Need help house breaking and crate training puppy!?
Question by : Need help house breaking and crate training puppy!?
Alright so I got my 6 week old puppy 4 days ago ( yes I know it is too young and I honestly would’ve like to have wait, but he was not a reputable breeder and I spent alot of time researching how many side effects this can have, and how to prevent them.) The first 2 days and nights she was very lethargic and honestly didn’t care if she was in the crate or not, didn’t cry about anything. I got her on a Thursday night and took her to the vet Friday to find that she had roundworms and 2 other types of parasites. (Again, I knew full well that she was not healthy the way she needed to be and I had every intention of taking her to the vet and making her better before I even bought her, so please don’t criticize me for wanting to make a sick puppies life better instead of a happy healthy one that will end up in a nice home anyways.) Well after taking her medicine and pooping out a load of disgusting roundworms she is a comepletely new puppy with all the energy that is normal for a boston terrier. Well the problem is now that she actually cares she refuses to go in her crate without crying for an hour. I play and tire her out before I put her in to the point she can barely keep her eyes open leading her into it, but the instant I shut the door it’s like a screaming whimper. I also know you ignore it in order to teach them that whining is not the way to get what they want. The thing I’m worried about it because of all that’s going on because the parasites will take about 1-2 week to clear up her urinating and defecating patterns are comepletely random and I won’t know when she’s crying to go potty. She has had probably about 5 pee accidents in the house which I guess is normal even though I’m trying to take her out on a half hour basis except when she’s napping. As soon as I put the leash on her she knows exactly what I’m doing and she walks out and goes without a problem. I guess all I’m asking is what to do after rambling on, I’ve done so much research online and spent hours reading library books on the perfect way to train them. I just want the best for her.
Best answer:
Answer by Jenny Manyteeth
Start feeding her in the crate with the door open.
Move the crate so its always in the same room with her: she’s not upset by the crate, she’s terrified of being alone.
Crate the dog whenever you cannot watch him, and he won’t mess all over the house.
When you can’t be there to take him out every couple of hours (work, school, shopping, bedtime, etc), you need a puppy playpen:
http://www.jefferspet.com/ssc/product.asp?CID=0&mscssid=US1U35P3XEHH8MQ6H0P984M74VQSEJV4&pf_id=0027198
They are available from other dealers; this is where I got mine. Buy the largest one you can afford.
Line the floor with Dri-Dek tiles. They are soft, but allow fluids through, and they are too tough for most toy dogs to chew up. They are a foot square, so if you buy the 36″ x 36″ model pen, you’ll need nine Dri-dek tiles.
http://www.jefferspet.com/ssc/product.asp?CID=0&mscssid=US1U35P3XEHH8MQ6H0P984M74VQSEJV4&pf_id=1298
Again, they are available from other dealers, but this is where I got mine.
Put the small plastic crate he sleeps in, which should be just big enough for him to lie down in, inside the pen. Fix it so the door won’t close. Put in a water bowl he can’t tip and you can feed him in there, too.
He will not mess up the rest of the house, and you can clean the pen when you come back. Urine will go through the tiles to the pans beneath, so the pup won’t get wet. I put towels in the pans to soak up urine, and just toss them in the washer when they’re wet. Much more cost effective than buying pee pads for weeks! I wiped off the tiles with a cloth saturated in apple cider vinegar. When he’s older, and you want to travel with him, you can bring along one of those tiles, or part of one, and throw it down, and he will know he’s allowed to eliminate there.
The beauty of this method is that it prevents the pup from EVER messing in the house, and that means you NEVER need to yell at him or punish him. You only praise him when he goes where you want.
Know better? Leave your own answer in the comments!
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I would combine crate training and umbilical leash for the best results.
The link for crate training will help you teach your puppy to love it.
At least it’s good that you’ve acknowledged that 6 weeks is way too soon to separate a pup from it’s mother. Just make sure to put in extra efforts in socializing her properly when the times comes.
It seems like you haven’t crate trained her at all. Crate training will usually take around 2 weeks to do properly. You have to train her step by step. First you want to get her to go in the crate willingly by luring her in with treats. At this stage, you don’t want to close the gate. She is likely going to go in the crate, get her treat and walk back out. After a couple days of this, lure her into the crate and shut the door, but open it right away. After a few days of this, close the gate for a couple minutes but stay with her. A few days after that, step out of the room for a minute and come back at let her out. Slowly increase the amount of time you are away. Ideally you want to take it in increments and work your way up slowly.
6 weeks might be too young to even start training. At this stage in their life, they are suppose to be in the company of their mother and litter mates 24/7. I’d recommend that you don’t train her at all until she is at least a few months old. You shouldn’t even be taking her outside for potty breaks until she is fully vaccinated. Until she is vaccinated, you should get a play pen and leave her in there for the majority of the day with a training pad. It would be best to never leave her alone for more than an hour at a time.
You can always start house breaking them when they’re at least 3-4 months of age. You don’t need to rush anything. Chances are you pup is not going to learn anything at this age anyway.
No, you’re not rambling..you sound frustrated which is understandable. Of course you won’t know when she needs to potty or if she wants out, so get her on a schedule. Keep her in her crate. It will become her “safe” area, and she will actually get to where she will go into it to nap, eat, etc. later. But for now, being that young she should stay in it except to bring her out to play and go out to “do her business” and tell her that when you take her out! Every time! And when she does, praise praise praise and say “good business” and say “let’s get a treat”, then give her just a tiny treat. Make sure she gets plenty of exercise, but don’t let her roam the house unsupervised, and I wouldn’t let her out of her crate longer than about an hr at a time AFTER she has done her business. Make sure her crate is small enough that she can’t use the bathroom in one corner and lay in another. You can get a divider if you have the cage type, and move it as they grow. It only needs to be big enough for them to stand and turn around in. Make sure she has chewies and toys and when she cries at night put a towel over it. At this young age she needs to go out about every 2-3 hrs, by 6 months she can hold it 6 hrs as long as she went before being put in. Of course she knows what the leash is for! LOL! Mine go crazy when they see me get it! Pick her up and carry her outside not giving her the chance to go indoors. You may even want to put a bell on a string on the door and ring it before you take her out and later she will learn to knock that bell to let you know she wants out. Remember to use the command words “do your business”, don’t let her roam in the house too long, or unsupervised, and praise her when she does her business! I applaud you for getting her straight to the vet! Sounds like you are on the right track! Have a little patience and she will be trained in no time! Good Luck!