Conflicting comments regarding crate training

FuFuBear · #1 9th May 2012, 04:00 PM

I just want to get some ideas as far as crate training is concern. They say crate training is best for dogs for their safety and it helps with potty training/ housebreaking and etc. But they also say that you cannot leave your dog in their crate for more than 4 hours during the day while you are at work. So here's the thing, my boxer is 8 weeks old, during the day i leave him in my laundry room 10ft. x 6ft size area with a doggy gate while I'm at work from 8am-12pm. I go home for an hour on my lunch break. Inside the laundry room is his 36 inch metal crate that has a divider. On the right side of the divider is his bedding and on the left is his water bowl. I took both of the metal doors off so he can go in and out of each area. Then I have pee pad on the tile floor. During the day he'd rather lay/sleep on the tile or the pee pad instead of his crate.

When I'm at home at night, every time I catch him falling asleep I will take him to his crate and close the gate and he will sleep there with no problems then he will wake up and fuss wanting out so i take him out to poo or pee. BUT during bed time he doesn't want to sleep in his crate when its time for everyone to go to sleep since he is use to being confined in the laundry room outside his crate during the day, he cries and whines at night and no one gets any sleep. I still get up with him every 2-3 hours to take him potty but he wont sleep in his crate. How can I be successful with crate training when the only time he sleeps in his crate is when were are home and he is napping?

joannaryan · #2 9th May 2012, 06:56 PM

Maybe if you put the crate in your bedroom at bedtime so that if he does wake up you could soothe him back to sleep. We always kept a crate in our bedroom and one in the family room so that Toby could be near us, it helped and he is 7 months old now and loves his crate. It's worth a try. Good luck!

KingGeorge · #3 10th May 2012, 07:21 AM

George is 12 weeks now and we crated him since day 1 we got him. The breeder did not so it was a big change for him. His first night was the worst of my life. He barked and cried and yelped, it almost made me sick. After an hour of that I layer a blanket on the flor and let him out to sleep with me.

For the next week I slept in the bed next to his crate with my hand dangling so he old smell/lick it when he got up. I also took him out every 2 hours.

The second week I would move to the bedroom after he fell asleep. Still taking him out every 2-3 hours or when he let up a small bark telling me it's potty time

Ever since week 3 he sleeps from 1030pm - 630 am with no breaks. We started putting a blanket he sleeps with in the drier when we are brushing our teeth. Now whenever I brush my teeth he waits be his crate for bed time.

As a first time puppy owner I red a ton of books and on line forums trying to finite"right" thing to do. This is what worked for me.

Hope this helped.

ColePaityn · #4 10th May 2012, 10:27 AM

I have a 6 month old female that I didn't start crating until about a month ago. I only do this while I'm at work. But she never had a problem going in it. There wasn't any struggle or anything. 12 weeks old is still really young. He's still just a baby. I think as he gets older you won't have any problems. Both of my Boxers sleep in bed with me.

FuFuBear · #5 10th May 2012, 11:00 AM

Thanks for the ideas and suggestions. The first week we were inconsistent with our sleeping arrangements because we just got so frustrated with the crying. The first night he cried and yelped and fussed and it got louder and louder in his crate so I pretty much stayed awake that first night and i had to take him pee/poo every 2 hours. The second night was pretty much the same and finally the 3rd night i was so exhausted because i haven't had a good night sleep I just let him sleep in the bed and he slept through the night, we did that again on the fourth night since it was a work week we needed the rest/sleep but when my 3 year old son would get in the bed with us the boxer likes to play rough and gets aggressive towards my son and has bit him a few times unintentionally of course while playing. So I decided to put him back in his crate and put it next to my bed but that did not stop him from crying out loud and it kept waking my son up and disturbing his sleep. That's when I started confining him in the laundry room with a little more space than his crate. His first night in the laundry room he slept through the night but the next night he cried and cried again. At this time we are all frustrated with the lack of sleep. He will do fine when he is sleepy he will sleep in his crate but wakes up around 11 pm every night and starts crying and yelping so loud he would even pee on himself when he cries and yells. Last night he woke up crying again around 10:30 so i took him out, i left him there because i had to go inside to pee when I got back he was sleeping on his bedding by our back porch i just let him sleep, i slept on the couch that way i can still keep an eye on him through the french doors. I fell asleep and woke up at 4:30 AM and he is still laying there no crying or whatsoever. I see where he had pooped and peed

Is this normal? Am I doing something wrong? Tonight I will try to put the crate next to my bed again so hopefully he wont cry. I still take him out to do his business.

chriscude · #6 11th May 2012, 08:43 AM

I'm in the same boat. I couldn't stand the crying and waking up every two hours. Also, my husband isn't as strong about wanting her to go in her crate.

He puts her in bed with me (he's up late. . .night owl) and she sleeps all night.

One of us is always home during the day so that's good, but I want to be able to put her in her crate when we are gone. Hubby lets her stay out when he goes to get the kids from school. I think that's a mistake. Short times are good training right?

I also read that you should never place them in there you should have them go in on their own. But, she really isn't interested in going in there. When hubby works from home she sleeps on a little bed by his feet.

He will be gone next week on business so I might try encouraging her to go in her kennel for naps so she gets more used to it again. I just don't want to go back to getting up every two hours again at night. That was killing me! LOL

Consistency is key but so is sanity. It's hard to know where to draw the line

Also I'm still working out what method to follow. Cesar or Victoria. LOL More like a combination.

She's just over 8 weeks and already she has very few accidents in our house, and she rarely nips at me. . . I've taught her that she can't use her teeth. We're still working on the kids with that. I taught her to sit and we're working on laying down. She's such a smart girl!! It's a lot of fun.

She has taught my rescued Pomeranian how to play again which is fun. I just hope they continue to get along as she gets bigger!

Gatorblu · #7 11th May 2012, 10:03 AM

The four hours in the crate is at one time not a whole day. Put him/her in the crate fo 4 hours then let your pup out to potty and get a little exercise and maybe a snack and then back into the crate for the next 4 hours, until he/she can be out with the family and then crate again over night. At 8 weeks you should be getting up in the middle of the night, about 4 hrs after bedtime to let him/her out to potty, then back to bed. By putting the pee pad down and giving too much room you could be setting yourself up for a longer time housebreaking. By not giving the option to go in the house, by using the crate, you eliminate any confusion on the proper place to potty. I hope this helps clarify things a bit.

Gatorblu · #8 11th May 2012, 10:09 AM

Also to help your pup get comfortable in his/her crate put a hot water bottle wrapped in a towel to gove them something warn to snuggle with.

FuFuBear · #9 11th May 2012, 01:53 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gatorblu

The four hours in the crate is at one time not a whole day. Put him/her in the crate fo 4 hours then let your pup out to potty and get a little exercise and maybe a snack and then back into the crate for the next 4 hours, until he/she can be out with the family and then crate again over night. At 8 weeks you should be getting up in the middle of the night, about 4 hrs after bedtime to let him/her out to potty, then back to bed. By putting the pee pad down and giving too much room you could be setting yourself up for a longer time housebreaking. By not giving the option to go in the house, by using the crate, you eliminate any confusion on the proper place to potty. I hope this helps clarify things a bit.

Thank you! I am now realizing that letting him poo/pee on the pee pad is a bad idea! I will stick with the crate and be consistent. I also started bell training him. Now when we are at home and he wants to go outside he'll ring the bell or vice versa -to come inside. He likes being outside on our back porch though. I notice when I take him potty in the middle of the night after he eliminates he goes to his bedding that's on our covered back porch beside the door and lay there and if i let him will sleep there, sometimes I am tempted to just leave him out there all night so we can all have a good night sleep but I don't want him to get into trouble or swallow stuff he's not suppose to so I put him back in the laundry then will start crying again until he gets tired and falls asleep but then we are all sleepless.

FuFuBear · #10 11th May 2012, 02:04 PM

Also I leave a bowl of water in the laundry because they say pups needs plenty of water and they should always have access to water but that causes peeing every 15 mins. He still has pee accidents at inside the house but have not had poop accident while we are at home....Is it okay if I take his water from 8pm to 4am? (4am is when hubby gets ready for work) so he wont have pee accidents in his crate...

chriscude · #11 11th May 2012, 03:00 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by FuFuBear

Also I leave a bowl of water in the laundry because they say pups needs plenty of water and they should always have access to water but that causes peeing every 15 mins. He still has pee accidents at inside the house but have not had poop accident while we are at home....Is it okay if I take his water from 8pm to 4am? (4am is when hubby gets ready for work) so he wont have pee accidents in his crate...

I'm new to this too but I've read that you should take up water before bedtime.

Heidi Mae · #12 28th May 2012, 09:05 PM

Ohhh the crying is the worst!! I remember those nights and it broke my heart! We put a tshirt in w/ our scent with him and a clock outside the crate that supposedly mimics moms heart beat and had his kennel in our bedroom with us.

First few nights were hard but eventually he slept from10:30/11pm until 6/6:30am. As soon as we got up we'd put him on his leash bring him outside and say "Go potty" and praise him as soon as he finished peeing and said Good Potty!! and the same with "Go Poop" and now he can pretty much do either on command.

He is now almost 11 mos and no accidents in the house and will go into his crate when we say 'bedtime' and throw a treat in. We never force him in. He does occasionally sleep w/ us now, too.

They say dogs wont pee/poop where they sleep so crating is a great idea and helps a lot in my opinion.

Good luck!!!!