crate training questions.... (Long)

Some questions for anyone else who crate trained their puppy - I'm so new to this and every little thing that happens makes me think of more things to ask about!!

Okay, so Golem doesn't like his crate unless he's taking a nap.... He cries and screams whenever we put him in, and while he's really good at holding his pee in the crate overnight - he's been peeing in the crate during the day whenever we put him in when we're home and can't watch him, or when we're both at work.... I feel like a horrible mom bc I don't know why he does it. We take him outside whenever we take him out of the crate, after eating, and after playing, and he'll go then - but then when it's time for mommy and daddy to leave - he screams and cries, and when I come home from work, he's peed in the crate. He's been on a regular eating schedule since Saturday, and we don't leave the food/water out after he eats either. I'm so confused - we're giving him every possible opportunity to pee and he'll do it, but then when he's in the crate during the day, he goes nuts, and we're thinking that maybe all the excitement is causing him to pee?

Our breeder says he'll eventually get used to being in there, but meanwhile his anxiety is making him soil where he sleeps and we just don't know what we're doing wrong? We alwasy leave a soft radio on for him, the crate is now only big enough for him to turn around in and it's covered on all three sides with a blanket to create the 'den' feeling for him. The inside is lined with our old t-shirts (they have our scent)and we also have all of his favorite toys in there too. I know he's only 2 months old and still learning, but I can't help but feel like there's something that WE're doing wrong and I feel really bad.......

I'm such a new mom and this is still so alien to me, so does anyone have any advice that might help us with our little pup and the crate training dilemma we're having? I don't have enough doggy experience to know if this behavior is normal or not either, so I'd really love to hear about your own crate training experiences with your puppy. How long did it take? Do they always scream/whine when it's time to be in? Like I said, a million questions! :) THANKS so much!!!

Re: crate training questions.... (Long)

It's totally normal! Don't worry, you're being a wonderful Mommy to Golem. Both Angel and Sprinkles had to adjust to the crates. It took awhile but they got it. Golem is so little - he probably doesn't have control over his functions yet. Sounds like you're in a better place than I was. I used to come home to a serious mess w/Sprinkles. She used to doody in the cage and then play in it all day Do you line the cage w/papers?

Re: crate training questions.... (Long)

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Posted by ambersmom

It's totally normal! Don't worry, you're being a wonderful Mommy to Golem. Both Angel and Sprinkles had to adjust to the crates. It took awhile but they got it. Golem is so little - he probably doesn't have control over his functions yet. Sounds like you're in a better place than I was. I used to come home to a serious mess w/Sprinkles. She used to doody in the cage and then play in it all day Do you line the cage w/papers?

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OMG doody!!! no, Golem is amazingly capable of holding that since day 1 we haven't had an accident with that - it's like he somehow knows that's just too nasty to have to deal with! :) We line the bottom of the crate with newspapers then put our tshirts over it - it's a quick clean up that way :) Craig keeps telling me that even though he can hold it at night for up to 4 hours, he's not strong enough yet to do that twice a day - and that's helped me make some sense of it :) I also talked to his cousin's girlfriend who has a Jack Russell and she was telling me that it took a long time for her dog to be really crate trained - several weeks I think she said. And then from the research we've been doing, it seems that most Rotties take about 6 months to be fully housebroken - but for me, I just feel better hearing about other peoples' experiences. For some reason, that calms me down more than anything bc it's form a real person, not just some factoid website :) But thank you for sharing that - I get carried away with myself sometimes just thinking that I don't know what I'm doing! But, I'm told that these anxious worry feelings of mine will soon pass, it's just all so new still - so I'll be better once it becomes like second nature. then I'll prpbably look back and laugh at how silly I used to get :)

thank you so much for the encouragement!

Re: crate training questions.... (Long)

it's so normal for them to cry.....what we did with Bailey is get a play pen and put that around her crate and left the crate door open when we were in the room with her so she could get used to it. There were papers outside the crate for her to piddle and poo on and her water/food dish was in there also.

He's doing it out of spite because you are not there with him. When Bailey was little, we would put her in the penned area while watching a movie or whatever....and left her in there with her toys for awhile, then we'd take her out to cuddle with her, etc. Golem needs the opportunity to go in without being locked in.

Now, at 2 1/2 years old, Bailey goes in her cage on her own, with the door open if we are staying up late and she wants to sleep OR if she doesn't want to be bothered by our nephews or scared. This is her 'safe' spot. We do still lock her in it if we are gone for an extended period of time, but we leave her out of it if we're are just running an errand

Re: crate training questions.... (Long)

Thanks Shana, I was hoping to hear some advice from another Rottie mom!

Golem was actually very good about his crate this weekend! This is all so new to us, so I feel kind of bad when we make mistakes with him becasue he doesn't know what's going on just quite yet, but we're realizing them in time to correct them I think, and Golem is responding very well to the crate now! We're starting to make a game of him going in on his own now by hiding biscuit bits under his blankets and he's been snuffling around in there trying to look for them. We're also trying to spend as much time with him as possible outside the crate when we are home too, so that's really helping too! If he falls asleep after playing, we'll just leave him out where he can see us, unless of course we have to go to the store or leave the house for something. He seemed much better these past few days since we were both home, but I just feel bad bc we can't do that everyday with both of us working. He was a happy dog this morning though, and no messes in the crate from last night either - that's a FIRST! :) Mommy was very happy this morning at 2 when we went out for his nighttime walk in the backyard and there were no soggy blankets or screaming puppy in the crate :) I feel like everyday teaches all three of us something new, so it's a continual learning experience! Thanks again for the advice - every bit of it is helping :)

Re: crate training questions.... (Long)

Having a puppy is the best precursor to having a real baby someday You get to learn what signals and signs to look for. You're doing an amazing job. You should be very proud of yourselves.

Re: crate training questions.... (Long)

proud, yes! Also sometimes terrified and worried, and always trying to fight that wave of frustration when things are bumpy :) lol - a baby will be a cinch after Golem!

But we're doing all this in his best interest, so in my heart I feel that we are doing the right thing. Still, it's so easy to doubt yourself about these things sometimes!!! :) Craig and I keep telling each other that two months from now we will look back at this time and just laugh about it :) I'll just be happy when he sleeps through the night and stops BITING everything and everyone that moves! Oh yeah, and when he stops eating everything from the ground in our backyard!

Re: crate training questions.... (Long)

Hang in there! We were in the same place a month ago as you are now. Chewie sleeps through the whole night and doesn't bite anymore! He is almost 6 months.

Re: crate training questions.... (Long)

a month - that's awesome! Our breeder said it would be a few weeks too - so that gives me hope! The thought of our Rottie at 90 pounds biting the way he does now just kind of scares me a little bit

Karissa, with Chewie's biting, what did you do to correct/stop it? We've been saying NO for everything and replacing whatever he's biting with one of his toys, then praising him for biting that instead. And when he bites us too hard we yelp 'OW!' really loud and high pitched, and it startles him where he stops bc he realized he's hurting us. That works most of the time. When he keeps at it even after the OW, we just walk out of the room where he can't see us, and it sinks in that if he doesn't play nice with us, then we wont play at all. He seems to be getting the hint little by little, he's just so darn persistent!!

As far as sleeping through the night, he seems to be going a little longer every night. At first, it was every 20 minutes, then it went to about 40 minutes, then an hour, and now when we put him in the crate at 11, he'll stay until 2 when we walk him, then we get him up at 6. We think by this time next week he might not need the 2am walk, but we'll have to see :)

Thanks again for the words of encouragement!

Re: crate training questions.... (Long)

Chewie never really didn't bite. He wouldn't listen most of the time to us yell 'ow'. He liked to bite us better than the toys too. We tried everything. The one thing he loved was the 'kong' toy filled w/ a treat or kong filling. You should buy this at petco. After a few weeks his teeth started to fall out and he has finally learned 'don't bite'. He doesn't bite us anymore.

Re: crate training questions.... (Long)

Yelling OW! really helped when Bailey nipped. Don't forget he's teething and it's more to relieve the discomfort of that. Yelling NO is also helpful....you must establish dominance, especially with a BIG dog.

Oh, BTW...we met our new friends' Rottie this weekend....Kiro..he's 6 years old and I swear he's a BEAR!! He's HUGE! I didn't take pics, but I will next time! He was SO sweet and well behaved!

Re: crate training questions.... (Long)

thanks ladies :) We yell OW, NO, divert his attention with the chew toys, but it just feels like nothing works sometimes! He listens when we say NO now with everything but the biting. When I was playing with him last night, he fell asleep in my lap and I was looking around in his mouth - his teeth are pressed right up against his little gums, so I can't imagine how distracting and painful that must be for him right now. He's just so hyper too! He gives kisses, and last night he was so amped up that he started biting while kissing and he nipped my lip. I yelled OW reallly loud, and he felt pretty bad after that. It's amazing how he knows it hurt, and on top of that, he feels bad about doing it! We have puppy Kong for him along with a Nylabone Teething bone, and a bunch of other chew toys - but I think we're going to get the Kong you can put in the freezer - I think the coolness on his teeth might soothe him a lot more than his other toys. When he's not crazy toothy dog, he's really just the sweetest little thing! Last night as I was making dinner, he just kept following me around the kitchen and putting his paw on my foot Poor guy doesn't know what's going on, just that his mouth hurts and biting helps it feel better. I'll be glad for him when his baby teeth fall out so he doesn't have to be in that discomfort all the time! He's 2 months and 2 days old now, so we have another 2 months before his baby teeth fall out, and two more after that for his adult teeth to come in. Im trying to do as much research as possible abotu this, and it seems like he'll be in this teething stage until he's about 6 - 7 months old! In the meantime, we'll work hard as we can to teach him the NO BITE when he's nipping where he shouldn't be :)