HELP! Puppy only goes in crate!

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HELP! Puppy only goes in crate!

Posted : 5/28/2006 2:27:35 PM

I need some help. I have a 9.5 week old Silky Terrier puppy. She only goes in her kennel! Pee or poop. At this age, she should only be able to hold it for 2 hours or so. I'm trying to get her to go on puppy pads and she doesn't get it. She lays down on them like they are a blanket.

I had her out and watched her like a hawk today for 4.5 hours. If she even looked like she was about to squat, on to the pad she went. Nothing!

I needed to do something so I put her in her kennel. I figured I'd wait and check on her in a minute if I didn't hear her whine. I had the TV on and watched 2 commercials, then went back to check on her. She had peed and pooped in her kennel. She held it for 4.5 hours, then went in her kennel immediately.

She's done this multiple times. We try to get her to go elsewhere, but she holds it until she gets in her kennel.

I've used an enzyme based liquid and let it soak in her kennel to get rid of the smell. She shouldn't have any residual urine smell in her kennel at all.

We've put the napkins, paper towels, etc. on the pad from cleaning up her mess. Doesn't phase her. We've tried different pads to see if their scent will trigger anything. Nothing!

Our other dog (a 9 month old Silky Terrier) will go pee and poop within 20 minutes of eating. She goes for hours (as far as we can tell -- we think she's going in her kennel and "mopping" it up with her fur) before she has to go. We feed her on regular intervals, let her drink all she wants, etc. She just never goes until she's back in her kennel.

We have a kennel (which is partitioned down for her) and a carrying crate (which I've made a homemade partition for). She will go in either, but won't go outside, on puppy pads or on the floor.

Any ideas?

Mic

Posted : 5/28/2006 2:38:59 PM

This is a pretty common problem these days, and can be a bit of a pain in the @ss to solve.

It sounds like your pup has trained itself to go in the crate. We can actually use this to our advantage.

Go buy an ex-pen and put it up on a tile floor of some sort. Inside the ex-pen put the crate, some bedding and the food and water bowls. Place a potty pad inside the crate. Now the crate is the designated potty spot and the ex-pen is the dogs living space.

The goal is that over the course of the week the dog continues to use the crate but is now going on a potty pad. At the start of week two, remove the pad from the crate. The dog will be inclined to now go on the pad whether it is in the crate or not. Leave this set up for another week.

Then in week three move the bedding from the ex-pen into the crate. Now you have a dog going on a pad, and sleeping on the bedding in its crate.

Problem solved.

Christi

Posted : 5/28/2006 9:07:27 PM

WOW Mic, you make it sound so easy. [

] I could really use your help with this one: Our new 10 week old male Golden, Samwise,

ees everywhere. In his crate, out of his crate, on tile, on carpet, on wood floors. Thankfully though, he also pees on the grass. Having had an extremely successful housetraining experience so far with 5 month old Aussie, Ruby, (I cannot even remember her last accident, something like two months ago), I feel like I should be able to handle this. I had started by taking him out every hour but quickly found out that wasn't enough so I take him out at least every half hour, sometimes more often than that. I have seen him pee within 15 minutes of having peed outside. He is NEVER alone, except if he's in his crate. If he is out of his crate, he's on leash. I cannot figure out what is going on with this little guy, but it's driving me nuts! He and Ruby will be playing and all of a sudden he'll squat, no sniffing to warn me. BTW, he has been checked by the vet, there is no physiological reason for this. We use Nature's Miracle to clean up after him. What am I doing wrong? Are males just harder to housetrain than females? I don't want to use pads because I want him to go only outside but I am open minded to it if it is the right solution. Also, we do use an ex-pen with him. Help? Please.