# scratching to get out when in crate (also more potty training question



## sheisaeval (Dec 14, 2008)

So at first he seems to find his crate ok, but now it's hard to put him in when it's bedtime.

So when it's bedtime, around 10 or so, we try to put him in the crate but he usually doesn't want to go in and just wants to play. So we lure him in with a treat and when he finally is in the crate and finishes his treat, he scratches the crate door to try to get out. It usually stops eventually but I feel bad puttin him in it and I'm afraid the neighbors can hear because it can be loud. Any suggestions? Maybe I should try to somehow relax him before bed so he's more calm?


Also, still working on his potty training. Right now every morning we take him out of the crate first thign and put him in the bathroom potty spot and close the door and wait for him to pee. And when he pees, we give him breakfast and water. But as soon as he eats he poops, so should I just give him a little food and take him to the potty again? And then finish feeding him? He usually poops when he's not done with eating becase he goes back to eating after pooping. And then after that since he drinks water I'm afraid he'll pee again so I feel like I should take him back to the potty spot after breakfast, even though he peed right before. Any ideas?

He' stilll been having pooping and peeing accidents but at least he's been hitting the pad more and more often. 


We're also working on "sit." Usually during the triannig process i'll say sit a couple of times and eventually he'll "get it" and sit when I say if I give a snack, but I feel like when it's the next day, he'll forget it, so I hope eventually it'll click in his mind. I'll have to be patient.


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## jmm (Nov 23, 2004)

1. Don't close him in the bathroom and expect him to potty. You need to stand there WITH HIM and reward him with a good treat and verbal praise as he goes potty. 

2. Put his potty time on a schedule. It is fine for that to include a break in breakfast if that is what he needs right now. You need to TAKE HIM to the potty and do not expect him to go on his own. Active, playing puppies can go every 15-30 minutes. Sleeping puppies can hold it for one hour more than their age in months. So 3 months old for 4 hours. 

3. If you are not actively watching your dog (looking at the dog), he needs to be crated. 

4. Dogs need exercise! Just running in the house is not adequate. A good long evening walk will go a long way to having a sleepy puppy. Games like hide and seek, tug, and fetch are great. Having a few short training sessions per day (even use his dinner as a training session) will also help tire the brain. 

5. You are training sit backwards. You need to reward the action first (butt hits ground) and once he is actively offering it to you, add the word sit as he sits. Eventually move the word to before the action to put it on cue. A great book on to explain how dogs learn and basic training advice is Culture Clash by Jean Donaldson. 

There is a housetraining post pinned in this forum. Please read it. 

You are doing the right thing by ignoring the scratching. Focus on tiring him out and working on his kennel up cue multiple times in the evenings when you do not lock him up.


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## sheisaeval (Dec 14, 2008)

1. We don't keep him in by himself. We go in and sit on the toilet and just wait WITH him in the bathroom, but we don't always have the most time in the world, because everytime we go in with him sometimes he pees and sometimes he takes forever. We wait there and just sit there and try not to distract him until he pees. I've read that you are supposed to put him in for 10 min right after taking out of crate and if he doesnt pee, put back in crate for few min, and then try again

2. He's not a puppy, he's an adopted 1-2 years dog who seem to have not been or forgot to be potty trained, so I know he can hold his bladder for longer. He pees maybe 4-5 times a day?

3. He's crated during the day when we're at work so I feel like he has a lot of energy to burn when we are finally at home with him. 

4. We do play a lot of fetch and his toys and such in the apt. We haven't been on many walks yet doesn't like his leash (it's hard to walk him because he sniffs everything and likes run around in circles around me or something) so I am trying to work on first things first (potty and sit, etc) before I start leash training. 

5. So pretty much as soon as his butt touches the floor, reward him. And then next time, when it happens, say sit as well?

QUOTE (JMM @ Jun 2 2009, 11:32 PM) index.php?act=findpost&pid=784988


> 1. Don't close him in the bathroom and expect him to potty. You need to stand there WITH HIM and reward him with a good treat and verbal praise as he goes potty.
> 
> 2. Put his potty time on a schedule. It is fine for that to include a break in breakfast if that is what he needs right now. You need to TAKE HIM to the potty and do not expect him to go on his own. Active, playing puppies can go every 15-30 minutes. Sleeping puppies can hold it for one hour more than their age in months. So 3 months old for 4 hours.
> 
> ...


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## jmm (Nov 23, 2004)

Set a timer for potty time. I set it for 2 minutes for Roo. If he didn't go, back in the crate. Try again a little bit later. Dogs learn by consequence of the behavior. If the consequence of going potty in the right place is not much...why would he do it again? If he gets an awesome treat and praise, it increases the likelihood the behavior will recur. 

He would not be having accidents if he was on a schedule and was not out without being watched (your eyes on him, not you watching tv and him wandering). 

Housetraining is same for puppies and adults, you may slowly increase time between potty breaks in an adult whereas that takes longer in pups. 

Don't put leash training on the back burner. Go to apdt.com and find a trainer. Get into a basic obedience class. Your dog needs to leave the apartment and have activity. It is important for his physical and mental health. Being crated all day and night without some good physical activity is a LOT to ask of a dog. 

Please re-read the description of sit. Once he is regularly offering the sit during your session, you can add the word AS HE SITS. Slowly move the word earlier until it is the CUE to the behavior. Again, the book I suggested and your training class will help you along here.


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## sheisaeval (Dec 14, 2008)

QUOTE (JMM @ Jun 3 2009, 12:17 AM) index.php?act=findpost&pid=784997


> Set a timer for potty time. I set it for 2 minutes for Roo. If he didn't go, back in the crate. Try again a little bit later. Dogs learn by consequence of the behavior. If the consequence of going potty in the right place is not much...why would he do it again? If he gets an awesome treat and praise, it increases the likelihood the behavior will recur.
> 
> He would not be having accidents if he was on a schedule and was not out without being watched (your eyes on him, not you watching tv and him wandering).
> 
> ...


Unfortunately I live in the boonies in Korea and the nearest trainer on that site is i Seoul (an hour and half by bus). But if anyone knows of any other trainers that is nearer to my area, I'd be happy to use them. It's just not the easiest to find them right now.


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## Maglily (Feb 3, 2009)

Is he is the crate all day with no breaks? Can he be kept in a large pen or a room with a baby gate during the day? I think it is a long time if he is there more than a few hours.


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## bluebuzz81 (Jul 29, 2008)

My babies LOVE the dried liver treats. My girl dog will literally go and try to take it out of my boy dog's mouth because he eats so much slower than her. With me, the liver treat just worked so much better than giving them other treats. Maltese are so picky when it comes to eating you might have to find you a really really good one to make them want to go on the pad. 

My girl dog I had a lot of trouble with, but she has finally learned that she gets a treat when she goes on the pad. This week ( YES Finally after working and working) she has been going on the pad everytime. When I am in a place where I can not see the pad, I still know she went because she runs to me all so happy. So I go look at the pad and see that she brought me a surprise so I get all happy and reward her with a liver treat. My boy dog also knows that he has to go on the pad so he goes there always I thought and hoped and thought he was through, but
I had a friend that needed to have their dog given to another owner because they were moving to another country so I took the dog to find her another owner( She is a REally Really big dog) and since then he has been marking like crazy so I have to watch him carefully. 

If you find a right reward for them, I think they really do learn pretty quick my boy dog one time went peed on the pad while I was on the bed reading, then came to me running so I got up got him a treat ( Because the treat is always on the counter by the pads) and I layed back down and it was almost as if he was waiting for me to laydown so I am in a position where I can really see him, then went again, So I got up and gave him another treat, then he went again the third time... haha...... My girl dog has not done it 3 times in a row yet, but one time I got up in the morning took her to the pad and she went so gave her a treat. So I let them just run around my bedroom because they have alreayd peed, and after a while, I went back in the bathroom to wash my face etc. She came running to pee some more ( Very Small amount) and was jumping for a treat. I had to give her a really big one because she really was not getting it for the longest time and it really was my fault because I really was not communicating it to her very well so I was more excited than her. Sigh........ She has been trained for a week now so I still have to watch her pretty well, but I really thought she would never get it, but cheeze was just not enough for her. Liver was. haha. 

Question, when I come home she leaks bad. I mean I pick her up and she just starts squirting all over the place. What do you do about this? Is there anything you can do about that?


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## drclee (Jul 16, 2008)

I agree that keeping him in the crate all day while you're at work is way too long. Keeping him in a room with a baby gate would be so much better for him. You should also keep the t.v. on for him and have water out and accessible.


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## camfan (Oct 30, 2006)

He sounds like he's in the crate too often and is maybe getting anxious about it. That's what happened w/ my rescue. You say the neighbors can hear the "scratching?" How can neighbors hear scratching? Is the dog frantic and barking/crying? If so, that is definitely a sign of anxiety.

I'm also a huge advocate of doggie exercise--not just body but mind. They should leave the house/yard regularly to take in the outside world. It's so good for them. Think about it--how would you feel if you never left your house...you'd be scratching to get out too!

Best of luck!


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## jmm (Nov 23, 2004)

Call that trainer and ask for a referral. Your local kennel club is another place to ask for a referral.


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## sheisaeval (Dec 14, 2008)

QUOTE (camfan @ Jun 3 2009, 01:33 PM) index.php?act=findpost&pid=785142


> He sounds like he's in the crate too often and is maybe getting anxious about it. That's what happened w/ my rescue. You say the neighbors can hear the "scratching?" How can neighbors hear scratching? Is the dog frantic and barking/crying? If so, that is definitely a sign of anxiety.
> 
> I'm also a huge advocate of doggie exercise--not just body but mind. They should leave the house/yard regularly to take in the outside world. It's so good for them. Think about it--how would you feel if you never left your house...you'd be scratching to get out too!
> 
> Best of luck![/B]


I say scratching because I don't really know how to describe it. It's like scratching at the plastic door and sorta banging on it so that the crate may even move a bit. It's pretty loud, but he's not barking or crying.

And not sure if I already mentioned it, but we live in an apartment, so we do have people downstairs, and upstairs, and next to us, so it doesn't take a lot for others to hear it.


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## sheisaeval (Dec 14, 2008)

I know that leaving him in the crate all day isn't ideal, but as he is not completely potty trained, I don't want to leave him out in a small room, because if he pees on the hard floor, he may run around it and track the pee around the room. We will try to get a small pen this weekend and line it up with peepads hopefully.


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## drclee (Jul 16, 2008)

QUOTE (sheisaeval @ Jun 3 2009, 11:45 PM) index.php?act=findpost&pid=785463


> I know that leaving him in the crate all day isn't ideal, but as he is not completely potty trained, I don't want to leave him out in a small room, because if he pees on the hard floor, he may run around it and track the pee around the room. We will try to get a small pen this weekend and line it up with peepads hopefully.[/B]



Do you have hardwood in your bathroom and kitchen? Also, you can line your hardwood with newspaper and pee pads if you're worried about the pee stains. How long is he in the crate all day? Do you go home at lunch to let him out? Does he have access to water during the day? Sorry for all the questions, but my heart is breaking for the poor guy. He must be so miserable in that crate!


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