# crate training and other questions



## bailey79 (Jan 3, 2015)

Hi!
I introduced myself a few days ago and really appreciated the welcome and advice!

Bailey is 2 years old and we have had her for almost a week. (only 3 nights at our house, as we were traveling). Her previous owners had her in her crate a decent amount of time and said she did fine. And she does do ok here, but she whines a lot. Her crate is downstairs in the kitchen and our bedrooms are upstairs. She cries for about 30 minutes I think and then quiets down for the night. When we come down in the morning, she yaps until we let her out (which is right away because we know she needs to go outside).

I homeschool my kids during the day. Yesterday we had Bailey out and she was just our little shadow. She settled down at our feet and it was fine. Well today I discovered potty on the carpet in the living room. I'm sorry but if she's going to have accidents, I'm not giving her the run of the house until that stops. So today, as I type and as my kids do their work, she is in her crate. She is crying and crying. 

At night I feel like she's a baby who I'm letting "cry-it-out." And it works - she gets quiet. I'm not sure what will happen during the day. At night it's dark, quiet, and nobody is around. During the day she can hear us and we get up and move around. She sees and hears us. Do I keep her in there and teach her that sometimes she will just need to be in her crate? 

I mean obviously I hope to get the issue of housebreaking her under control and I hope she can be out running around. 

We take her outside a lot but she doesn't go potty every time. Our old dog went every time we'd let her out! So this is weird for me.

And I have a question about toys for her. She doesn't seem to want to play with anything! She just wants to follow us around and snuggle. Which is very precious.  But shouldn't she want to play with something??


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## lydiatug (Feb 21, 2012)

Well, she definitely needs time to settle in and "find her place". The first thing I would do is put her crate in your room at night where she can see you. Downstairs all alone can be quite daunting for a new pup. 

An x-pen downstairs with a bed & some toys etc., along with potty pads would probably be helpful for daytime. Once she knows where to "go", you can better transition to totally outside if that's what you prefer. Take her out frequently, especially after eating/drinking/sleeping, and lots of praise when she does good  I don't generally let them have free "roaming" without constant watch until they prove themselves, but they do need quite frequent attention...not that I can keep my hands off them much, lol


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## pammy4501 (Aug 8, 2007)

I would cry too if you crated me and I could see and hear everyone. Can she be gated to an area with more room and can see all of you? I gate my dogs to the kitchen and family room when I can't be present with them in other areas of the house. Potty training isn't accomplished merely by crating the dog. They need to be taken out to the potty spot regularly and rewareded for success. 

As for the cry it out, I think it's a bit much to expect a dog that you have had for only a week to be comfortable being crated for long periods. Can she be crated in your bedroom at night so she is closer to you? She might cry less this way. She is very new to your house and is trying to bond with you. She needs more lap time and less crate time. Once she is comfortable and feeling at home, she will start to play more.


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## bailey79 (Jan 3, 2015)

It's hard to not compare her to our old dog! We tend to do things the same way, but we will just have to learn with Bailey what works and what doesn't!

We will try crating her in our room tonight. I think once I can trust her not to have accidents, maybe she wouldn't even have to sleep in her crate at all. 

She's such a sweet dog and believe me, if she's not in her crate, she is in someone's lap! And today was the first day we tried the crate thing. I think tomorrow we'll try just having her in the school room with us....

Thanks, everyone!


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## jmm (Nov 23, 2004)

You can leash her to you during the day so she can hang out but not run off and potty. Or you could use a baby gate to keep her in the same room. I find my Malts all do better sleeping in the bedroom. I've had other breeds that are fine crates elsewhere, but not the Malts.


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## Dominic (Nov 4, 2012)

You are probably doing this already but as a reminder, keep telling her to go potty and lead her to the pee pad or outside. When Elena joined our family, she was 3 and pretty much potty trained but we need to start from zero so they know what to do. I would tell her "go potty go" pretty much every hour. Every single time she potty right make a big deal out of it. Elena is with us for 9 months now and I still tell her to go potty randomly and give her favorite treat every time she goes.


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## elly (Sep 11, 2006)

My girls and the boys sleep in crates at night. They are all in the same room. When Mercedes was a puppy she did sleep in our room in her crate. I moved her after a few weeks and she was fine. Whitney only slept in our room a couple nights and than she moved into the room with Mercredes. We always make the crate a happy place. Never used as punishment. When I was at Eukanuba in December I took Whitney and she would not sleep until I put her in her crate. I thought she would be happy snuggling with me. My pups feel safe in their crates. they do not have free run of the house because they can be naughty. They are allowed in the family room, kitchen and Daddy's office. I like the idea of leasing her to you or try putting her in a xpen in the room with u and the kids. Malts are very social and love being with their family.


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## maddysmom (Mar 8, 2012)

Both of my fluffs slept in my room in my bed until I realized I wasn't sleeping good so they now sleep in the kitchen. It took a month of whining but now they love it. Lacie always hated to be crated however SUKI would have stayed in thier all day. She was very comfortable with it so I would think it all depends on the dog whether or not you should crate train. I personally like the xpen better.
When I work, they are gated in the kitchen, never have the run of the house and they are more than fine.
As far as potty training outside~ take her out to potty. If she doesn't potty within 10 min, bring her back in. Do not play with her outside nor talk until she understands that she is going out to potty. I brought my two out every 30-45 min. No playing, no talking. When they went potty~lots and lots of praise.
My two are also bell trained so they let me know when they need to go out to potty. Suki took a little longer to get the hang of it but is a champ now on ringing to go out.


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