Crate Training

[OMD²]

First off.. I did do a search.. But for the life of me I can't find what I am looking for.. So I am sorry in advance if this has been asked a million times before..

So we are trying this crate training thing lol The vet said it would help us toilet train Oscar..

So we have had teh crate for about 4 days now.. We read that we have to make it a nice place for him..etc etc.. We intise him into it with food.. Ileave his water bowl in there and I also feed him in there.. Sometimes I close the door while feeding other times I leave it open to show him it's ok. However most times he leaves a leg out so we can't close the door lol

When we do close the door he wines for a few mins and then just sleeps or watches us. In the mornings my husband gets up way early for work.. So he takes Oscar for his workings and plays with him and then puts him back in until I wake up. The mornings he is good.. He will wine when hes busting.. Like yesterday he wined and I though it must be a let me out I need to pee wine.. and he raced straight to the door and he did a 1 and a 2 yay

I put him in about 1 hour ago beause I needed to vacuum and mop the floor.. he's just resting atm..

My question is.. Should I wait for him to tell me he needs to go to the toilet or shouls I just let him out and take him outside?

I let him out this morning and he did a 1.. I brought him inside and he played on the floor for about 15 mins and then did a wee.. I caught him mid pee and picked him up and took him outside to finished.. When he did I praised etc etc

Bring him back inwith me to the computer room (where we were before) about 5 mins I turn around and hes done another one lol

I know this is going to take a while.. I just want to get the crate thing right..

Before he lived in the laundry.. He liked it in there and would go into the laundry by himslef to sleep etc

When i have the crate in there he doesn't want to go in the crate he just wants to sit in his spot near the door

Edited January 19, 2007 by Oscar

[OMD²]

Also how many times a day should I put him in there?

[Rascalmyshadow]

I crate trained all my dogs by only ever locking them in there at night (bedtime), make sure he is quite tired and has been to the toilet and try to make it the same time every night. Again try to let him out for his toilet break at the same time everymorning, this will help him control his bladder.

If he wakes you during the night for a wee take him out let him go then put him straight back in without any playtime etc. this way he learns that he can only ask to come out for one thing.

I don't feed my dogs meals in their crates (I prefer to teach them to all eat together) but if you need to crate him at times during the day make sure he's worn out first and then give him a bone or chewy treat to keep him occupied (this is what I do if I need to cage my dogs at work).

Using these methods (even with adult dogs) I have found it usually only takes a few days at the most before they are happy and not worried to be shut in a crate.

[OMD²]

oh ok.. I have no idea why I needed a crate then.. because Oscar stopped weeing at night about 2 weeks ago.. he always holds till 5am

during the day is another story lol

[Rascalmyshadow]

Ok thats a good start, use the same method in the daytime after he has had a play session and is quite worn out crate him with something nice to chew on and leave him to fall asleep as soon as he wakes but before he asks to be let out, take him straight out to the toilet.

I am quite lucky with multiple dogs in the house the adult dogs do alot of the house training for me LOL. I have found little dogs take longer to teach than big dogs (I guess it's because they have such tiny bladders).

My oldest boy (mini) was 11months old before he was 100% trustworthy but my standard girl was 100% housetrained at 12 weeks.

[blacklabrador]

How many times per day should you put him in there? Only when you need to.

My pup sleeps in his crate overnight and that is generally the only time he's in one unless he's at a show or in the back of the car. My other dogs are crated trained and they might not go in a crate for months at a time, but because they know what it is it's never a drama when I need to.

[OMD²]

arh yay

I thought I was being mean lol

So I crate him.. then normally after an hour I take him to wee wee or poo poo lol

then I play with him for about 30 mins to an hour

Grab some food bits and place them in the crate... then he watches me for a while.. and falls asleep.. then I repeat..

That's ok?

At night he stays out for longer as we play with him a lot.. when it looks like he's starting to slow down ie; isn't really interested in catching us anymore.. We put him back in..

thanks for your help.. I've never crated before..

Molly our staffy was already toliet trained when we got her.. Although she did do little oopies now and again.. but that didn't bother us ..

I wish Molly was around to help out lol She would have loved Oscar

[vanessa0305]

For the first few weeks until I was pretty sure of his training. If I couldn't watch him closely then he was in the crate. This gave me plenty of incentive to have quality and quantity time with him when he was little and he never once had an accident on my floor.

efs

Edited January 22, 2007 by vanessa0305