My husband and I are trying to train our 12 week old JR. we are attempting to crate train and we try to take him outside to use the bathroom every 2 hours. however sometimes he pees in his crate...only has happened 4 times and we have had him for a week now. when he pees in his crate we just wash his bed but dont punish him because he has already done it and wont learn anything by us yelling. does it sound like we are training him right? do you have any tips and should i be concerned about his peeing in the crate or is it just something that will happen since he is a puppy. any adive would be great.
ps-usually as soon as i take him out he will go right away.
ppss- i am a first time dog owner!
2007-03-03 06:34:51 · 6 answers · asked by Anonymous in Pets ➔ Dogs
You sound like you are doing great! However, I would take him out a bit more frequently to start with if he is still peeing in his crate. As he gets older he will learn to hold it better and for longer but to start with every hour, immediately upon waking and straight after feeding. Apart from that you're doing fine.
2007-03-03 06:41:46 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Make sure that the crate is only big enough for him to sit, lay down, and turn around in. If you need to, put a box in the back to take up space. You may be giving him too much room in his crate to be able to "get away" from the mess. To a small dog, a big crate is like a living room to us, and if he has the space to move away then it feels like he's going potty in a different room. I have a 5 month old Yorkie... but I've also had 2 labs in the past. My yorkie has some potty problems that we are working on, however, he has never gone in his crate. Just limit his space in the crate for now, until he gets the hang of going potty outside, once he gets it, then you can open the crate up for him.
You are doing a great job and keep it up! Sometimes I think a dog is more work than a baby! Good Luck!
2007-03-07 13:32:12 · answer #2 · answered by babystace713 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
YAY!!! to no punishing. Good for you!
Is the bed that you have in his crate porous? Dogs like to pee on porous surfaces - you may want to take his bed away totally until he outgrows this habit. Also be sure that you are using an anzyme cleaner such as Petastic or Urine Gone to clean the bedding, or it's still going to smell like pee....to him, anyway.
You may want to take him out a bit more often than every 2 hours. Pups need to go usually upon waking, after eating, and after playing.
Here's a puppy group that's moderated that you may want to join. It's all-positive (no choke collars or punishment techniques) and there are a lot of great trainers who post to that list.
http://pets.groups.yahoo.com/group/spt/
Have fun. Take an Agility class. Do some Flyball. Your dog will love you for that!
2007-03-03 15:14:24 · answer #3 · answered by Misa M 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I agree..the best thing to do is not punish him after the fact. We have just gone through the puppy stage and we found that from the start, taking him out outside frequently helped out huge!! Now he is 8 months and holding his pee for at least 4 hours now. One thing we have learned training our shorty (short haired jack russel) is that positive punishment has helped with his dominancy...actually, surprisingly enough, he is not dominant at all (he has his moments). Also, crate training from the start has worked out well but was hard at the start. We are first time jack russell owners and haven't regreted it one bit. Enjoy!!
2007-03-06 22:58:48 · answer #4 · answered by peaker76 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
One thing that will help is to put him in a smaller crate than he was in. That will encourage him not to go to the bathroom where he has to lie down.
2007-03-07 13:33:57 · answer #5 · answered by Trumpetgirl2000 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Your husband sounds great. :)
2007-03-03 14:54:14 · answer #6 · answered by kuribo 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋