Am I doing this right?

[Jenn&Izzie]

I just found your website yesterday and already have put the training for night-time into our schedule and it worked great last night - no whining! So, onto the next issue.

I have a puppy (Izzie), mixed breed that I adopted three weeks ago. She is currently 11 weeks old. When she first got home, we started her with the crate, getting used to it. She sleeps in the crate every night and minus a little whining - does just fine. The problem came when I would go to work in the morning. She would poop in her crate - which didn't seem surprising since I would leave her in there from 8am until 11:30am and then 1pm until 5pm and her age. The problem was that she would get so worked up that she would get poop all over her crate. Since I knew she was still to young to hold it for that long, I put her in our utility room with a puppy fence and she definitely liked that better but after a few days, she started climbing the fence!

For obvious reasons, I figured we needed to go back to the crate and that's what we are doing today. Again, I went home at lunch to take her out and she had pooped all over her crate.

My question is - should I be putting her in the crate when she is so young? Am I teaching her it's ok to poop in the crate and forever losing my house-training tool? I am ok with cleaning her up and her crate if I know that it's the right thing to do, training-wise.

Other than that, she is absolutely perfect and we are so happy to have her!

[Rebecca]

Hmmm... I don't think you're leaving her in her crate for outrageously long periods for her age, so crate training may still be an option. Answer a couple of questions for me...

1. Are her poops firm or his she having problems with diarrhea or loose stools?

2. What's her eating schedule?

3. Does she poo outside before you leave in the morning and when you come home mid-day?

If you haven't done so already, you should definitely read our article about dogs who have accidents in their crates (http://www.thehousebreakingbible.com/training/crate-accidents.htm).

If you think gating her in the utility room is a better option, you can most likely fix the escape problem by using two gates, one on top of the other, in the doorway to make an extra-high barrier. If she won't hold it the whole time she's in there, you'd need to set up a potty area of some kind for her, since we don't want her to just go all over the place. If you'll eventually be teaching her to go outside only, I suggest using a sod box as her indoor potty area so she becomes acclimated to going only on the grass, which should make it easier to transfer over to outdoor training when she's older and has better control.

I hope this helps! :)

[Jenn&Izzie]

Thank you for writing back!

Izzie's poops are firm, it's just that she get it on her paws and then moves around her crate.

Her eating schedule is this:
6:30-6:45am - breakfast
noon - lunch
5:30-5:45pm - dinner
***she doesn't seem to eat much at lunch though.

She did poop outside today around 6:30 but typically she only goes during the night. She does not poop at lunch when I take her out - I think that my timing is off since she goes in the morning while I am away.

I was able to read the page about accidents in the crate. I think that what I will do next is make sure that her crate is the right size or get a plastic crate (currently wire) that fits her a bit better.

I guess my most pressing question was whether Izzie was old enough to be in the crate - so we will keep working at it since you thought that the amount of time in the crate was ok for her age. Any advice is greatly appreciated.

[Rebecca]

I think that amount of time is okay, but it's definitely a long stretch for a pup her age, especially if she doesn't go potty before you leave.

I'd strongly suggest that you get up earlier in the morning (sorry!), feed her immediately, then get her some good exercise, which should help to get her bowels moving before you leave for work.

If she's having crate accidents in the afternoon, you might want to speak to your vet to see if cutting her down to two meals a day is an option so you can stop giving her a mid-day meal.

[Jenn&Izzie]

perfect! I have no problem waking up earlier if that will help her. thanks for all of your advice.

[Rebecca]

Let us know how it goes!!

[Jenn&Izzie]

It's working great! We get up at 6am now and feed her (she always has to go out then anyway, so it works well). We lay around for about 10 minutes after she is done eating and then get ready for work, get a walk in and she has been doing #1 & #2 before we leave. Yesterday, I came home at lunch and there weren't any accidents in the crate!!!! She also went during the lunch break.

She did have a peeing accident in the afternoon but I think I am going to try to monitor her water intake a bit more today. She went before she went back in the crate so I think she may just have had too much water. We will see how it goes today.

Thanks again for all of your help. I am sure I will have more questions next week!

Best,
Jenn & Izzie

[Rebecca]

Glad to hear the plan seems to be working! :thumbup: