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She went in the crate ...

1K views 11 replies 5 participants last post by  uhmanda 
#1 ·
hi all :)

as mentioned in the other thread - Misia pee'd in her crate last night. I blame my husband for this , because i blame him for everything ;) but also because he was meant to get up at midnight to let her outside to go potty..

my question is - I've read that the crate is the puppy's space and they dont pee in there , now that she has - will she always do it there?
and if so , how can we teach her not to ( apart from me getting a new husband ;) ) .. and what can i wash it with to kill the scent?

thanks
 
#2 ·
Oh isn't she cute!

Is the crate too big? She should be able to stand up and turn around but not wander around it. You should be able to reduce the size if it is too big.

And - use an odor neutralizer like Natures Miracle (available at most pet shops) which will make the smell of pee go away. I usually wipe it up, clean with something like clorox clean up and then use the neutralizer.

Just keep her to a schedule and she'll train quickly. But - if this continues and/or gets worse -consider that she may have a UTI.
 
#3 ·
Thanks for the quick reply !
not sure if weve got Natures Miracle in Australia.. but i will go to my pet shop and ask about a neutralizer

The crate is quite big - probably more suited to a 12mth Lab rather than a 12 week old.
Im just thinking how to make the area in there smaller - cardboard box she'll shred , maybe pillows?

as for UTI ... her 2nd vaccination is tonight , ill have a chat to the vet
 
#6 ·
Hi there -- I also have a 12-week old puppy and we found the crate that we had was too big as well. We used a crate that we got for our 12 year old lab when we had to take her on the plane a year ago. We took three large pillows and wrapped them in an old sheet and then I took an old t-shirt of mine and an old t-shirt of my BF's and put them on each end of the bundle. It sufficiently makes the crate smaller and gives my pup (Aila) a place to snuggle into that has our familiar scents. She seems to like it -- although, we still have to be diligent on waking up at certain times in the night to take her out to do her business as she can't quite hold it yet for the entire night.
 
#7 ·
Thanks for advice everyone :)

seems we've gone from bad to worse :(
Misia now goes ALL the time in her crate - at night
my poor puppy goes in there like and angel - and comes out covered in poop :p
my husband is still getting up every 3 hours to let her out - she'll go...sometimes pee , sometimes nothing... ( he waits for around 15 minutes ) and then she'll go back in her crate and in the morning it will be like a war zone in there
not to mention the smell.
we will try to limit the size in the crate tonight - other than that any tips?>
m thinking maybe every 3 hours is too much - because he wakes her up - to get her outside and she does nothing then gets back in and seems to go somewhere within the next 3 hours before the next wake up
Misia is 12 weeks old now - maybe if we get up every 4 or 4.5 hours?

please help fellow lab-lovers! ;)
 
#8 ·
Typically a puppy will poop within a short time of eating. I suggest that you or DH stay outside with her until she does so. Sometimes walking around helps - with some dogs minimizing distractions (by standing still and doing nothing) helps to get the point across. I would associate a word or phrase with what you want her to do and then tell her to do it. My boys know I mean it when they go out late at night and I tell them to go pee. It is not sightseeing time.

And - I would not be waking a sleeping puppy up.
 
#9 ·
usually we wait until about 11pm for her to do her business ( by we i mean my husband - im too busy snoring at this stage :p )

this poop attack of the crate usually happens sometime between 3-5.30am we are guessing

i think your right about the waking a sleeping puppy idea - it didnt seem right to me , thats why i thought maybe 3 hour intervals are too soon
if shes asleep everytime the alarm goes off to take her outside

I was on poop duty Saturday night - each time she was asleep when i woke her to take her out - and each time we got to the sand in the backyard where her "toilet" is and she just looked at me , found a spot and went to lay down :-/
 
#10 ·
But what I am saying is that when she eats - it usually comes out the other end pretty quickly. Then she has to digest the food in her stomach which may take several more hours. If you feed her at regular times (breakfast, lunch and dinner) then she really should not have to poop at 3 am. KWIM?

Are you feeding her dinner really late?
 
#11 ·
yep - we feed her at set times each day so she falls into the routine
with her last meal being at 6pm

poor thing is probably still nervous
we have had her for about 10 days now

maybe its nervous poos?

btw - what a lovely conversation to be having while i eat my lunch at work :p
 
#12 ·
I just got an 8 week old lab that will pee or poo in his crate if he HAS to go. See, their little bladders and bowels are not very reliable until they are about 6 months old. So they cant help it lots of times at this young age if they have accidents. God luck to you with the potty training. It has been HELL for me but I am sure we will get through it. But from all I have read, you cant really start to train their bowels and bladders until 16 weeks, which means Ive got a long way to go!!!
 
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