Need crate training tips for our new dog

Ron-P

We adopted her about 2 weeks ago, a Yorkshire Terrier. We were told she's 1.5 years old but we think she's younger. The first week or so she slept in bed with our other dog and my daughter but she would get up at night a do her bizz so we were told to crate her at night to help with house breaking.

She's slept in a crate for a few nights but then we had to board both dogs for several nights as we went out of town. We're back and ready to do this. We go to bed about 10'ish on average. We feed both dogs about 7am and then again at 3pm. We walk them about 8'ish. So here are some questions...


- What's a good afternoon feeding time? It seems she needs to **** about 11pm or soon after, which is too late for us. She rarely goes about 8 when on the walks.

- Should we keep the same feeding time and put her in at 10 no matter if she's gone or not and just let her hold it until about 6 when we get up?

- She does whine a lot when she goes in the crate, and then after a couple of hours when she wakes. Should we just let her be and not get her out to go do her bizz?

- On average how long does it take until they get used to the crate and stops the whining? We have to put her in my HT room in the garage otherwise we would not get sleep. I hate to do this and want her in the house with us but not until the whining stops.

fatchowmein

Here are my experience after 10 years of crating 2 dogs.

They get feed whenever I get up. The 2nd feeding is at 6pm but one of them would always remind me if I'm late about it. :rolleyes:

1 dog is 10 years old and sleeps next to our bed. He was crated for 18 months and stopped using his crate after 3 years. He just wasn't interested as he got older. When I first crated him in the kitchen, he whined for 45 minutes every night until my vet told me labs are extremely pack oriented and would do better with the crate in the bedroom. Whining stopped immediately and he would go directly to his crate every night at 11PM whether I was up or not. Rescued him at 8 weeks.

The other dog loves his crate but I started him in the bedroom. He goes to bed at 10pm. He's almost 4 and I doubt he'll ever give up his crate. He loved it since day 1 and I stopped closing his crate door at 12 months. This is a shep/lab mix. Rescued him at 7 weeks.

Both dogs know that I will walk them before bedtime and that they're not going out again. However, I'll make an exception once in a blue moon when it's an emergency. They'll signal me by sitting next to my side of the bed and whining.

Here's my routine when they were puppies. No water or food was left out for them.

1. Morning walk.
2. Morning feed and water.
3. Walk again.

4. Midday walk.
5. Midday feed and water.
6. Midday walk again.

7. Evening walk.
8. Evening feed and water.
9. Evening walk.

10. Late evening water.
11. Late evening walk.

I left out 4, 5, and 6 as they got to 6 months. Also, if they were playing hard they would get more water and more walks. Once the routine was established, I left water out but never food. Now, I take them out when they ask and if I think they really need to go but at least twice a day.

packetjones

It is all about habit and schedule building. She will eventually learn when to go to the bathroom once she is used to being in the crate. I would not adjust the feeding schedule or the get her out at a time that is not good for you. It may take a week or 2 to get used to the crate but she will eventually. Keep in mind that crate training is based on the dogs instinct to keep their bed area clean. They should/will not go to the bathroom in the crate. If they do then just clean it out and do not punish them for doing it in the crate. You do not want to make the crate a bad place.

I have crate trained all of my dogs and it works very well. I have always done it when they were puppies though and have not done it to a grown dog though. Good luck.

mhmacw

i can only go on what my sister has taught me and my own experiences. sis is a very well known local vet in montana and has dealt with large and small animals for her entire career so i trust her lol. i dont have a specific feeding time. kind of like access to the fridge. if your hungry eat . in the first couple of weeks shel eat herself sick but after she realises the bowl is alwyas full it will make here feel more comfortable. this also helps with timing as you dont have to schedule in a feeding time you simpy fill it up when you walk by. when the food is no longer a question her **** shcedule will also adjust itself naturally to the surrounding schedues. if she know the dor is shut at 10 then she will do it at 9:59 and then come in. not knowing her exact age isnt a problem with the training. not knowing her training or habbits frm the previous master is sometimes difficult and time consuming to get over but it wont take that long and shes worth the effort. a bit of a nono was to aloow her the bed first. thats why shes whining she doesnt know why shes in "trouble" and cant sleep on the bed any more. as far as the house breaking...the old nose in the **** and then placed EXACTLY where you want her to **** will do the trick. might take a few times but thats a smart breed and once she gets it youll be able to put a paper plate there and shell **** on it. i hope i helped good luck man dogs rule!

Fireman32

Ron,

I had my dog in a crate untill he was about a year and a half old. He got to the point that he knew when I was leaving he would go to the crate himself. My neighbor who lived in the apt below me said that he whined for a bit for the first two to three weeks as he was having some seperation anxiety but then he calmed down and stopped.

The best way to train them is put them in the crate for short periods of time when your home and then let them out and reward them for being good in the crate. Soon it will become there safe place to go.

Also make sure the crate is only big enough for them to turn around in. If its any bigger they might use it as a bathroom.

Ron-P

Thanks gents. Some good info there. Seems we are doing things right so far and that it's just going to take time, she is still very new to our environment, habits and schedule.

The crate is just big enough for her to move around in and she has not gone to the bathroom in it yet. But, when she whines in the middle of the night we have taken her out to go, something we need to stop doing.

dorokusai

I know it sucks to get over the fact you're crating the animal but it worked beautifully for us. Whenever we took her out of the crate, depending on the time of the day, we'd feed her and immediately take her outside. AM and PM feeding, no free feeding ever for us.

Regardless, every time she left the crate, she was taken immediately outside. If she did something, she got to stay out for awhile but if she didn't do anything, back in the crate.

In hindsight I think we would have liked her to use the crate as a bed but once she was house broken, and she's a little dog, she's a bed sleeper now. Ugh...I swear she triples in size when she falls asleep and her body relaxes.

Other than that, she has never had an accident in the house. She will seriously hold it until we come hom and of course we take her out. We like to walk her if we know we'll be away fro an extended period.

Good luck Ron, I'm sure you'll find what works best for you.

Matt34

Every dog that spends any amount of time inside should be crate trained. Great tool and if used properly your dog should not feel stressed or show an unwillingness to use it. I have two GSD (ages 5 and 1) and they spend every night during the winter in their crates, in the summer they sleep outside.

coolsax

We crate our Husky mix, but we have to use one of those big plastic crates, as he figured out how to get out of those thin metal wire ones. He is only crated when we leave the house, he sleeps in the bedroom with us at night and he knows to go into it when we get read to go out. other than that he actually stays out of it most of the time but he has no problem getting into it.. he had a little separation anxiety the first few weeks but he never barks now and we leave a radio on while we're gone so that there is something going on the background for him. its pretty much just a step by step training process. as long as you keep up with consitentcy most dogs will be just fine with it.

Matt34

BlueFox wrote: »

Never did the crate. Dogs have a full bowl of food and water 24 hours a day. They are outside when I am away, and in/out when I am home. I agree crates are great for travel, and a dog should be used to the crate for that reason, but being in jail every day is not right in my world. They certainly are not needed for being house broken.

There are many senerios where crate training is useful beside having a place to put your dogs when you travel. You ever noticed your dog curls up in a corner when it sleeps, it enjoys the security the walls provide, same thing with a crate or dog house. It's a training tool and like any tool if you don't know what your doing it can be used in a negative way.

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(K9 handler for the last 12 years.)

TNRabbit

The woman who runs this kennel is reknowned for her training the pups receive in their first 9 weeks:

http://www.lockeyebc.com/info.html#crate_training

Toxis

Treats, praise, repetition. You can teach a dog to do anything you want with that. My dog was crated for about a year and a half until he and the cats got along better. Now everyone sleeps together on the bed and he goes out when we wake up.

Ron-P

Thanks for all the comments guys.

We had a good night last night. We put the crate in our room, she was put in it about 10:30 and didn't wake up until we got up about 4am. We took her out, she did her bizz and we decided to go back to bed so we put her back in. She stayed in until 7 when we got back up. She only whined for a couple of minutes and it was a very quite whine at that. Seems she's catching on very quickly.

Willow

Glad to hear things are working out for you.

Willow was never and will never be crated. She's 13 now and the only time she is is when she is at the groomers or in two weeks from now at a kennel for 10 days. She has free roam of the house at all times. Rudy on the other hand... When we first brought him home he was crated from 645am to 430pm. I get up at 5am, walk them both. They are then fed. They are let out right after eating to ****, if they didn't on their walk. They are then let out for one last pee at 630-645. Rudy is crated for the work day. We do give hime a Kong with either organic carrots, PB or some type of natural cookie. (This helped with his whining when we'd leave)(Now if he doesn't get one he doesn't cry anymore)Water is avail 24/7 for Willow and only on weekends to Rudy. (i'll explin why in a sec.) We get home about 430pm they are walked again. They are then fed at about 430-530 then let out for a ****. Before we head to bed they are let out for one last pee. For the first 4-5 months we had Rudy he was crated at night as he would have accidents. It took him/us to learn each others schedule. At night now he is no longer crated but only has access to the top floor. When we di first get him he was crated in our room and Willow would sleep next to him as he'd cry a bit. We then moved his crate in to Willow's room, she has her own bedroom/ guest room where she sleeps under the bed. Now at night it's like having kids. Willow is in her room, Rudy might snuggle her for a bit then he leaves and goes to his room/ other guest bedroom where he sleeps on the bed.