Help - He Keeps Pooing In His Crate.

[IggiePiggie]

So i had been using a friends old crate for the first two weeks.

Yesterday I got Hank his own crate.

I put him in it and he was fine.

Quiet

then 10minutes later he started crying.

He had pooed AND wee'd in his crate.

So I cleaned it out.

and kept putting him in it for small amounts for the rest of the evening. rewarding him for being good in the crate.

Playing with him in the crate.

Getting him used to it

Then at night I took up his food and water at about 8.30.

we headed to bed at about 11.30.

and at almost 2 on the dog I woke up to crying again.

He had pooed and wee'd again.

So I took him out and put him in his puppy pen and clean out the crate.

Then put him back in.

Then I went to sleep again.

he woke me up once more but as far as I could tell he hadn't done anything.

He then went back to sleep till the morning.

Does anyone have any tips to help me stop this?

Did anyone else's dogs do this in the beginning?

:/

[IggiePiggie]

bump?

[mrs tornsocks]

how big is the crate in comparison to the pup ? Sometime there can actually be too much room in the crate and he will go in there if he doesn't think of the entire crate as his 'den'.

[IggiePiggie]

it isn't big at all.

it wasn't too expensive so i will be trading up when he gets bigger.

[persephone]

What is your routine for toileting him?

How often do you take him out?

have you started training him to toilet on command?

With the crate- how much time is he spending in it?

How different is this crate to the other one?

[IggiePiggie]

at the moment I am teaching him to toilet inside. As he will be an inside dog throughout the winter.

Until he is big enough and it is mild enough for him to be outside when I work.

So I feed him in the morning.

and give him a kong full of goodies while I am at work, and I feed him when I get home.

He has learnt to poo in the puppy pen, which at the moment is full of newspaper.

but that also has a lot to do with the fact that I put/keep him in the pen when I know he is going to poo.

So now when I put him in the pen he will pretty much poo straight away.

then I let him out of the pen.

The weeing has been a bit harder.

He is confined to the living room, however when I catch him he refuses to do any more.

So I don't get the chance to reward him for doing it in the pen (I keep the pen open when he is not in it, with toilet and water and a few treats in it.

However tonight he has been alot better.

I haven't been teaching him until the last two days when i catch him going in the pen i say POO/GO WEES when he goes and as I treat him.

Honestly it shouldn't take him to long. He picked up sit within about 48hours.

Unfortunately the crate IS different.

and this could definitely be the problem

The other thing is that I use a cardboard box with blankets in it for the puppy pen, instead of his actual crate, as when he got here that was what he felt most comfrtable in.

You think that if I use the crate he may be able to define what the crate is in relation to his space better?

eg, he will know that crate is for sleeping and newspaper for toileting, if I use the crate in his puppy pen?

As for how long he spends in the crate,I bring it into the living room as soon as I get home and have a bit of a play in it before and after dinner and during the evening if he falls asleep I put him in there and close the door.

Generally he will go almost straight to sleep and then after about ten minutes I will open the door.

Please tell me where I am going wrong?

[Kirislin]

I cant imagine teaching a dog to toilet inside, but if I did I would try to train it to use a kitty litter tray. Alot of people on a US based whippet forum I am on use kitty litter trays for puppies and it seems very successful.

[Stitch]

Does he get free time to run around outside?

I may be wrong but to me it all sounds very intensive and possibly very daunting for the dog.

How old is he?? Dogs really don't fully understand toilet training if they are under 12 weeks of age and they certainly won't be reliable for months.

Again it may be a co-incidence but the pooing and weeing IS the reaction you get when a dog is stressed.

Sometimes it is the actual type of crate you are using and sometimes it is the training methods you are using that can cause confusion in the dogs mind.

It is sounding stressful to you!

Even though you think that the dog has had time to learn what to do, it is obvious by your results that it doesn't or can't understand what you want.

It is usual for people to teach their dogs to eliminate outside as it is a method that dogs find easier to learn. You then adapt the toilet training later on to suit your circumstances.

[mrs tornsocks]

at the moment I am teaching him to toilet inside. As he will be an inside dog throughout the winter.

Until he is big enough and it is mild enough for him to be outside when I work.

I have not really heard of teaching a pup to toilet inside in a regular domestic environment. It's probably ideal he learns to toilet outside and then if for some reason he can't get outside, you place newspaper or puppy pads down inside (or a kitty litter). The puppy pen and crate thing is possibly confusing him as well.

I'm not sure where you are located or your work hours and that is obviously challenging, but is outside not an option at all while you're at work ? Or is a doggie door an option ? Our 12 week old pup is mostly an inside dog (plays, hangs out with us, sleeps) but he still toilets outside. We progressed him to getting used to time outside since we knew there would be times he'd have to be left alone when we're out for the day. That said, we are very lucky in that I do alot of work from home, so it was easier to pop him outside for 30 mins, 60 mins, a couple of hours etc to build up him being used to being outside.

I'm not sure if you mentioned what kind of dog he is or how old he is - this might have some bearing on whether you can re-train him to toilet outside.

I'm sure you'll be able to work towards a solution and it is stressful but hang in there !

[IggiePiggie]

Does he get free time to run around outside?

I may be wrong but to me it all sounds very intensive and possibly very daunting for the dog.

How old is he?? Dogs really don't fully understand toilet training if they are under 12 weeks of age and they certainly won't be reliable for months.

Again it may be a co-incidence but the pooing and weeing IS the reaction you get when a dog is stressed.

Sometimes it is the actual type of crate you are using and sometimes it is the training methods you are using that can cause confusion in the dogs mind.

It is sounding stressful to you!

Even though you think that the dog has had time to learn what to do, it is obvious by your results that it doesn't or can't understand what you want.

It is usual for people to teach their dogs to eliminate outside as it is a method that dogs find easier to learn. You then adapt the toilet training later on to suit your circumstances.

Hmmmm...

The thing is that I am back at work now.

I guess I feel like my evenings have to be intensive.

He is 12 weeks.

But do you think it matters that he is inside when I am at work?

But that he is taught to toilet outside?

I just thought it would be easier to paper train him.

But I am willing to try for straight outside.

The thing is that he is not stressed in the crate.

He was crate trained by the breeder and he is v. chilled in the crate.

Anyway, He didn't poo in there last night,

I think he must've wee'd cause he gave a little cry which is when I went and took him to the pen where he did a poo and wee and then took him back to bed.

You think I should just take him outside?

Now i feel awful because I have just been confusing him.

[glendabenda]

How much is he eating ? could he be over eating and needing to pee/poo all the time.

[dogdogdog]

He is an Italian Greyhound isn't he? If he is they are notoriously difficult to house train.

I fostered one a couple of years ago and he would cry to go inside to poo. The people who adopted him eventually used a puppy pad for him. To my knowledge he still uses that.

The weeing I got under control reasonably quickly but he was an adult and he and my boy used to pee on top of one anothers. As boys do.

At 12 weeks he is still a baby so keep up the house training and with a bit of luck he will get the idea.

[CBL]

IggiePiggie I think you may need to start taking him out (or to a place in the house that is his designated toilet place) at regular intervels so you can reward him for going in the right place.

Iggys are notoriously difficult to toilet train but I know Oscar wasn't as bad as I was expecting - but then I could never get him to love his crate.

[IggiePiggie]

How much is he eating ? could he be over eating and needing to pee/poo all the time.

I don't think so. He gets a small hand full of soaked puppy kibble in the morning.

a small kong for the day. and some wet puppy food at night and every second night he gets a chicken neck.

Is that too much?

They are notoriously hard to train but that is generally because it can be hard to convince them to go outside.

It is the cold outside that they hate.

So most dogs don't really need to poo through-out the night?

[Stitch]

My advice would be, chill, take a few deep breaths......now

there are many, many people who own puppies/dogs and go to work and successfully toilet train their dog.

Teach it the conventional way to toilet, ie. when you are there take it outside every 1/2 hr, hour or however frequently you think its bladder needs to empty so it can eliminate outside.

Poos, well they happen usually a little while after eating. So do the same thing with them.

Anything else which will usually happen 'by accident' in the puppy pen and on paper - well you just clean up afterwards.

Eventually the puppy will settle down into a routine and so will you.

Even the most difficult dog to toilet train, can be trained by consistency and perseverence. If they are difficult it just means that you have to watch out for them for longer. The biggest thing to remember is that the pup shouldn't learn that it is OK to wee or poo anywhere in the house that it likes. This happens when a pup is not supervised.

You can also partially control the wees and poos by judicious timing of the feeds and withholding water after say 6pm or whatever. If you feed moist food of an evening then the dog is not going to be stressed by going without water overnight. Remember, what goes in one end comes out the other!! And poos come out approx. 9hrs later. You do the math!!

As a matter of interest my house girl is 6 years old, so was slow on the uptake when it came to toilet training but now, I could leave her all day in the house and there would never be an accident. I have a 6mth old that is just now starting to hold on overnight.

Consistency and perseverence - that is the key!

[IggiePiggie]

My advice would be, chill, take a few deep breaths......now

there are many, many people who own puppies/dogs and go to work and successfully toilet train their dog.

Teach it the conventional way to toilet, ie. when you are there take it outside every 1/2 hr, hour or however frequently you think its bladder needs to empty so it can eliminate outside.

Poos, well they happen usually a little while after eating. So do the same thing with them.

Anything else which will usually happen 'by accident' in the puppy pen and on paper - well you just clean up afterwards.

Eventually the puppy will settle down into a routine and so will you.

Even the most difficult dog to toilet train, can be trained by consistency and perseverence. If they are difficult it just means that you have to watch out for them for longer. The biggest thing to remember is that the pup shouldn't learn that it is OK to wee or poo anywhere in the house that it likes. This happens when a pup is not supervised.

You can also partially control the wees and poos by judicious timing of the feeds and withholding water after say 6pm or whatever. If you feed moist food of an evening then the dog is not going to be stressed by going without water overnight. Remember, what goes in one end comes out the other!! And poos come out approx. 9hrs later. You do the math!!

As a matter of interest my house girl is 6 years old, so was slow on the uptake when it came to toilet training but now, I could leave her all day in the house and there would never be an accident. I have a 6mth old that is just now starting to hold on overnight.

Consistency and perseverence - that is the key!

THANK YOU STITCH.

ahahah

I know i sound like I am freaking out.

I'm not really. I know he will get it in the end.

But you're right, I should be teaching him about weeing outside.

WILL DO.

[Miranda]

You think I should just take him outside?

Yes.

[IggiePiggie]

You think I should just take him outside?

Yes.

ahaha.. thankyou miranda

very succinct

[Miranda]

ahaha.. thankyou miranda

very succinct

Look I must admit that I'm not a fan of training a dog to go to the toilet inside unless there's absolutely no alternative. But then I've never owned an Italian Greyhound.

[IggiePiggie]

ahaha.. thankyou miranda

very succinct

Look I must admit that I'm not a fan of training a dog to go to the toilet inside unless there's absolutely no alternative. But then I've never owned an Italian Greyhound.

Look, honestly they are harder to train to go outside. But you're right, if i can choose, it SHOULD be outside.

I have been outside training him tonight and we haven't had ONE WEE inside.

i am pretty impressed we us.

I have taken him out 3 times and all three he has wee'd within 2mins of us being out there.

The only thing is that i forgot to take treats so i have just been praising him and giving him a bit of a smooch.