when crate training your puppy, do you leave a blanket in there with her/him?
Question by serrsly: when crate training your puppy, do you leave a blanket in there with her/him?
i do, but it smells oh so horrible, like pee and poop combined, i was washing it once a week, but i kinda regret putting it in the washer, are you supposed to just leave it bare, no blanket???
or leave the blanket in there with her? she still poops and pees in her cage, i have had her from 5 wks, and she will be 12 wks on halloween.
also, she screams forever when she first gets in there, like bloody murder, every time!
any tips for me on that and anything else to do with puppy training?
the mother became very violent and aggressive toward the puppies early on and had to be taken away from her. please no criticism of how early i obtained her. one of the puppies was mauled and got a hole in head and broken detached jaw.
also how do i clean the bed if she goes on it if i put a bed in there with her, i take her out and walk her as often as i can, she will also go right after we come inside after a walk, not always but occasionally this happens.
and if i say ‘get in your bed’ she gets in her cage on her own.
Best answer:
Answer by danelover
Yes, they need the blanket, but this pup was too young when you got it. It shouldn’t have come to it’s new home until eight weeks.
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She should not be going to the bathroom in her crate. That is the whole purpose of crate training. Do not put that smelly blanket in there anymore. Buy her a bed, and reduce the size of her crate so she has just enough room to lay down. She won’t go to the bathroom where she sleeps. She probably has too much room in there. Also you can’t leave her in there too long, especially if she is only 3 months old. She was taken from her litter too soon, so you’re going to have problems at first. You should take her outside to pee (or use a wee wee pad) every hour or so. Don’t let her wander, always keep an eye on her, and sit with her while she’s in her crate so she knows she’s not in trouble. Give her a lot of praise when she pees or poops outside and also when she goes in her crate. She will get used to it eventually and actually start to like it.
We are crate training our puppy too. He is a four month old Boston Terrier, we have had him since he was 8 weeks old. I always leave a soft fleece blanket in there for him, but he does not potty in the crate, he did the first time, but never has since then. But he also used to cry like crazy when we would put him in there. He has thankfully outgrown that and goes in willingly. I give him puppy Milk Bone treats when he goes in and he happily will go in. We had the crate about a week before we actually shut the door on him, and by making him comfortable with it and giving him treats for going in, I think it has made him a lot more comfortable going in the crate. There are times now that when we are all here, he will go lay down in his crate for a while by himself.
You can only leave your dog in their for 3-4 hours MAX
or the dog will Pee and Poop
Leave a blanket in their and WALK THE DOG.
Kimberley’s answer is great, the only thing I would add is do not put any water or food in the crate with your puppy. Even if the dog is in the crate for a few hours, she will be fine. Put some rubber chew toys, stuffed dog toys, but no food or water. Water in the crate especially, will only make your puppy pee.
this puppy should have never been left in a crate long enough to do all that. she is not old enough to be in there more than an hour at a time
blankets should not be put in a crate if you are using it for housebreaking – this puppy is much to young to expect any results. the blanket defeats the whole purpose – it absorbs the urine so doesn’t teach her anything.
you need to be taking her out every half hour for awhile to get her started. once she has conquered that extend the time.
she should only just now be leaving her mother.
I would remove that (and every other) blanket. A dog that’s having to smell their own waste like that is not going to be a healthy dog. Associating those kinds of smells with her crate is really going to confuse her – so leave those blankets out.
And it sounds terrible, but the only way to stop the screaming is to totally ignore it. That means :
no “Shush!”-ing
no banging on the crate to stop her
no shake cans or squirt bottles
Nothing. Ignore her completely and only let her out of the crate when she is quiet.
Reward your dog for going into her crate. Always toss rewards in there for her so that she’s rewarded for going in. Never physically put her in there.
There is a great, all-positive puppy training group that you can learn a lot from. It’s free and there are a lot of great trainers on there:
http://pets.groups.yahoo.com/group/spt/