for the first couple of weeks then moved upstairs. I bought a WiFi camera from Amazon for about 20 quid which was fab detecting any wake ups through the night, but he started sleeping through after a few weeks. It's now handy to check up on him as we're slowly introducing leaving him at home for 15/20 minutes at a time.

If your puppy is going to be crated (which is fine) I'm just a bit confused as to why you'd need anything to protect the carpet?

If the puppy is being left for long enough to make that much mess then it's being left too long full-stop really - illness aside which again, shouldn't be normal for a puppy.

Ahh tiny pees! but that's a good point and an obvious one I'd not thought of, thanks

@PyreneanAubrie I'd not considered a pen, thanks ill bear that in mind too

@snoopysnoooper thanks, that's very helpful! And sounds like what we are aiming for too.
Ahh - you are hopefully seeing the light at the end of the tunnel now

As I've said up thread it will be his day nap, bed and relax (when he goes in of his own accord ) space but I'm thinking of times when we are perhaps not quite quick enough to whisk him out for post nap wee or, as Snoopy says, excited wees when DD legs it downstairs in the am to greet him, for example.

We will categorically NOT be using it to stick him in Willy nilly.

So I know accidents may happen in there and the immediate surrounding area so looking for damage limitation

I naively thought it would only take a couple of weeks, but it didn't click for him until he reached around 4.5-5 months. So it was a hard slog but we got there in the end. All pups vary and some get it very quickly and others it takes a bit longer.

He's almost 6 months now and has lost all his sharp baby teeth and has turned into a lovely little thing now. The puppy stage was horrendous, I am not going to lie, but it doesn't last long and he is fab now!! It's so worth it.

@tellmewhenthespaceshiplandscoz

Another couple of things we found really useful too for toilet training were getting a metal pen for outside, and bells for the back door.

We found every time we took him out to pee, the yard was just way too exciting so he would get distracted and never actually do anything. So the pen (think it was about £25 from Amazon, nothing fancy but you can use them as a long fence or a square/hexagonal shape) was amazing for keeping him contained in a boring spot. We still use it now!

And the bells I got from Pets at Home. They are on a long tether which you hang on the handle of your door. Every time we took him out, we would say 'toilet' and ring the bells. Now he rings them himself to ask to be let out which is so helpful as I can't always see him waiting by the back door, especially when I am working. I didn't think he was getting it at all but we still kept on with it, and all of a sudden a couple of weeks ago he started ringing them 😃

I've been reading about these bells and I'm fascinated!

Be warned, mine has a button he presses for when he needs wees but he’s started pressing it then heading to his treat cupboard when we get up, instead of the garden 🤣

I hate to tell you but you're about to hit adolescence 😜😆😬

Ahh! That's so funny! > memorises these cute stories to recall during dark moments ahead <

@PyreneanAubrie I am ignoring it for now!! Let me have my peace for a couple of weeks 🤣

Oh man yes, the teenage years!

Remind me - why did I think this would be a good idea?!

Also can't believe no one has posted cute dog pics yet!

Loving some of your user names btw.

You may live to regret saying that about pics...

We have a pup. We simply just took him out every 20 minutes during the first 2 weeks. But not at night. We were lucky that he didn’t need to go at night at all.

@tellmewhenthespaceshiplandscoz I walk dogs for a living and look after many who are crated and I've genuinely never known a single one to ruin the surrounding floor.

We crate trained our puppy but that was totally separate to toilet training, as PPs have said. He never once peed in his crate. We had the crate inside a large puppy pen, and never left him in a room on his own (even in the pen) until he was confident to be left. He probably peed on the floor one to three times a day for the first couple of weeks, when we weren't quick enough/watching closely enough, but after that he was fine. Now he won't even pee anywhere near the back door, and expects to be taken half a mile away to do a poo.

I wouldn't get a bell because you want to gradually teach him bladder control as well as where to pee, so eventually he will pee when he gets the chance, not just whenever he feels like it. Also then he can't use it to say 'I want to go outside and bark at pigeons'.

I used the toilet training method recommended by the Dog Training Advice and Support facebook group (the real one, with strict rules about who can post advice).

Re: the crate downstairs at night. I was adamant we would do this too but our pup arrived with such separation anxiety that if we left her alone in her crate she would anxiety poo – every single time, no matter what we did. We tried sneaking out when she was asleep, we tried making sure she’d pooed just before she went to bed – no dice. We gave in after a week and have her in her crate in our bedroom but we’re slowly moving it out into the hall inch by inch! Be prepared for the possibility that yours won’t cope alone for a while. Ours is 12 weeks now and still can’t handle more than a couple of minutes at a time.

Oh wow!!! Basically a cotton wool ball as a pup! Gorgeous still though. X

Yes, we're ready for best laid plans to need to shift and probably quite frequently and if we need to move him in with us at night we'll have to.