[Bella]

Bella has been with us for three weeks and is ten weeks old. All going pretty well have perservered with the crate and she is good with that. Night times are the problem. First three nights she cried and howled on and off but i ignored her and that soon stopped. Now though have the problem that she has pooed in her crate a few times.... i ignore the cries then come down to an almighty mess..... dilemma is ... do i give in and come down which will then get her back into the habit of crying in the night....or leave her than deal with the mess ????????? first dog so taking lots of advice but feel like everytime we crack it ,it starts again.......
Any ideas.... should i not lock the crate door so she can poo outside ?????
??? ??? ??? you would have thought i would have been used to this with two kids x

 

[Zero4910]

You may want to try putting the crate in your room so she knows you are close by. She is still very young and wants to know she is safe. She may be "going" because she is scared.

I'm sure others will reply with other ideas, but let us know what you do and what the outcome is.

good luck!

-adam

 

[cynwagon]

Bella -

That is really strange because dogs will try everything they can to not poo in their crate. I assume you take her to the bathroom before heading to bed ... since she's been having this problem a few times ... you may just need to make sure she poops before bed, even if it takes a while ...

Another thing is ... is the crate too large? If you make the crate smaller then they will not want to poop because they will not want to sit in their own poop if the crate is too large they'll poop in the corner and then still have a clean place to sleep in the other corner.

We have crated Weber from the start and he's never pooped in his crate ... so I don't really have an easy fix for this solution. We started out with the crate sectioned off in half, then as he got older little by little made it larger ... now he occupies the whole thing because hes' 5 months.

Just make sure you clean the crate really really well so they do not smell the poop because if they do, then they will think BATHROOM.

I'm sure other people will be more helpful but thats my 2c

 

[grahama]

Hi,

I agree totally with the last post, it's exactly what I did and not one accident. I did however have to get up in the night to let her go to the toilet as they cant hold on for a full night at first.

You will learn the difference between 2I need toilet" and " get me out of here" in time but make sure the space she has in the crate is just enough to sleep in and turn around, then increase as she grows as said before.

Regards,

Graham

 

[Bella]

Hi all thanks for your help. I have got a large crate and have paper in half as cos she is so small when i leave her she sometimes needs to go and was recomended by a friend. Everyone has there own ideas so it is really hard to know what is best. If i get up to take her out in night will she get back into the habit of howling am worried about this as have two kids who wake really easily.......
thanks for help...........

ps she is a wireare they excepted on here lol i know some people dont think they are real viszla ha ha .

 

[cynwagon]

I think thats the problem right there ... do not put paper in the crate and divide it in half, don't give her the whole space. She doesn't need the whole space ...

You are giving her a reason to poo ... giving her a little bathroom in her house (crate) ... if you take away the paper and cut the crate in half, I really think you will see results. From what it seems so far Graham and I have used the same method and have had great results.

It may take a while, because she's used to doing it now and thinks its ok ...

I think I woke up with my puppy until he was at 12 weeks ... we'd let him out when he'd whine at about 1am and then again at 6am after 12 weeks we ignored him ... and you know what no accidents ... he started sleeping through the night. Once you know your puppy is potty trained it helps to put a nice comfy dog bed in the crate ... that helped Weber sleep through the night!

Good luck!

 

[englishvizsla]

Hi

I completely agree with cynwagon. We had to get up 1-2 times a night with our pup to let him out to the toilet for the first 3 or 4 weeks, then he started sleeping through until about 6am.

The important thing to remember is not to let them think it's playtime - this is purely a trip to the toilet and then back in the crate again. I used to come downstairs to him where his crate was and not even talk to him. I would just put his lead on and take him straight outside, let him do what he had to do and then praise him, and then bring him straight back inside and back into his crate without even acknowledging him, switch the light off and head back upstairs. Occasionally he would whine for just a few minutes, but they soon work out that it's not going to achieve anything and he would just go back to sleep again.

Once they're into that routine they soon settle down, and although by the end of the week you feel absolutely shattered and start to wonder what you've let yourself in for (I did!!), don't worry it doesn't last long and they will soon be lasting through the night.

Another good thing to do is not let them have any water after about 8 o clock at night, then they are less likely to need to go out so often.

All the best!!

 

[Bella]

HI all thanks for all the advice....

No more poo accidents so that is good but now have problem is this.......

Stayed up late last night and let Bella out for a wee went in crate no problem but is still waking at 5 and howling t be let out..... got up and did not talk and took her for a wee put her back but still barked on and off till 6...... is this normal or do i have a howler ?????


dont mind but worried about barking waking entire house and street ......

 

[grahama]

Hi,

Its just normal behavoir from my experience, Peanut did this when we first started crate training and she soon learnt that once back in it's time to setle down and sleep. She will eventually go longer and longer until the best time, when you wake up and think has she escaped and there she is asleep downstairs !!! Result !!

regards,

Graham

 

[Bella]

Thanks so much..... she is so adorable except this early morning start... have to keep reminding myself that she is a baby .. none of my real babies slept so sure she will grow out of it x