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Mess in house - and rolling in it. Crate or training (or both)?


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Right. Hello. We have seemingly solved the crate at night issue so that's brilliant.

My wife doesn't work so is home for most of the day - the main reason we agreed to get Buddy - but she does have school journeys and errands to run taking her out for an hour or so max.

Buddy isn't able to go out for walks for another 3 wks until he's had all his jabs.

We have had a few messes on carpets and floor indoors, all perfectly fine and expected - he has free run of the garden whenever he wants.

However yesterday he was left in the kitchen for 30 mins. In that time he did a massive poo on a puppy pad then looked to have walked it through repeatedly, rolled in it etc. He ended up having his first shower. He's done exactly the same this morning - we left him downstairs whilst getting the kids ready for school - came down to the same issue.

 

No dog flap means he can't go out by himself.

I do t want to use the crate as punishment at all - in fact it's very hard indeed to tell him off!

 

Would you suggest him being shut in crate at all times when unsupervised for now? Or is this something we can swiftly teach him is out of order. And if so - how can you discipline a playful puppy? We would much rather give the dogs the run of the kitchen when we pop out with puppy pads down for them - but not come home to poo-mageddon...

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haha poo-mageddon.. thanks for the laugh :D

 

I'm personally not a fan of puppy pads, it teaches puppies it's ok to do their business in the house. And every time your pup goes in the house, it's reinforced for that behaviour, and it will take longer to house train, simple as that.

 

When in the house training phase, you can simply never leave your pup unattended. It's very inconvenient yes, but he is too young to hold it in when he has to go. He will pee or poop when you leave him for longer than a minute or two. This is because when you leave, he suddenly has no attention, calms down, realises he has to go.

 

So yes, crate when you are not around. They need to sleep a lot anyways. You will also be happy you did this later, because crating also teaches a dog to be okay by himself and be quiet.

 

Try to play, train, let him eat, drink, and tire him out, go outside to let him pee, put him in the crate to let him sleep for an hour or maybe two, carry him out and let him do his business again, rinse, repeat.

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Oh and don't tell him off for doing something in the house! When you catch him in the act, you can startle him, pick him up quickly and put him outside, but don;t get mad. It will only teach your puppy that you will get mad when he does a pee or poo in front of you. So you wil inadvertently teach him to go when you are not around.

 

Hope it helps!

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My pups sleep in crates to avoid any messes, to teach them to hold it and wait to go out, to avoid any other problems so first thing - very first thing is to go out with the pup. the only way you know if they have pooped and peed outside is to go with them. If they did both they can have free play time inside and I feel relatively safe I have 30 min before they need to go out again. If they did not do both they go back in the crate. I do not consider it punishment it is prevention - keeping them from eliminating in the house and helping him learn to go outside.

 

I feel the only time puppy pad are ok is if you will gone longer than he can wait. I do crate my pups every time they are unattended. I also have an outdoor kennel that allows them to poo outside so on nice days they can be there if i am working ect.

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My dog did eventually learn that I really am displeased when he rolls in his own poop, but it took far longer than you would like. Avoiding him being able to practice the behavior and, surprisingly, a change of food, finally stopped the behavior when he was about 1 1/2 years old.

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I want to say that I definitely agree with the advice to crate whenever you can't directly observe your puppy, even if it's just for a few minutes. It's much easier to prevent bad habits than change them after they're established. Also, I wouldn't worry about your pup thinking the crate is a punishment. I always made it a fun time to go in the crate so my pup looked forward to it - I always had special toys/treats (i.e. frozen kongs) that she only got in the crate and now she is still happy to go to her crate whenever I ask, or on her own accord to take a nap.

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I'll echo and re-echo the advice to just crate him when you can't watch him. It's not forever but the problem with poo-rolling (laughing over your poo-mageddon visual! :lol: ) is that it's self-rewarding. It's FUN! So he has no particular incentive to stop.

BUT, if you scold or punish him for the mess, as others have said you may accidentally teach him that it's wrong to potty in front of you and that won't do at all!

So, yes, just pop him in a crate with a fun toy or chewie and go do what you have to do. It won't hurt him a bit and if he's given a goody and/or toy each time he goes in, it's not punishment. It's just time-outs for a little while and a puppy should learn that anyhow. :)

Good luck!

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Although I am late to the topic, just want to say:

 

crate by throwing a treat inside first (at this puppy stage). They should not see it as 'punishment' if you make it a happy place.

 

I agree about not using puppy pads inside or you may teach him it is OK to go inside. If you do have to use them (i.e. if you are gone longer than you think he can hold it while in a crate), consider putting the crate in an area that is 'fenced off' (with an X-pen). This gives him more room to sleep in his crate, but also a small area outside the crate (with puppy pads) where he can eliminate.

 

FWIW, I had never used puppy pads until my senior dog hit about 19 years old, and she could not go the whole night without some sort of accident. The pads were not used for training, but for making clean-up easier for a dog that could no longer hold it. For 5-6 months, she would pace around and I could jump up from bed, throw some clothes on and carry her outside, but then she got to the point where I would hear her get up, but she would be peeing about 5 seconds later. No chance to get her outside. Luckily she liked to stay on the throw rug in the bedroom since the wood floor was too slippery. So I just covered the rug with puppy pads. Worked wonderfully. I usually only had to pick up one or two in the morning, even though 8 were used to cover the rug.

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Buddy isn't able to go out for walks for another 3 wks until he's had all his jabs.

 

 

 

Off subject, but how old is he? You may want to revisit this topic as puppies do need socialization (ideal window is 7-14 weeks I think), and while there is a risk they could get sick if they are not all the way through their puppy shots, you can minimize the risk by being careful where you take him.

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I'm personally not a fan of puppy pads, it teaches puppies it's ok to do their business in the house.

 

 

I agree about not using puppy pads inside or you may teach him it is OK to go inside.

 

I used to believe this as well, until I adopted this last puppy. He was started on puppy pads at the rescue so I got same and gave him an open crate inside an ex-pen with a pad at the far end.

 

He used the pad a few times and also use it a couple times when he was out of the ex-pen, going back to the pad before he learned to ask to go out.

 

As soon as he developed more bladder control, he stopped using the pads on his own and would ask to go out. The last couple times he used them, he'd asked to go out but couldn't hold it until I got to him. He peed, but apparently just enough to give himself control because he peed again as soon as I took him out (immediately). He never pooped on them.

 

The only thing I can offer in this instance is that it's not universal that using them will teach a puppy to eliminate in the house. At least in some cases (maybe more than we realize?) it's just an aid that can be used while puppies are developing control and then eliminated.

 

YMMV

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