[elmiller]

I have had a new 12 week old puppy for a week now... I know that training takes time, but he is pooping in the crate when I am at work is driving me nuts! He doesn't just go- he has to make a spectacle of it- smearing it and grinding it into everything he can reach... I have found it flung onto the carpet and walls outside the bars! :eek: He sleeps peacefully through the night and hasn't had an accident. He is potty trained while we are home and learns very quickly. It doesn't matter how short of a time I leave him crated he still goes in there! I don't understand what is wrong! Any suggestions or thoughts on this? Does anyone know just how short or long a puppy is supposed to be able to last without going during the day? I just don't understand since he will sleep overnight for ten hours without a problem! I do not crate him at night-- should I? Would this help the daytime issues? :confused:

[cddrennen]

Sometimes puppies will be puppies and need something to do. It sounds like he's getting bored while you are gone and no one in the house. I would suggest leaving the TV or radio on and turn it up loud enough for him to hear it that way he has something to listen to. Also, trying getting him a slightly bigger crate or put him in a baby play pen (ones with plastic on the bottom, it'll make it much easier to clean, and he'll have room to move around, and be sure to put a few toys in there for him.) Another thing, when a puppy needs to go during the day and no one around to take him outside, they'll go where they can, most of the time puppies that are potty trained will go by the door (yes I know, more likely to step in it but they've learned that they have to go potty outside and that is the closest they can get) I would suggest getting a puppy sitter or something like that for when you (and anyone else that lives with you) are gone during the day, that way, the puppy can continue to learn that they have to go outside to use the bathroom and the puppy sitter can take them outside for them to do that. The puppy sitter can also play with the puppy and the puppy won't get bored cause he'll have something to do. Also, when gone during the day, make sure there is no dog food in the crate, make sure he eats in the morning and then before you leave for the day take the food away and just leave some water so he doesn't get dehydrated, but make sure you give him ample chances of using the bathroom before you leave for work or whatever you need to do, that way he'll be less likely to go in his crate and spread the stuff around. Let me know how it goes in a few weeks

[labman]

I am not sure whether it is a problem of stress or spite. A 12 week old should easily be able to go half a day in the crate. Try to make some arraingement to give it a mid day break, returning home for lunch, a neighbor, or a professional dog walker. It is only natural that a puppy resists its crate at first. What the puppy
Wants more than anything else is to be with others, you, anyone else in the
Household, and any other pets. In our modern society, even if we are home,
Other things distract us from the attention an uncrated puppy must have. The
Only real solution is to crate the dog when you aren't around. Leave it some toys. Perhaps a Kong filled with peanut butter. Don't leave anything in the crate the dog might chew up. Rather than relaxing and catching a nap in their den, some puppies protest by fouling the crate. I haven't had this problem. As I said, I see many questions suggesting it, and saw my daughter fight the problem. Theyheld their ground, and the pupy gave up in a few days.

A wire grid in the bottom of the crate will help keep the puppy up out of urine and to a lessor extent stools. They are available with the crates, but expensive and hard to find. A piece of closely spaced wire closet shelving from a home supply place is cheaper. Also check the housewears section for something suitable. As he tries to make a bigger mess, the stools will fall down out of reaach. For my current puppy, I bought a vegatable bin and drilled holes in the bottom. This reduces the mess, making the protest much less effective. The longer haired the puppy, the higher it needs to be. In warmer weather, you can just haul the crate out and hose everything off. When the puppy sees you coping with the situation, and you stand your ground, most of them give up and learn to relax, and that you will return. One more thing that may help is using a smaller crate, or blocking off part of a larger one so the puppy can't fouled one spot and retreat.

The "shut the puppy in a safe room" is a fallacy. Very few houses even have a
Safe room. How many of us have a room with a hard surfaced floor and nothing
Else? Most rooms have electrical cords to chew if nothing else. In addition
To destroying anything a bored puppy finds to chew, it may choke or have
Intestinal blockage from the pieces. I had a friend that left her dog in a
"safe" room. It ate a hole in the floor covering. The safe rooms fail to
Give the dog the comfort of the enclosed space their instinct requires. Nor
Do they restrict activity extending the time the dog can go without relieving
Itself.

[wildcatgirl]

Leave it some toys. Perhaps a Kong filled with peanut butter.

I agree--I have found that my dogs become acustomed to their crate and will begin to think of it as their "den." Dogs by nature usually don't poo where they eat. If you leave them something to snack on in their crate they begin to think of it as a den instead of a place where you leave them when your gone. Dogs will also suffer from separation anxiety in some cases. My Shi-tzu gets rebellious if we leave him home alone loose in the house and will begin to tear things up--even if it is for a few minutes. He is not a big eater, so I usually leave his bowl of food with him in his crate. For that now, he is very well crate trained and all I have to say is "kennel" and he goes right in on his own.