Dog Community

Crate Training During Work Day

Posted : 5/1/2006 2:17:33 PM

I'm really hoping someone here can help me.

I have a 4 month old Cavalier King Charles Spaniel we are crate training that I've owned for about 4 weeks. She's doing well with housetraining when we are home - weekends, nights, etc. For the first 3 weeks we had her, neither of us was able to make it home during the work day to let her out. We purposely left her crate larger, knowing that she wouldn't be able to hold it that long.

We just moved into a new house we bought with a fenced yard that is much closer to my office, so for the past week I've been able to go home at lunch to let her out. We bought a new crate with a divider, and we have divided the crate to the appropriate size. I've been trying to get to the house between 1-1:30 (my lunch break) - she also goes out right before I leave at about 8:15 am. When I get there, she has not had any accidents in the crate. I let her out, and she pees right away, but she will not poop. I put her on the leash and walk her around, but she won't do anything else. I can only stay about 10 minutes before I have to put her back in the crate and head back to work.

The problem is that she is still pooping in the crate between when I leave her at around 1:30, and when one of us gets home at 5:30. I don't know how to get her to poop while she's out at lunch.

RileysMommy

Posted : 5/1/2006 2:37:24 PM

What time are you feeding her? It all depends on her food schedule really. I find that when Riley eats wet food he needs to poop much quicker than when he eats dry food. My guy is 11 months old and has free run of the house (for the last 3 months). I work all day and I have a walker come in at 1pm to exercise him and take him out ... for approximately 1.5-2 hours. Riley will only pee for him, not poop. He waits until I come home at 530pm to poop. He also gets dry food during the day (I free feed him). Maybe if you are sure that she eats earlier than 815am she might be ready at 115pm or so to poop, my opinion.

Mary

Elizabeth

Posted : 5/1/2006 4:27:38 PM

Thanks for the reply. She eats around 7 am. I get up at 6:30 and let her out, then she eats breakfast after I've finished getting dressed. She doesn't always eat her breakfast (this morning she didn't want to eat anything). I then play with her until around 8:15 am, when I let her outside for the final time before I leave for work at 8:30.

She never seems to have any schedule as far as pooping goes. For example, this morning she pooped at 6:30 when I let her out, and again at 8:15 when she went out. She had also pooped when she went out at midnight before bed. She didn't eat any breakfast, but I will bet anything that there will be an accident in the crate when I get home. I give her breakfast at 7 am every morning, and she eats dinner between 6:30 and 7 every night. She eats only dry food, and she has been dewormed multiple times with different medications even though she had a negative stool sample (I used to work for a vet, so I wanted to take all precautions). She will hold her pee for a long time, and will not go in the crate, but pooping is a different story.

RileysMommy

Posted : 5/2/2006 8:12:47 AM

I will say one thing ... Riley lasts longer and has less poops now that he is eating Canidae. I feed him in the morning before I leave and then at night around 7pm or so. He gets the wet food (lamb and rice only) at 610am and then he gets dry all day long and the other half of his wet food at 630-7pm. I found when he was eating not so great food he went a lot more. Now that he eats better food his poop is smaller and less frequent. I learned a whole lot from the people on this board about nutrition and supplements and I am thankful. It was a big help.

It just may be a matter of her getting into a routine. She's young yet ... she'll get it.[

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