Well, my 8 week old Bella is doing excellent with potty training thus far. She has not gone in her crate nor in the house (we watch her like a hawk though.) Currently we have her in her crate mostly, but take her out every two hours (during the day); every four hours at night, and also at feedings. We've been letting her wander the kitchen and living room areas with close supervision for short times during the day. My question is, at how old and what methods are used to transition from crate to house. I feel at 8 weeks she is still to young to really be out in the house without close supevision, though I've heard from people saying their puppies were trained weeks after coming home. I've been so keen on making sure that we are doing the crate training right, I haven't heard much about transitioning from crate to house. Thanks.
Crate to House Transition
- Thread starter gatorhawk
- Start date
Jess041
Forums Enthusiast
I would get an ex-pen so you can keep her in the room with you and she can run around and play with toys, but she's not getting into everything.
Calliesmom
Moderator
8 weeks old and only been at your house for less than a week......
definitely not ready for free run of the house.
she can explore places with you but not alone- seriously, there are still some rooms that Cran and Dix have not been in- they don't need to go in there so door stays shut.
expen is great idea for containing her and/or you can leash her to you so if she does suddenly decide she needs to go- then you will know and be there to help her outside.
it was probably a month or so before I let Cran have unsupervised time - might have to check his thread to see if I posted about it....................
definitely not ready for free run of the house.
she can explore places with you but not alone- seriously, there are still some rooms that Cran and Dix have not been in- they don't need to go in there so door stays shut.
expen is great idea for containing her and/or you can leash her to you so if she does suddenly decide she needs to go- then you will know and be there to help her outside.
it was probably a month or so before I let Cran have unsupervised time - might have to check his thread to see if I posted about it....................
Sorry, I don't use a crate as a full out training thing. Until Tinsel, the ex stud puppymill dog, I never left them in crates while I was out either. I teach them about afternoon naps for about 1 -2 hours to allow me to do things like wash a floor or clean the stalls, at my mealtimes and bedtime. Once they are in their crate for the night, usually about 11pm, I haven't had to take them out until about 6 in the morning. I've never had a dog that didn't housetrain and I've raised many, many dogs - bred them for 30 years. I teach them about ex pens for travel convenience but not sure how it would help in training them to be clean. When I was still working I did use papers for young pups but they learned really fast to go to the indoor ex area and use it. Once they were about 16 weeks they were indoor and outdoor trained - which didn't take long once they got the idea.
I agree with Calliesmom... Bella is definitely too young to be left unsupervised, so you are right to be watching her like a hawk when she's out of her crate.
We brought our dog, Lerwick, home at 8 weeks old. He was not as quick to housetrain as some of the other dogs on this forum. He got the basic concept very quickly... but it took quite some time for him to realize it wasn't really optional... that it was ONLY alright to potty outside, and that rule was the same no matter whose house he was in. We have always had him on a regular schedule, as far as feeding and potty trips go, so that wasn't the problem. It seems he's just stubborn.
Transitioning from the crate to the house was a very long process for us... and right about the time we'd made the transition completely, he regressed (which I understand is typical of yearling dogs), so we've taken a few steps back. Here's what we did... maybe it will be helpful for you.
What we did to help Lerwick transition was to gradually give him more and more territory to roam, by blocking off areas of the house with baby gates. We started out letting him have free range of the kitchen (accidents are easier to clean up off a linoleum floor), with very brief, supervised, visits to other rooms only after a successful potty trip outside. I don't work outside the home, so we moved my computer out into the living room so that I could monitor him during the day. At night, and any time we had to leave the house, he was crated.
I don't remember exactly how long we stayed at this point, but I would guess it was maybe a month. Then we allowed him to roam the living/dining room (open floor plan, so one big room) and the kitchen. We stayed at this point for some time, because it took him awhile to work out that he couldn't/shouldn't just pee wherever he wanted in the carpeted area (living/dining room). Whenever he had one of these accidents, we would put him back in the kitchen for several days, with only short supervised visits to the living/dining room. Then we'd try again with free access to the living/dining room. As I recall, he only had about 3 accidents in the living/dining room, so it isn't like we were constantly cleaning up accidents or anything.
Once Lerwick was reliable with housebreaking in the living/dining/kitchen area, we gradually started moving the baby gate further and further down the hallway. We could always tell if we tried to move it too far, too fast, because he'd pee in the new area (this happened twice... once it was seriously a matter of 6 inches of new territory, but it was too far, too fast). Again, we'd move the baby gates back to kitchen-only for a couple days, then gradually work our way back to where the baby gate was when the accident happened. Then we'd hang around there for several weeks until we felt it was safe to press on again.
By the time he was 9 months old, Lerwick had slowly gained access to the entire house (well, all of it we ever plan to let him access... the basement is Kitty Safe Haven, so he'll never be allowed in there). We were letting him roam free--without incident--at night while we slept, and when we went out during the day. But at about a year old, he decided that it was ok to poop on the landing by the front door. And, if you were home and caught him doing it, he'd then eat it as fast as possible to eliminate the evidence!
So, we went back to crating him when we leave the house during the day, and at night we either crate him (if we want to leave our door open), or we close him in the bedroom with us. We've also moved our computers back out into the living/dining room (I've set up shop using the TV as a giant monitor, and Mike has his PC set up on the dining room table), so that we can monitor the front entryway better, and catch Lerwick BEFORE he goes. It has been a couple months since the last accident, but I have the feeling we're not out of the woods yet, so to speak. The last two days we have left him to roam the house while we made short errands, and have not had any problems... but I'm not ready to make a habit of it quite yet!
Hopefully some of this is helpful to you. If not... I apologize for my long-winded reply!
We brought our dog, Lerwick, home at 8 weeks old. He was not as quick to housetrain as some of the other dogs on this forum. He got the basic concept very quickly... but it took quite some time for him to realize it wasn't really optional... that it was ONLY alright to potty outside, and that rule was the same no matter whose house he was in. We have always had him on a regular schedule, as far as feeding and potty trips go, so that wasn't the problem. It seems he's just stubborn.
Transitioning from the crate to the house was a very long process for us... and right about the time we'd made the transition completely, he regressed (which I understand is typical of yearling dogs), so we've taken a few steps back. Here's what we did... maybe it will be helpful for you.
What we did to help Lerwick transition was to gradually give him more and more territory to roam, by blocking off areas of the house with baby gates. We started out letting him have free range of the kitchen (accidents are easier to clean up off a linoleum floor), with very brief, supervised, visits to other rooms only after a successful potty trip outside. I don't work outside the home, so we moved my computer out into the living room so that I could monitor him during the day. At night, and any time we had to leave the house, he was crated.
I don't remember exactly how long we stayed at this point, but I would guess it was maybe a month. Then we allowed him to roam the living/dining room (open floor plan, so one big room) and the kitchen. We stayed at this point for some time, because it took him awhile to work out that he couldn't/shouldn't just pee wherever he wanted in the carpeted area (living/dining room). Whenever he had one of these accidents, we would put him back in the kitchen for several days, with only short supervised visits to the living/dining room. Then we'd try again with free access to the living/dining room. As I recall, he only had about 3 accidents in the living/dining room, so it isn't like we were constantly cleaning up accidents or anything.
Once Lerwick was reliable with housebreaking in the living/dining/kitchen area, we gradually started moving the baby gate further and further down the hallway. We could always tell if we tried to move it too far, too fast, because he'd pee in the new area (this happened twice... once it was seriously a matter of 6 inches of new territory, but it was too far, too fast). Again, we'd move the baby gates back to kitchen-only for a couple days, then gradually work our way back to where the baby gate was when the accident happened. Then we'd hang around there for several weeks until we felt it was safe to press on again.
By the time he was 9 months old, Lerwick had slowly gained access to the entire house (well, all of it we ever plan to let him access... the basement is Kitty Safe Haven, so he'll never be allowed in there). We were letting him roam free--without incident--at night while we slept, and when we went out during the day. But at about a year old, he decided that it was ok to poop on the landing by the front door. And, if you were home and caught him doing it, he'd then eat it as fast as possible to eliminate the evidence!
So, we went back to crating him when we leave the house during the day, and at night we either crate him (if we want to leave our door open), or we close him in the bedroom with us. We've also moved our computers back out into the living/dining room (I've set up shop using the TV as a giant monitor, and Mike has his PC set up on the dining room table), so that we can monitor the front entryway better, and catch Lerwick BEFORE he goes. It has been a couple months since the last accident, but I have the feeling we're not out of the woods yet, so to speak. The last two days we have left him to roam the house while we made short errands, and have not had any problems... but I'm not ready to make a habit of it quite yet!
Hopefully some of this is helpful to you. If not... I apologize for my long-winded reply!
Calliesmom
Moderator
well, I didn't talk to much about Cran's housetraining/expansion in his puppy thread (http://www.sheltieforums.com/showthread.php?t=4208&page=17).
I did mention that within the first week, he would go to the back door when he wanted to go out. so at that time, he was in the kitchen/living room area with me most of the time. I did also have 2 adult dogs that he was always trying to play with so I pretty much always knew where he was and what he was doing
I also posted a few pix along the way.....
seriously he was potty trained pretty quickly and I think having the older dogs around helped with that.
I did mention that within the first week, he would go to the back door when he wanted to go out. so at that time, he was in the kitchen/living room area with me most of the time. I did also have 2 adult dogs that he was always trying to play with so I pretty much always knew where he was and what he was doing
I also posted a few pix along the way.....
seriously he was potty trained pretty quickly and I think having the older dogs around helped with that.
Shelby's mom
Forums Enthusiast
Shelby was tough to train. It took her a long time to learn to tell us she had to go out. Once we felt we could trust her we would gradually leave her out of her crate for extended time without supervision. She is 2 now and she is now only crated when we go to work. I would trust her to have the run of the house howver if there are kids playing basketball in the street or riding skateboard on our sidewalk she jumps at the window barking like crazy. I am afraid she will hurt herself.
We talked about leaving her out all day but the more we thought about it we feel it is safer for her to be crated and if we ever had an emergency and she had to be crated I know she would be fine. Besides whats the difference if she is sleeping on the couch all day or sleeping in her crate all day.
When we go camping we do not crate her at all and she is fine when we leave her alone.
We talked about leaving her out all day but the more we thought about it we feel it is safer for her to be crated and if we ever had an emergency and she had to be crated I know she would be fine. Besides whats the difference if she is sleeping on the couch all day or sleeping in her crate all day.
When we go camping we do not crate her at all and she is fine when we leave her alone.
BarbV
Forums Celebrity
Well, potty training is the first hurdle.....chewing is the next......and this will happen from now up to as much as 1.5 to 2 years depending on the dog!
I graduated Bacca from crate to Xpen at about 8 months, I think. During the day, I put his soft sided crate in the Xpen and at night brought the crate upstairs for bedtime. Chewing was never a big issue for him, but I was cautious to be sure.
Eventually, Indy joined our home at 10 months. And the both stayed crated/xpened during the day for another month, and then I simply kept them in the kitchen with their crates. The xpen was turned into a gate.
I would not be quick to stop crating. It's a wonderful thing to be able to fall back on. All dogs should be comfortable being crated right through to old age. Seriously! They will need it at the vet, at the groomer, etc.
To this day, my boys are still crated going over to the cottage on the boat. If it was not for that, I would probably still use it at home from time to time.
My tuppence worth!
I graduated Bacca from crate to Xpen at about 8 months, I think. During the day, I put his soft sided crate in the Xpen and at night brought the crate upstairs for bedtime. Chewing was never a big issue for him, but I was cautious to be sure.
Eventually, Indy joined our home at 10 months. And the both stayed crated/xpened during the day for another month, and then I simply kept them in the kitchen with their crates. The xpen was turned into a gate.
I would not be quick to stop crating. It's a wonderful thing to be able to fall back on. All dogs should be comfortable being crated right through to old age. Seriously! They will need it at the vet, at the groomer, etc.
To this day, my boys are still crated going over to the cottage on the boat. If it was not for that, I would probably still use it at home from time to time.
My tuppence worth!