Ok friends,
Just picked up a new pup on Sunday. This is the fourth dog I've had at around this age, and the fourth that I've had to do crate training with - but this little guy is giving me fits.
He's in a box in the garage, and sees regular contact from myself, my wife, or one of the kids. We've been getting him out about every 2 hours, plus those times when we seem to hear him yelping. The poor guy just can't seem to get the concept that he's supposed to be crapping outside and not in his box.
I've tried shrinking the size of his kennel by putting a large milk crate in the back of it. I'm taking him out after feedings. I've tried running with him in the back yard to increase the urge to go. When he goes out, we stay in the yard until he makes a deposit - but usually he'll take 20 minutes before he decides he needs to go. When he goes in the kennel, it gets cleaned and disinfected scupulously so that no odor of mess lingers.
The last pup had a few accidents, but generally seemed to get the concept after a few days. But this little guy is making want to pull my hair out.
Any veterans out there with some sort of unconventioal tips? HELP!!
with a pup at this age if the doo is dark and runny make sure to not let him get dehydrated and take him to vet. it could be (cock-sid-ee-uh).
if not dark and runny take your time and be patient and put a good towel in too. in my experience males can be a little more tolerant of the circumstances they create and for a little longer. i see you can't pm yet but if you want to share the breeding we could investigate common past ancestors and doo-doo traits!;-)
Turds have been totally normal. And he's on the same food his breeder started him on - I'm at work and can't remember exactly what it is right now, but I'm pretty sure it's a Purina product.
I would keep him in the house vs the garage, spend more time with him and get him bonded and settled in more before separating him so much from you. He sounds stressed. Also might have something going on gut-wise and he can't control the going, which would be compounded by stress. If he's in the house, you can monitor him closer and get him out when he has to go, start helping him make that connection vs letting him soil his crate then taking him out. If you're putting him back in right after he goes, then you're also teaching him as soon as he goes, playtime outside is over. Let him run around for a while after he goes, if you aren't already. If you are letting him out when you hear him yelping, you're teaching him to vocalize to get out. You need to be able to see him to judge when he needs out, before the accident happens, and to teach him quiet when you know he doesn't have to go, and needs to learn to settle. All puppies are different, some take longer to adjust to their new homes and being in a crate alone, this one maybe is going to make you work harder to help him adjust. Might also try an xpen in the house so he can be contained and around you guys more but not necessarily crated. Build into longer periods of crating as he gets more confident and physically able to control himself, assuming he doesn't have stool issues caused by something else. It's a fine line sometimes to walk, between caving into a drama queen and realizing a pup needs more than what he's currently getting to help him settle into his new home.
It's a fine line sometimes to walk, between caving into a drama queen and realizing a pup needs more than what he's currently getting to help him settle into his new home.
Great advice from Rainmaker, but what is this pups feeding schedule and how much is the pup fed? Overfeeding and free - feeding, in my opinion, equal too much and hard to regulate pooping. Accidents happen, but I would check the bag of food for amounts, I personally cut what's posted by 15%, get on a feeding schedule -feeding several hours before bed, we feed three times a day until 10-12 weeks and then go to twice a day, picking up any uneatten food after 15 minutes. Set up your schedule so the pup can air for awhile afterwards and have opportunities to air before going down for the night. Water the same thing, pick up water a couple of hours before bed, unless the pup has had a lot of activity and needs a drink.
It will get better as the pup gets more physically developed! As you're experiencing, as we've all experienced, pups are different, some are easier to get over this hump than others - patience friend!
Puppies here maybe crated or may not be but they are never separated from us. We even sleep with the puppy, in a crate, next to the bed. This has the advantage of a free period of bonding plus, if he fusses in the night, outside he goes. My wife hates it but when we get a puppy, we acquire about 4 extra pieces of furniture in the house...crates.
Update:
We made some changes and had excellent results. The pup still stayed in the garage, but his crate got a little more comfortable (an old blanket and an extra towel). We also spent more time with him out with all of us together as a group - rather than just one of us at a time.
Probably the biggest change was (this came on advice from the breeder of our other dog) that we enclosed a small 4'x4' space in the yard and put him in there until he had relieved himself. This was to avoid distraction, and give him a regular (no pun intended) location to do his business. After he finished, we gave him a few minutes of playtime, rather than putting him back in the crate, so that he wouldn't associate doing his business with getting put back in the crate.
Pup had zero (read: 0) accidents in the crate, was much much quieter than he'd been the night before, and generally seemed happier with the arrangement. He did piddle on the garage floor twice on the way to the back yard, but I really can't complain about that. Stools continue to look solid, and pup's attitude seems to be at least a little bit happier.
Pup was being fed Purina Pro Plan puppy twice a day. He was not allowed to free-feed (I generally think free-feeding is a bad idea).
Thanks all for the advice! I would have loved to have pup inside, but unfortunatly this was not a viable option this week, for a number of reasons - he'll come indoors in the near future. With three kids, he's getting plenty of time with his people, even if he does have to sleep in the garage.
Update:
We made some changes and had excellent results. The pup still stayed in the garage, but his crate got a little more comfortable (an old blanket and an extra towel). We also spent more time with him out with all of us together as a group - rather than just one of us at a time.
Probably the biggest change was (this came on advice from the breeder of our other dog) that we enclosed a small 4'x4' space in the yard and put him in there until he had relieved himself. This was to avoid distraction, and give him a regular (no pun intended) location to do his business. After he finished, we gave him a few minutes of playtime, rather than putting him back in the crate, so that he wouldn't associate doing his business with getting put back in the crate.
Pup had zero (read: 0) accidents in the crate, was much much quieter than he'd been the night before, and generally seemed happier with the arrangement. He did piddle on the garage floor twice on the way to the back yard, but I really can't complain about that. Stools continue to look solid, and pup's attitude seems to be at least a little bit happier.
Pup was being fed Purina Pro Plan puppy twice a day. He was not allowed to free-feed (I generally think free-feeding is a bad idea).
Thanks all for the advice! I would have loved to have pup inside, but unfortunatly this was not a viable option this week, for a number of reasons - he'll come indoors in the near future. With three kids, he's getting plenty of time with his people, even if he does have to sleep in the garage.
If you can play a radio softly during the day to help the pup also not feel so lonely and it's good for them to hear different voices. Your textbook case why as a breeder I like to crate condition my pups before they go home. Also, don't trust the pup to hold it long enough to follow you outside at this age. Just pick him and carry him outside to the selected potty area. I go out with all my pups as well and stay out until they do they do their business..
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