Crate training Advice PLEASE!!!!!!

[mamalonglegs]

OK The crate training at night seems to be going great with Rascal, so I am considering doing it through the day as well to help him and I with house breaking. I need much advice on this, i have read everything...but you cant ask questions when you read!! 1st. Is it too late to crate train him now? As of Saturday we will have had him 5 weeks, and I dont know if its too late to start doing it through the day now. 2nd. how do you know when they are housebroken if they are in a crate? lol stupid I know....do you just start extending the time they are allowed out of the crate?? Consider it successful if there are no accidents? I hope to get some advice ASAP, so I can start tomorrow morning THANK YOU!! I just dont know what to do...my lab was soooo much easier, and this is becoming a sore subject between my husband & I.

Melissa & Rascal

[charmedagain]

I got this information for you, I would not say its too late to start crate training him during the day.

As for knowing when he is fully house broken is a game of hit and miss you will know when he is fully broken when there is no accidents.

I do not use a crate so maybe someone else can give you more advice.

The following info is at http://www.inch.com/~dogs/cratetraining.html

Mike

[mamalonglegs]

yeah, I read that article and I appreciate you taking the time to get it for me, it was helpful. I just didnt know if it was too late because he has not used it in the 5 weeks I have had him. Also, I am hoping someone has a full proof plan to make this go smoothly (fingers crossed)
I just adore my little guy sooooo much and this is the only thing that is causing any aggrevation with him. I wish it was easier
Melissa

[Shineillusion]

It's definately not to late to cage train your puppy. We do a lot of rescue work and successfully cage train adult dogs, so I don't think it's ever really too late.

The keys to successfull housetraining, cage or not, are making a workable schedule and sticking to it consistently. A dogs bodily functions will become accustomed to "going" at a predictable time of the day fairly quickly. If you feed at the same time each day, and follow that with potty breaks at the same time each day, accidents become less likely to happen.

After each successfull potty outside, puppy should be safe to be out and about in the house, with you in attendence. Some people keep a tether on the puppy during this time, so he can't sneak off and relieve himself behind the furniture or in a corner. If you can't be in the same room with him for any period of time, he goes back into the crate. As soon as he comes out of the crate, preferably at the same time each day, he goes outside to relieve himself.

Take him out, don't just put him out. You have to be there, first of all to see that he actually does go, and secondly to praise him when he does. It also helps to speed things along if you tell him what to do. The words don't matter, but use the same ones each time. I just tell mine to "Go potty." It also helps if you use those words when he's obviously about to go. This is called marking the behavior. In time (and it doesn't take long) they become conditioned to do it when they hear the phrase. Using treats is optional, but will move the marking along faster.

You can also use marking to teach a lot of other things you want puppy to do on command. For example, I noticed one of my Dachshunds would always sneeze first when I was teaching him to speak. So by saying "sneeze" when I was having the other dogs speak, he would do it on command in only a couple of days.

If your puppy has any cute mannerisms you'd like to have him do, you can mark those mannerisms too. My current dog has always done this little "dance" when I come home, so I started telling him "Snoopy dance" when he does it. Now I can have him "Snoopy dance" whenever I want. If you've ever seen any of the Charlie Brown cartoons, and seen Snoopy do his dance, that's pretty close to what it looks like.

Just remember that consistency is the key. Use the same words, feed him and take him out at the same times each day, praise any success, and ignore accidents when you find them. Of course, you have to clean the accidents up, but no scolding or punishment. He won't understand.