Crate Training

[cocoa]

I am picking up my beagle puppy this weekend (very excited!)

I intend to crate train her and have been reading all I can on this. I do have one question though - is it ok to wake puppy while she is asleep in the crate to take her to the toilet?

I intend to introduce the crate as slowly as I can and to use food and toys to make it positive. I also want to use the crate for overnight. I know she will probably need to go to the toilet overnight so I am wondering, should I set an alarm and wake her and take her, or should I wait until she wakes me up because she needs to go?

Any advice would be appreciated.

[koalathebear]

In the early days it's unlikely she'll be sleeping anyway In the beginning, at night we set an alarm and then woke up every two hours to take Elbie out to eliminate then after a few weeks it was every 3 hours etc now he sleeps through the night. You can't rely rely on her letting you know because she may be crying for a variety of reasons - misses her family, wants to play, is frightened etc.

During the day, we left the crate door open and just encouraged Elbie to go in there to hang out and nap and closed the door after him occasionally just to get him used to it.

[Maia]

I have no idea if I am doing it properly, but Sophie (now 13 weeks) sleeps really well in a crate next to my bed and only wakes to let me know she needs to go out. We calmly go outside, she does her business (on leash) and then we go back in and she goes back into the crate. Any crying after that is ignored and she soon goes back to sleep.

The reason I don't wake her is because she sometimes sleeps through so I am happy to let her wake me if she needs to go out.

Good luck with it. :-)

Maia

[aussielover]

Personally I wouldn't wake a sleeping puppy.

If you are keeping the crate near your bed, you will be able to hear her when she wakes.

I think most puppies would let you know when they need to go, they don't want to go on their bedding (assuming they have been raised well as young pups).

Mine will whine or bark, but others can scratch at the door or floor etc.

[Genabee]

We have a door scratcher.

I agree, I wouldn't get into the habit of waking her. Like a child, if they get used to being woken up, they come to expect it and don't learn to sleep through the night. Then you will have a nocturnal dog on your hands.

[Tilly]

When I brought my little boy home at 8 weeks he was very vocal so he would whine when he needed to toilet (which was fantastic) ... he was going about every 4 hours

During the night I would have him in his crate and when he started whining I would pick him up, take him outside and tell him to "go toilet". Once he went to the toilet he would go back inside and into his crate.

He only had one accident in his crate and they were really my fault - I had taken him out to toilet (he did a pee) but was sniffing around and I needed to get dinner started so I put him back in his crate ... but he needed to do a number 2 so he started whining again and I ignored him because he had just been outside. He seemed so embarrassed by the mess he tried to hide it under his blanket

The first night he slept through I woke up in the morning thinking I had slept through the night and didn't hear him ... expecting a mess in the crate I instead found one sleeping little boy and no mess ... mind you he peed like a fire truck when he did wake up and go outside.

[koalathebear]

I fear everyone else's pups are far more better behaved than ours was. He was a very vocal puppy and it was impossible to tell what he was wailing about so all we could do was stick to a routine and take him out after all meals and drinks and then at night, every 2 hours. Later on when we were up to every 4 hours, it did occasionally involve waking him up when he was asleep but he'd just amble out sleepily and do his business and then amble back into his crate to fall asleep. We were concerned he'd develop a strange sleeping pattern but he seems fine and adapted to whatever wake-up/sleep routine we moved to.

The first couple of nights we had him were a major poo disaster but eventually he settled down and he's very well-behaved and house-trained now. We've had only one small accident in weeks and weeks and he's very good about doing all of his business outside in Poo Corner where it's easier to clean.

Now that he's six months old, he sleeps through the night so this morning we woke up 8am, let him out briefly to toilet and then popped him back in his crate where he slept until 10am because we were lazy slugs and like to be able to sleep in

Edited August 7, 2010 by koalathebear

[aussielover]

Koalathebear- you rescued elbie didn't you?

So it was more likely he would have problems coming from an unknown environment.

You are doing a great job with him btw! Its been great to see you work through all puppy problems and elbie has really come along way. I loved your herding video, elbie has grown so much into such a gorgeous boy, you can really see the kelpie in him now!

Cocoa- perhaps ask the breeder's advice, they will be able to let you know whether the pup generally sleeps through the night or needs to toilet regularly.

When they bark/cry/wail/scratch etc its probably best just to take them out to the toilet area- don't speak to them except to give the toilet command and then just pop them back in the crate. Ignore any attempts at interaction apart from praise if they do toilet. Haha all this is much easier said than done lol!

I was one of the lucky ones whose pup slept through the night from the start, but we went through a bit of a rough period 2 weeks later!

[cocoa]

Thanks for the tips everyone. We pick her up this morning. Aussielover, I will have a chat to the breeder about it.

[cocoa]

Bumping this as I have an issue I'd like help with.

Millie really likes her crate. She sleeps in there in the day with the door open. Chews her toys and dozes in there while in the living room with us at night and has been sleeping quite well overnight - we've had no major crying issues. But after a good start she now appears to be peeing in her crate.

The first night (last weekend) I set an alarm, but I heard her when she wanted to go to the toilet, and everything seemed fine with the process for the first three or four nights.

On Thursday night I took her out for the toilet about 10pm, then put her back in for sleep and I went to bed. Didn't hear from her until 5am. I thought this seemed a long time, but I couldn't find any evidence that she'd been to the toilet in her crate, so I didn't worry.

On Friday night I took her out for the last time around 11.30 and I went to bed at 12. Didn't hear from her again until nearly 6. Later in the morning I was shifting her crate and I found a damp patch on the towel in there. So I decided to needed to start setting an alarm again and getting up to her. That's what I did last night, although she woke me around 12.30am and by the time I got up to take her out she had already been in her crate a little bit. I changed the towel and she went back to sleep.

Now, she's been in her crate in her puppy play area while I went out for an hour and a half and I've discovered she went in there again. The other times are my fault for not being up to let her out, but this time she wasn't locked in. She could get out and go elsewhere. And, she was sleeping in it I got home.

Each time I've washed the towel that was in the crate and then sprayed it with one of those anti-soiling products. I've also sprayed the mat in the bottom of the crate. I got a crate for her to grow into, but the back end is blocked off with a cardboard box.

I'm quite worried now that we're going backwards with her and the crate training. Does anyone have any tips of suggestions here? I really don't want her going in her crate continuously.

Thanks in advance.

Here's a picture of her sleeping in her crate:

[TsarsMum]

go back to every 2h taking her to the loo, telling her to go and then making a massive deal of it when she does so she gets that outside is the best place to go.

[Puppybreath]

I would try sectioning the crate off so that there is only enough room to lay down. Your pup is less likely to soil the crate if the puppy then has to sleep in it.

[aussielover]

She is so cute!

[cocoa]

Thanks Aussielover. We love her to bits. She's such a confident, happy little thing. And she loves her crate - but this is worrying me.

Puppybreath - the crate is sectioned off (you can see in the picture), although I could section it off further, I suppose. Also, she appeared to have no problems sleeping in the soiled section today.

I think that I will go back to a very strict routine with it, alarms set all the way.

[koalathebear]

Hi: I also agree about going back to the alarm system. Some people's puppies slept through the night from 9 weeks or they used puppy pads but Elbie definitely couldn't hold his bladder through the night until very recently. We woke up every hours, then every 3, then 3 and 3.5 etc. We got it to six hours and these days he sleeps until 8 or 9am and we can even send him back to sleep if we want to sleep in Don't worry, your puppy definitely doesn't want to soil the crate and given the opportunity should be quite happy to elimlinate outside.

We got into a routine and took turns to 'wee the dog'.

Also - what a luxury crate! Elbie used to have a cushion/futon but he kept gnawing on it so we took it away and gave him a dog mat instead He DOES get a hot water bottle at night though.

Edited August 15, 2010 by koalathebear

[cocoa]

Thanks. I'd pretty much already decided on the alarm system, although I need to move faster it seems! The incident this afternoon concerns me because she could have gone somewhere else. The crate was open.

We had a few old pillows lying around so we thought we'd use them. She hasn't ripped them up yet, which I thought she might have by now! Surprisingly she hasn't had a go at the towel yet either. The red toy is her "crate toy". Yes, she is a spoiled puppy.

[koalathebear]

I wouldn't worry too much - toilet-training can take ages and it's possible your puppy just got a bit confused ... By going back to basics again, that'll get things back on track.

When Elbie was younger, he occasionally had a few accidents in his crate but they really were accidents. As to housetraining generally, Elbie hadn't had an accident in AGES but the other night, he had a new toy and was playing with that with us and was clearly having such a good time he forgot to go to the kitchen and ask to be let out It resulted in a mini-accident. Sigh.

Also, when it's raining, he gets pretty confused about where to go in the yard. Normally he goes to Poo Corner and is very good about it. After rain, we find little landmines everywhere so last time there was rain, we put him back on his leash and went with him to Poo Corner each time he had to go ... after a day or so, he was going in the right spot again.

Edited August 15, 2010 by koalathebear

[Genabee]

One of my puppy books suggests removing any bedding for a couple of days too...

Exactly as Koala says, be patient, got back to basics, give it time and she will get there! She is sooooooooo cute!