# How much Crate, play and going outside, tips please?



## Liberty (Feb 19, 2008)

I'm not sure about how much play combined with crate to do? 
We got Lottes crate last night. I'm taking her outside every 2 hours and she did a poop and pee at 1.00 am. Hubby then got up at 4am, but she'd pooped in her crate and was covered in poop. 

This morning I got up at 7 and took her out and she pooped first thing. Then she had her breakfast and then I took her out again and she did a pee. So thats a good start. But, when I brought her back in the house should I let her play for a while before going back in the crate? or should I put her straight in the crate?

I feel quite cruel simply taking her out and she runs around then bringing her in and sticking her straight back in the crate because she cries. She's had the run of the house since Saturday, so she is seeing her crate as a punishment. It's now about 9am and I have left the door of her crate open and am trying to coax her in and keep telling her that it is her bed. I even left a couple of small treats in there which she did go in and get.

Am I doing this all wrong? Should I be taking her out every 2 hours and putting her in the crate immediately afterwards and ignore her crying? 

Right now for example she is asleep next to my german shep in the front hallway and if I was to put her in the crate she will just sit there crying. 

Thanks


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## The A Team (Dec 1, 2005)

This is what I did when Archie was a puppy. I bought a big X-pen - it's like a folding fence that you can set up in different shapes to fit the area where it will be. I had mine so it was long and narrow and I put a strip of left over linoleum on the floor to protect my carpet. Then, in the pen was his crate, food and water bowls, toys and a pee pee pad at the far end. 

The only time he was in there was when I was not around to supervise him, just like a baby. 

At first I had it down in the family room, but then brought it upstairs and put it in my bedroom so he could sleep closer to me. It worked for us anyway. 

It's hard for a puppy to be alone at first, afterall, he's been used to being with his mom and siblings. Do you have a furry white toy dog that looks like him? (just a thought) Or those balls that you put a treat in it and the pup works to get it out - it keeps 'em busy for a while. 

Good luck! and enjoy that baby :biggrin:


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## Gail (Oct 14, 2007)

I don't think you are doing it right. If she poops and pees, let her out of the crate to play while being supervised for a period of time. If she doesn't "go", put her back into the crate, wait about 15 minutes, take her out again and see if she goes outdoors. Repeat this process until she goes. Once she eliminates outside, let her out to play.


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## jmm (Nov 23, 2004)

You need to figure out a schedule that works for you. 

A crate is not a place for a pup to live...it is a tool for housetraining and puppy safety. 

She needs to get out and have attention and exercise. 

An example of a schedule would be:

Get up, potty

Breakfast, potty

Play for an hour or so (remember, playing pups can urinate every 15 minutes!)

Nap, potty

etc. 

Normally, my pups get about 30 min playtime plus a short walk in the morning before we leave for work. Then a couple hours in the afternoon. Then an hour or so at night plus a walk. It works for us and a tired puppy is a good puppy.


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## Liberty (Feb 19, 2008)

Thanks, yeah it makes sense. I didn't want to confine her to her crate especially as my other dog is not using a crate. Today I have put her dinner in her crate and she has been out every hour. We only had 1 pee on the floor and I worked out that when she pee's in the garden she soon clicked onto being rewarded with a tiny treat for doing a pee. In fact I said 3 times, "go pee"and she literally peed in front of me and then jumped up and down for her treat. 

Hopefully I'm getting there? we shall see what night-time brings


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## Cara (Jan 31, 2008)

My puppy is almost 5 months old. I also had bought an XPen. The Xpen connects to the crate. I have her toys and her WIZDOG in her pen area and she has room to play in the circle area. The door to her crate is always open when its connected to the XPEN. She stays in her XPEN when we are at work or we cant watch her when we are home. I never leave her unsupervised. Snowball LOVES her crate. She is always in there to rest or just lounge. I bring the crate upstairs at night and put it next to my bed. I take her out at 10pm and then at 630 am. She can hold it for 8 1/2 hrs at night. She has neevr had an accident in her crate. She has had accidents outside the crate when she isnt in her XPEN. Also, do not feed your puppy after 7pm and that might help with the poop. I also wouldnt feed her in her crate. I would put the food outide her crate area. I definitely would invest in an XPEN.


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## jmm (Nov 23, 2004)

Feeding dogs in their crate is a way to make it a positive place. It also encourages cleanliness since most animals do not like to eliminate where they eat and sleep. 

You can use a crate without a pen. There is really no need for a pen unless you want the dog to have access to pee pads.


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## Liberty (Feb 19, 2008)

I'm struggling at night time. I went to bed after she was walked at 12 midnight . I got up at 4am and she did a pee outside. But when hubby got up at 6am she'd pooped again and pee'd in her crate. I have given her breakfast and have been out now for 3 hours every 15 minutes and she still hasn't gone either wee or poop. :smheat: She simply runs around with no intention of pooping? 
I'm going to keep her on her lead each 15 minutes or she thinks it's playtime each time I take her out. I'm exhausted. I've been doing this now for a week and am getting no where fast :smheat: and hardly getting any sleep myself.


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## Gail (Oct 14, 2007)

When I first brought Scarlett home, I set my alarm for every 2 hours . I extended it to every 3 then every 4 and finally she was sleeping through the night. 

She also pooped and peed in her crate when I left for work and she was upset. After a week of it, I put her in a playpen. There was something about the extra room that worked for her. I eventually got rid of the playpen and she is back in the crate. No more accidents but it was finding what worked for her.


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## Liberty (Feb 19, 2008)

> I'm struggling at night time. I went to bed after she was walked at 12 midnight . I got up at 4am and she did a pee outside. But when hubby got up at 6am she'd pooped again and pee'd in her crate. I have given her breakfast and have been out now for 3 hours every 15 minutes and she still hasn't gone either wee or poop. :smheat: She simply runs around with no intention of pooping?
> I'm going to keep her on her lead each 15 minutes or she thinks it's playtime each time I take her out. I'm exhausted. I've been doing this now for a week and am getting no where fast :smheat: and hardly getting any sleep myself.[/B]


I've been taking her out and she finally peed and pooped at 2pm?! At least I managed to get her to do it outside ........


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## Gail (Oct 14, 2007)

When I first started potty training, I would say "go potty" while Scarlett was going. When she was done, I'd praise her and give her a treat. I'm sure my neighbors thought I was nuts for standing next to my puppy saying "go potty" over and over. I also said "go potty" at the back door before we went out. You have to associate the act with a word or phrase or she/he won't know what you want.


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## ShilohsMom (Jun 25, 2007)

> I don't think you are doing it right. If she poops and pees, let her out of the crate to play while being supervised for a period of time. If she doesn't "go", put her back into the crate, wait about 15 minutes, take her out again and see if she goes outdoors. Repeat this process until she goes. Once she eliminates outside, let her out to play.[/B]


I totally agree. Freedom and playtime should be directly corelated to doing the potty in the right place. It acts as a reward for a job well done.


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## jmm (Nov 23, 2004)

Moving around and being up stimulates them to potty. You may have just caught her at a time where she was starting to need to poop, but went back to bed before she got a chance. 

I agree with setting an alarm and taking her out at set times overnight. Her body will get on your schedule.


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## phesty (May 30, 2006)

You also may want to make sure that her crate is not too big. She needs enough room to lay down, stand up and turn around, but that's it. If your crate is too big, you can partition it off with cardboard or something. But, if the puppy was raised in a cage where mommy eliminated in the cage, it'll take longer for her to understand that she shouldn't poo where she sleeps.

Josie says: Just be patient and consistent, all us pups like to make our mommies happy!


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## binniebee (Sep 27, 2007)

When I was housetraining Midis i used two different crates: a larger wire daytime crate and a smaller pet taxi for sleeping. The idea was for him to not feel like he could poop or pee in his bed at night, since the pet taxi was really too small to do anything but stand up, turn around and lay down in. His daytime wire crate was big enough to accomodate food, water, baby blanket, chew bone or Kong and pee pad. If he had to go during the day while we were at work he had a place to go. HOwever, I am glad to report that he only went in his crate during the day about two times before he was completely house trained. He did have a couple of accidents (Whew! Ewwww!) at night in his little night crate, but that was clearly an intestinal problem, not a choice he made!

I also would take treats (in our case , fresh boiled chicken) out with us when we took him out to do his business telling him to "tee-tee outside" over and over again. When he did then I would praise and give him his treat on the spot. Now we just treat after he comes back inside and don't go out with him (fenced in yard).

This has been my most successful house training of all the little toys I've had! I am quite proud of both Midis and myself (and hubby) for handling it so much better this time around. (Do not ask about previous toys' experiences!)

:shocked: 
Cyndi


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## Liberty (Feb 19, 2008)

Thanks for the advice everyone. Apart from trhe pee yesterday morning we seem to be doing well. We had no accidents in the night! although I did get up at 3.so am and again at 7 am. Nearly all times Lotte has done everything in the garden. I brought her some tiny treats and give them to her when she goes outside. 
I shall try to keep this routine going. 

How old are they before they can sleep all night without needing to go to the loo? Please don;t tell me I will have to be up at 3am forever???? 

Thanks


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## Gail (Oct 14, 2007)

If I remember right, Scarlett was 3 months old when she started sleeping through the night. I make sure I play with her so she gets good and tired and take her out right before we go to bed.


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## Liberty (Feb 19, 2008)

Thanks Gail, I also suggested to hubby that we take her out and play for a while before winding down for bed time. If I sit watching TV then when we go to bed she is wide awake. She is 18 weeks old now. It's now 3pm and she's held hereslf for like 6 hours and now she's alseep. This shows that it's possible! 

We took her for a walk in the forest which she thoroughly enjoyed and has now crashed out on the sofa. We are going to take her again to the forest today..

My husband bathed her last night and it's been his first weekend with her and right now they are both asleep on the sofa. I think she is a little bit spoiled. He has brought her hair clips and a t-shirt and some stuff for her eye stain and shampoo. I think he see's her like a real baby, quite funny. There's him with this tiny maltese and he's 6ft3 and me with my big german shepherd and I'm just over 5ft. It's all going well, no accidents yet


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## jmm (Nov 23, 2004)

Usually between 4-5 months my little ones can make it all night.


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## Liberty (Feb 19, 2008)

We have had another clean/cry night :biggrin: HUbby takes Lotte out at 4am as he has to get up for work at this time. I then take her out again at 7.30-8.00 and then give her breakfast. This seems to work well. I'm feeling pretty pleased about things now. I hope it stays this way


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## Gail (Oct 14, 2007)

> We have had another clean/cry night :biggrin: HUbby takes Lotte out at 4am as he has to get up for work at this time. I then take her out again at 7.30-8.00 and then give her breakfast. This seems to work well. I'm feeling pretty pleased about things now. I hope it stays this way[/B]



I'm glad to hear things are working better for you.


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