Crate Training

[coco22]

Hi,

I have just started crate training last night. I have introduced Obi (13 week old cavalier) to his crate a week ago by giving him treats when he goes into the crate and encouraging him to go in there to play etc. I also left a few toys to keep him occupied when he's in the crate. I managed to put his doggie bed into the crate... so it's really nice and comfy.

Last night was the first time he slept in his crate. He was really good, didn't bark or whine when we left him in the crate. At first I sat near the crate where he could see me (I had the crate under my desk! hehe... so that I could use the computer and watch over him at the same time )

This morning I wanted to take him out to the toilet but was interrupted by a phone call. The gate of the crate was left open and Obi came out, and pee on the carpet. That was my fault... no excuse

In the afternoon, I took him out to the park for a walk and also to play :cool: . We spent an hour in the park but he did not pee and we went home. I play with him for a while and took him to the toilet but he didn't pee so I put him in the crate for about 45 min. He slept in the crate and when he woke up, I let him out to pee but he didnt pee. So I played with him and every 5-10min, I guided him to the toilet to pee. After half hour of trying, he finally pee in the toilet! yipee

I allowed him to play in the lounge room under my supervision for about an hour and as I was going to guide him to the toilet, he pee on the carpet. i didnt make a fuss of it and i quickly clean up and then allow him in the lounge room for a little while before putting him back into the crate. He slept for an hour.

Questions:

1) I noticed that he doesn't play with his toys when in the crate. He would just lie down and then fall asleep. Is it normal that Obi always sleeps while in the crate?

2) When I let him out of the crate and take him to the toilet, he doesn't always pee. Should I put him back into the crate or should I play with him then take him to the toilet again after a short while.

3) Am I doing the right things in the above for crate training?

Would appreciate some advice from those who has successfully crate trained their puppies.

Wishing all of you a Merry Christmas

[sas]

Hi,

I have just started crate training last night. I have introduced Obi (13 week old cavalier) to his crate a week ago by giving him treats when he goes into the crate and encouraging him to go in there to play etc. I also left a few toys to keep him occupied when he's in the crate. I managed to put his doggie bed into the crate... so it's really nice and comfy.

Last night was the first time he slept in his crate. He was really good, didn't bark or whine when we left him in the crate. At first I sat near the crate where he could see me (I had the crate under my desk! hehe... so that I could use the computer and watch over him at the same time )

This morning I wanted to take him out to the toilet but was interrupted by a phone call. The gate of the crate was left open and Obi came out, and pee on the carpet. That was my fault... no excuse

In the afternoon, I took him out to the park for a walk and also to play :cool: . We spent an hour in the park but he did not pee and we went home. I play with him for a while and took him to the toilet but he didn't pee so I put him in the crate for about 45 min. He slept in the crate and when he woke up, I let him out to pee but he didnt pee. So I played with him and every 5-10min, I guided him to the toilet to pee. After half hour of trying, he finally pee in the toilet! yipee

I allowed him to play in the lounge room under my supervision for about an hour and as I was going to guide him to the toilet, he pee on the carpet. i didnt make a fuss of it and i quickly clean up and then allow him in the lounge room for a little while before putting him back into the crate. He slept for an hour.

Questions:

1) I noticed that he doesn't play with his toys when in the crate. He would just lie down and then fall asleep. Is it normal that Obi always sleeps while in the crate?

2) When I let him out of the crate and take him to the toilet, he doesn't always pee. Should I put him back into the crate or should I play with him then take him to the toilet again after a short while.

3) Am I doing the right things in the above for crate training?

Would appreciate some advice from those who has successfully crate trained their puppies.

Wishing all of you a Merry Christmas

Some dogs don't play in their crate, they seem to realise it's a place to calm down and rest, the toys for them are mearly a comfort factor.

Yep, sleeping in the crate is completely normal - that's what you're aiming for

If he doesn't pee after coming out of his crate, I'd probably just have a play with him and then try again before going back in the crate.

Sounds like you're doing everything fine

If he falls asleep outside of the crate just pop him in there As a puppy, crating is really just for sleeping and when you can't supervise them, it's not for them to be in all day, I'm not sure how long you're having puppy in there

Edited December 24, 2007 by sas

[Dogsfevr]

The use of crates for us is at shows,emergencies ,safety or time out & when we place our dogs in there its time to switch off & be relaxed.

What your doing sounds fine but when you take pup out for a pee try pup on lead & give a command,sometimes the play interupts the train of thought.

[Budyjelle]

OMG....I get my puppy this Friday ....should I start with the crate training straight away?

If it is ok to ask that in here :cool:

Edited December 24, 2007 by Budyjelle

[coco22]

Some dogs don't play in their crate, they seem to realise it's a place to calm down and rest, the toys for them are mearly a comfort factor.

Yep, sleeping in the crate is completely normal - that's what you're aiming for

If he doesn't pee after coming out of his crate, I'd probably just have a play with him and then try again before going back in the crate.

Sounds like you're doing everything fine

If he falls asleep outside of the crate just pop him in there :cool: As a puppy, crating is really just for sleeping and when you can't supervise them, it's not for them to be in all day, I'm not sure how long you're having puppy in there

Phew... good to know that it's normal for him to sleep everytime he's in there. I am actually crate training him in hope that he will housebreak sooner. We live in an apartment, so the laundry room is where obi goes to toilet. He does it correctly sometimes, but other times he refuse to pee in the toilet and the moment we let him out, he will pee on the carpet.

He refuses to poo on the training pad that we lay in the laundry room either and would always do it on the carpet. We have started to take him out for walks in hope that he will pee and poo outside instead. So far he poo twice outside, once right in the middle of the small street where we live when we were coming home frm a walk, and the other time on a concrete sidewalk. I thought that dogs would normally prefer to poo on grass instead.

I dont keep him in the crate for long. If he's awake, i would put him in there for half hour then let him out to play and hang out in the lounge room under supervision. If he's asleep, I will let him out to pee once he wakes up and then play with him. Eventually I hope that he can stay in the crate for a few hours when I am busy with household chores or when I need to be at work and he's alone at home for a few hours before my partner comes home from work.

[coco22]

The use of crates for us is at shows,emergencies ,safety or time out & when we place our dogs in there its time to switch off & be relaxed.

What your doing sounds fine but when you take pup out for a pee try pup on lead & give a command,sometimes the play interupts the train of thought.

Eventually I would prefer Obi to pee and poo outside when I take him out for walks as we live in an apartment. So far, I have tried giving him the command 'toilet' (that's what I use to get him to pee on the training pad in the laundry room) when we are outside but he didnt pee. He does it when he comes home. He just poo on the concrete sidewalk on the way to the park just now and I forgot to give him the command when he does it

Should I use different command for pee and poo? Or is it ok to use the command 'toilet' for both?

[sas]

Some dogs don't toilet on walks, some do.

Puppy is only a puppy so it does take a while for it to all sink in and for puppy to take some steps backwards.

You can use the one command for toileting, you can use both, however I'm not sure if that's a bit much for a puppy?

[BrunoBella]

You're doing a fantastic job coco

The suggestionn to take him to the toilet is a good one. You may need to wait a while quietly for them to pee or poo. My dogs take about 1-2 mins to pee and 5 mins to poo.

Try to be quiet when you want him to go to the toilet and don't let him play.

Have fun

BellasPerson

[Leema]

You shouldn't worry if he doesn't play with his toys in his crate. As others have said, many dogs do just use their crate for sleeping and relaxing, not for playing.

It sounds like you're doing fine in regard to the toileting/crate/play and everything else.

I would suggest that you carry Obi outside to toilet instead of guide him, as it sounds like he can get a bit distracted and it can be a bit slow!

Also, make sure you never let Obi out of his crate while he is vocalising or pawing, or he will think these behaviours are rewarded by release-from-crate.

Good luck with your puppy.

[nillasdad]

The suggestionn to take him to the toilet is a good one. You may need to wait a while quietly for them to pee or poo. My dogs take about 1-2 mins to pee and 5 mins to poo.

I think that's really the key here, waiting for it to happen. We take ours out every time she wakes up, after playing, after eating and wait until she does something.

[coco22]

Thanks for all your replies. I feel so encouraged now... the past few weeks were very stressful as we have to constantly keep watch on him and felt so frustrated everytime he pees on the carpet.

Seagate, you're right in saying that the key is waiting for it to happen. 'Cos often, even when we let him out of the crate, he does not pee sometimes. We'll have to play with him for a while and then take him to pee again and during this period of time, he may hv a miss. So, we will have to be watchful over him.

But we are delighted that he loves his crate. We gave him his Christmas present an hour ago and he played with his Santa soft toy, running laps around the apartment and then retreated to his crate by himself.

When we first bought the crate, we only put cushion and a blanket in it and used a carton box to block the excess space as the crate was a little too big. We started to introduce him to go into the crate by giving him treats and toys to play. Initially, he was ok to go into the crate but does not stay in there for long and would bark. Then last night i thought that maybe it'd be a good idea to put his doggy bed in the crate instead and let him sleep in the crate. The doggy bed fits perfectly into the crate and there was no need for the carton box to block the excess space. I guess Obi finds it more cosy too. We were surprised at first when he didn't bark or whine and fell asleep almost immediately.

[poodlemum]

I first crate trained a puppy 3 years ago - it is a great way of toilet training them. I make sure to never use the crate as a punishment. I am in my office now and just looked over at the crate in here - 2 dogs sound asleep in it (it's a VERY big crate). The door is open so they have chosen to go in there to sleep.

[Cockerlover]

CRATE TRAINING IS A GREAT IDEAR, AS IT OFFERS PUP SOME SECURITY, ALSO THEY LEARN TO SEE THE CRATE AS THIER DEN ;SOUNDS LIKE YOUR GOING PAWS UP ;KEEP IT UP IT PAYS OFF IN THE END

[coco22]

Day 2:

I woke up this morning to find obi awake. I thought of taking him out for a walk but he ignored me and went back to sleep!

2 hours later, he woke up. I walked out of the room and he barked once. I was thinking if he wanted to go to the toilet or he wants me to be near the crate. I waited for a while, no further barks from him and I walked back into the room and praised him. I let him out and took him into the laundry room to pee. He didnt pee so I took his lead and took him out. The walk to the park is about 5mins and he pee on the concrete sidewalk on the way to the park.

I played with him in the park and did some training to get him to 'stay' and 'heel' etc. I tried to get him to poo but not successful. After an hour, I took him home and I brought him straight into the laundry room to pee. He didnt pee so I played with him for a while and took him to his crate and give him his fav chewing bone. He fell asleep in less than 5 min!!

I'm also trying to feed him at the same feeding time everyday as previous we do not have any fixed time to feed him. I'm also making a record of his pee and poo time (sorry if this sounds silly :cool: but i read in an article that if i am consistent with my feeding time, obi's pee and poo time would be consistent too)

So far, his first pee time of the day is within half hour range.... i will monitor and update how I go with Obi's crate training in this forum for the benefit of others who are also going to crate train their puppy.

I would highly recommend crate training. Initially my partner thinks it's cruel to put obi in a crate. But now, seeing that oni barks less in the house and we could do things in our rooms without worrying for his safety or if he pee or poo on the carpet, my partner is very supportive of me crate training obi now...

The only thing we are trying to work out now how to get obi to pee on command when he's out of the crate. Cos most of the time he does not pee once he gets out. It takes a while, so we play with him and then take him to toilet again every 5 min.

[coco22]

Day 3

I put obi into his crate at 1.30am this morning before I went to bed. I woke up at 7am and he was awake when he heard sounds in the bedroom. I opened the gate and wanted to let him out to pee and to play but he ignored me and went back to sleep.

He's been in the crate for about 6 hours now. Is it ok if he prefers to remain in the crate? Or do I have to carry him out to go toilet then put him back in if he wants to be in his crate?