remytheretriever

I have purchased a real crate, and will begin to crate train her using it instead of the pen. I thought a pen would work just as well, but after my housemate's dog got in there and destroyed Remy's bed, I am having second thoughts. I'll be putting it inside, and placing her in it at night to sleep. During the day, I'll let her explore the house, supervising her. During the times where I have to work or cannot supervise, do I put her back in the crate or can I put her outside? I'm a nurse, so I work 8 hours. I'll usually be able to get my Mum to come over and let Remy out for a pee periodically, however there may be times where I can't.

When I went outside this morning, I put her on her leash and took her onto the grass and told her to "do wees" - nope, nothing. With the pen door being open overnight, I'm assuming she just relieved herself whenever she needed to. I just brought her inside to play, and to assess progress inside (she has had one accident, albeit has not been inside a lot) and all she did was sit at thee back door, whining, wanting to go back outside to play with Archie. I don't know what to do :/ I want her to be an outside dog (I am a shift worker so this will be easier for me) but I also want her housebroken for the times when she does come inside. I have no idea how to progress with this if she doesn't want to be inside - should I bring her pen inside again tonight so I can police/control when she eliminates? If so, where should I put then pen? Should I leave the pen door open? Should I use puppy pads? Should I just not bother with the pen at all?

I feel like I am way out of my depth here. I picked up my Golden, Remy, on Saturday. She is eight-weeks-old. On the first night, she slept in the spare room in a pen (with her bed, toys & a few puppy pads). She did really well - cried for about a half an hour and then she settled, not stirring until 6.00am. At which time, I took her out on her leash onto the grass and told her to "do wees" which she did within five minutes. I praised her, brought her inside, gave her some breakfast, then took her outside again for another "do wees", which she did. Praise, praise again. I let her play with Archie (an Australian Kelpie, my housemate's dog) for a while. I had go out for a while, so I put her back in her pen, which she cried about. When I got home (probably 40 minutes later), she was fast asleep. I let her wake up on her own accord, then took her outside for "do wees" - she did a poo. Praise! I let her play with Archie again, and then brought her back into her pen for a while. She cried for about a half an hour, then fell asleep. When she woke up, I repeated what I did before - took her outside, she did the right thing, and I let her play with Archie again. Now, this is where I feel out of my depth. Yesterday afternoon, I moved her pen out into the sunroom where Archie's bed is, as I wanted her to have direct access to the yard. Was this a wrong thing to do? I leave the pen door open. When I went outside this morning, I put her on her leash and took her onto the grass and told her to "do wees" - nope, nothing. With the pen door being open overnight, I'm assuming she just relieved herself whenever she needed to. I just brought her inside to play, and to assess progress inside (she has had one accident, albeit has not been inside a lot) and all she did was sit at thee back door, whining, wanting to go back outside to play with Archie. I don't know what to do :/ I want her to be an outside dog (I am a shift worker so this will be easier for me) but I also want her housebroken for the times when she does come inside. I have no idea how to progress with this if she doesn't want to be inside - should I bring her pen inside again tonight so I can police/control when she eliminates? If so, where should I put then pen? Should I leave the pen door open? Should I use puppy pads? Should I just not bother with the pen at all? Thank you so much.

Please forgive me whilst I try explain myself in a coherent manner, haha. I apologise in advance for the length. I picked up my 8-week-old Golden Retriever, Remy, yesterday. I'm attempting to toilet-train her using the crate train method, however, I have read soooo many different things, so I'm just not sure if I am doing it correctly, and the last thing I want to do is confuse Remy. I am using a metal play pen, and had placed it in the spare bedroom. I put her bed in the corner of the pen, with some of her toys and couple of puppy wee pads on the (carpeted) floor. It's enough room for her to get in and out of her bed, but not enough room for her to pee somewhere and then avoid it by sitting on the other side of the pen. Basically, what I did today was: * We woke at 6.00am today, I took her outside on her leash, put her on the grass and told her to "do wees" - which she did after about five minutes. I praised her, let her say hello to Archie (an Australian Kelpie, my housemate's Dog), then brought her inside for breaky - her bowl was next to (but not in) her pen. After she finished eating, I took her back outside (on the leash) and she defecated. I praised her again, let her a quick play with Archie, then put her back into her pen whilst I returned to bed. * When I got up, I took her outside and commanded her to "do wees" again, which she did, however took a while longer this time as she was too busy wanting to play with Archie. I let her play outside with Archie for around an hour or so. I then had to go out, so I put Remy back in her playpen. Upon returning to home, Remy was fast asleep. I let her wake up of her own accord, then took her outside. She did the right thing, and was praised. I let her play with Archie some more, then, to get her used to the whole pen thing, I placed her back there. I just took her out of her pen and outside, where she peed within five minutes. She then happily played with Archie for a few hours. However, I have since changed my decision as to where I put her pen, due to not having direct access to outside being in the spare room. I have placed her pen (with bed, toys and a few puppy pads) in the sunroom, next to Archie's bed. I have left the pen door open so Remy is free to come and go as she pleases. Since putting her pen outside, and putting her in the pen, I haven't heard a whimper from her, whereas I she would start sooking the moment I put her in it when it was in the spare room. Was moving the pen to a place where she can come and go freely to eliminate a good thing to do? I feel like now I won't be able to always observe her relieve herself, and therefore won't be able to praise her. I make sure to praise her when I do observe it. I want Remy to be an outside dog, seeing as I am a shift worker and it will be easier for my schedule, however I still want her to be house broken for the times when she does come inside. We have had one accident inside so far (this morning). She has spent the majority of the day today outside, and appears to be enjoying it, which further encouraged my decision to move her pen outside. I have read that it isn't necessarily a matter of teaching Remy NOT to relieve herself in the house, but to focus more on teaching her WHERE to eliminate (i.e, outside on the grass) as when a dog learns 100% WHERE it should urinate (and defecate), then it won't go in the house (unless there's no possible escape out to the toileting area/yard and it can't hold it's bladder any longer!) -- this is what I am aiming for. Am I on the right track with this? Will having her crate in the sunroom (direct access to the grass) hinder house training? Will her eliminating on the grass (even with me not there to observe/praise) teach her that is the right place to pee, and therefore she will resist when inside? I feel like I still am not getting enough opportunities to housebreak her when she is predominantly outside; I think I still have that "focus NOT to eliminate inside" mentality, which, as I just mentioned above, is not what I am trying to focus on. Any guidance/advice would be greatly appreciated :) Thanks! Edit: Photo of Remy for added cuteness Edit #2: Formatting & spelling