[weenie]

Is it right to leave my two 9 week old pups in their crates? I am home all day and watch them and take them outside.
I am crate training 2 Shi-Poo pups and they are doing great when they are in their crates,they will cry to get out when they have to go potty and we take them outside and they go!
Right now I keep them in their crates at night when I go to bed,their crates go by the bed.They cry to go potty through the night and we take them out,and in the morning they go back out to go potty again.
Then they are allowed to run,play,eat,drink for quite some time in the house.I usually crate them again in the afternoon for a little rest,but other then that they are free to roam the house.
My big problem is that even if they go potty outside they will still go on my floors whenever they want with no sign.I try to get them outside every 2 hours,but they seem to pee and poo in the house even if they have gone outside.
I let them out while I am home and just watch them.I am home all day being a stay at home mom and try to keep a eye on them as much as I can but it just seems to not be working.
Can I crate these little guys through out the day even when I AM HOME and only let them out to go potty and for playtime outside.And eat of course.I want this to work and the only way they are not messing is when they are crated.I want to get these little guys housebroke.Please help!!

[Gernald]

Crates are like a dogs safe haven, kind of like what you feel like when your at home. It takes a while to get used to but they will be okay when there in the crate.
By the sounds of it they have to be crate trained if you want to keep your home in one piece!
They won't go to the bathroom in there, unless they really have to so I suggest not giving them tons of water before you put them in the crate. Also maybe you could find someone to let them out once or twice during the day, this way the poor pups can get some releif. There are also such things as doggy daycares (weird huh?) you could look in to that if you don't feel comfortable with leaving them in the crate all day.
They're still pretty young by the sounds of it so they should adjust to new people and surroundings easily.
Good Luck with the pups!

[labman]

While it is OK to give yourself a break by crating the puppies for a while when you are around, they also need time loose in the house. Usually the goal is to teach the puppy to go to the door when it needs to go out. You can't do that with the puppy in the crate. It sounds like you are mostly taking a reasonable course. I would not expect them to go more than 15-20 minutes when they are active, without needing to go out. There will be accidents at that age with most puppies. If they are busy playing with each other, they will continue until they aren't able to go through the sniffing or circling routine, but must go then. How soon a puppy has to go depends on how active it is.

I am having more of a time with it with Xanthe, the 7 week old we picked up Saturday, than many of our other puppies. Some are just more difficult. She is doing great over night, having gone all night, all 4 nights. When awake in the day time, she goes at least every 10 minutes. She does go to the door sometimes, but sometimes not. I do have a gate limiting the puppies to this one room with a hardwood floor with an industrial strength finish.

I disagree sharply with the suggestion of doggy daycare for 9 week olds. They are much too vulnerable to parvo and other life threatening diseases to expose to so many other dogs. I think any trustworthy day care would refuse them.

I think you will find much more reliable help in the sticky at https://www.askmehelpdesk.com/dogs/i...tml#post251809 than any of that first post.

[weenie]

Thanks labman,I have been leaving them out for most of the day when home,and your right I don't want to take them to a day care either.I am at home all day,I don't need something like that.I didn't know that they might have to go every 10 minutes when playing,thank you for your help with this,it really helps.So if they have accidents in the house it's not setting them back for housetraining? If they do have a accident I just take them outside and tell them potty here,am I doing this right? Thanks:o

[labman]

I think you have to praise them for every potty outside and hope they catch on.
To an extent, every inside accident is a step backwards, but can't be helped unless you focus your complete attention on them constantly. You can't even relax when they are asleep, because they may wake up any moment and quickly need to go out.