When crate training a puppy, what to do at night?

Question

I've had my puppy for nearly two weeks and I'm unsure what to do with her in her crate at night. The crate was too big, so I sectioned it off so that she could only have space to lie down, sit and turn around. Yet she still urinated and deficated in that small area during the night - from about 10.30/11pm to 6.30am.

What should I do?? Any advice would be much appreciated - all the books I have don't say much about during the night. My pup seems to wake up at some point in the night, elimate and then go back to sleep.

She has a little bed inside the crate with a blanket sort of thing on it. It's a metal crate.

Thanks and please no people telling me that crate training is evil.

ps. i said about the evil thing becaue I posted a Q about it before and got around 20 responses saying how evil I was for crating my pup and that I should have her taken away from me - nice huh?

She's a 10 wk old Cavalier King Charles Spaniel

Answer 1

Hi Hun, pup is still very young so so she will probably still have accidents for another 2 weeks. Our boy was totally clean by 12 weeks and we did exactly the same thing as you. You have done everything correctly. In the morning make sure the bedding is washed and crate is cleaned so that pups cannot smell the toilet or they may keep going (although i am sure you do this already). If you are really concerned you could set your alarm for 3 or 4 and take them outside, once puppy is a couple of weeks older her bladder will be much stronger and you can phase this out. Good luck x: PS: Crate training is the best thing since sliced bread.. our boy is 9 months old, we still have his crate with his blankets in there and he chooses to sleep in there and we never shut the door anymore.

Answer 2

Crate training is NOT evil, it's the best thing you can do for your dog!

A young puppy can't hold it that long - The rule of thumb is # of months +1 (So if the pup is 2 months, then 3 hours). Either set your alarm and get up to let it out every few hours, or if it's crying, get up, go outside with it, then put it immediately back in it's crate.

Answer 3

She's still very much a baby and absolutely can NOT hold it from 10:30 until 6:30. I highly recommend to figure out when she usually wakes up to use the bathroom, and wake up at that time to take her outside. If she REALLY has to go, no matter how small the space, she will go. Puppies have very small bladders and little control over them. To solve your problem, just wake up once in the middle of the night, take her outside to do her business, and put her right back in after she's finished her business.

Crate training is not evil if done properly. It's not meant to be a puppy jail. It's a training tool and works wonders for lots of dogs.

Answer 4

Very few people on here think that crate training is evil. In fact, most people that know even a small amount about dogs know that it can be a great great thing.

That being said, it doesn't sound like you are being realistic. Putting a puppy in a crate doesn't magically potty train them. I aseume your pup is 10-16 weeks old. They can really only hold it two-four hours or so at a time. At night, the pup probably wakes up and realizes that he has to go potty, so he goes.

You may need to start getting up a few times during the night to let the puppy out. Otherwise, get used to the poop and you may expect potty training & crate training issues later in life.

I know it sucks to have to get up in the middle of the night, but puppies are like babies. That's just how it goes with some puppies.

Added: "i said about the evil thing becaue I posted a Q about it before and got around 20 responses saying how evil I was for crating my pup and that I should have her taken away from me - nice huh?" Actually, what happened was that your question did not clarify you were off to bed until AFTER people started responding. It sounded like you leave your 8 week old puppy in there all the time. I just re-read the question. You have to understand that if you don't provide information, people will jump to the worst possible conclusion. And on here, that conclusion is usually right. You have a history of not listening to what we say anyway (saying that KC registration doesn't matter, buying a puppy online, agreeing with people who support Backyard Breeders), so this contributes to people jumping to bad conclusions about you.

I also want you to realize that this site is NOT a professional site. It seems that 90% of the people in this section are either children or people who should not be answering dog questions. You need to start doing your own research as you really don't seem to be problem solving on your own. Y!A can be great, but it really shouldn't be trusted - unless you know the person giving you the advice.

Hope your puppy figures it out.

Answer 5

Crate training is NOT evil. It is the best thing from your dog, and the only way to really guarantee that they aren't getting into something that can hurt them when you aren't around or sleeping.

I can't tell from your question how old your dog is, so I am wondering if it might still be at the age where it needs to go out once in the middle of the night...around 2 a.m. It stinks, but sometimes you need to do that for a few weeks until they get big enough to physically hold it that long.

Hope that helps.

Answer 6

Crate train is great if it works for you. But nights are a problem. You can put the crate in the bathroom on a tile floor and leave the crate open. This way you puppy can get out to do her business., put her down some newspaper. At least it will be easier to clean up. I have always taken my puppies to bed with me and when they stir in the night, I can wake up to take them out to pee. It's worth a few weeks of nightly trips to get them properly trained.

Answer 7

For one, I would not crate train a dog. I would prefer to section off the bathroom, laundry room, kitchen, hallway or some place where you can work on house training.

I don't like the idea of crate training. I know a lot of people do but I prefer the old fashioned way. Layers Newspapers so all you have to do is lift off a few layers & you got a clean floor.

When in the crate you can't tell when a pup is ready to do business but if it were out where you could watch it you will have a better chance of house breaking it by watching the behavior. They start looking for a place to go & you can take them outside then to do business. & praise the boogers out of the pup when he/she does right.

Answer 8

Put her bed in one half of the crate & newspapers in the front half. She will make a mess for a few weeks at least, she simply hasn't got enough control over her bladder and bowels yet. You will have a mess to clear up - but at least it's contained! She will learn to be clean as soon as she physically can be because pups don't like being that near to their own waste.
Don't feed her earlier than usual in the evening as some suggested - puppies need regular feeding and leaving her over 12 hours is far too long for a youngster.
You are doing the right thing, you just need to be patient.

Answer 9

I am not going to tell you that is evil, but everyones theory is that a dog wont 'go' in its bed and it goes to prove that crate training doesnt always work. (I have never found it to work either).

There is no need to get up every three hours in the night, during the day you should take her outside immediately she has woken up from a sleep, immediately after food, during play, and when she starts sniffing around the floor. Use word association like wee wee time and praise her up when she does good. At night leave her in a small area of the kitchen covered with newspaper with access to her crate so she can go in if she wants to.

Ok if dogs fine a hole to sleep in in the wild, they are not enclosed and she was probably frightened of being shut up which is why she urinated and pooed in the crate.

Answer 10

Why do you restrict the pup to a smaller part of the crate? Let her have the whole area. Puppies almost always do numbers 1 and 2 immeadiatlly after a nap. If you want to properly potty train her, you need to take her outside after she wakes.....even in the middle of the night when you would rather be sleeping.....puppies are work and thats how I did it.