Potty Training - success during the day, failure at night

You've gotten some great advice and I definitely agree with the others that crate training will definitely help you. If you need some information on the pros and cons of crate training, here are some links you can use to help you're argument:

http://www.petfinder.com/dogs/dog-training/benefits-dog-crate-training/ (written by a certified professional dog trainer)
http://puppydogweb.com/articles/cratetrainingpuppies.htm

There are ways to make crate training a fun, positive experience for the dog. A DVD called "Crate Games" by Susan Garrett is frequently recommended by others on this forum. (I never used it so I can't speak to it myself. My Shelties were already adults and crate trained when this DVD was released.)

There are also life safety benefits to crating. If, heaven forbid, there is a fire in your home, if the dog is crated you know EXACTLY where it is giving the dog a better chance to survive. The same is true of car accidents; a crated dog has a better chance of not being injured or killed in an accident if crated.

Overall, crate training is very positive for the dog/puppy. It helps with the housebreaking and also provides them a "room" of their own where they can get away and find some quiet time when they need it. Keep discussing it with your family. I hope they will come around to understanding the benefits.
 
Silaria said:
The same is true of car accidents; a crated dog has a better chance of not being injured or killed in an accident if crated.

Overall, crate training is very positive for the dog/puppy. It helps with the housebreaking and also provides them a "room" of their own where they can get away and find some quiet time when they need it. Keep discussing it with your family. I hope they will come around to understanding the benefits.
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Not to mention that uncrated (or unrestrained) dogs cause a good many car accidents.

We did not crate our first dog many years ago and now we feel we did him a grave disservice. All our dogs since have been crated and have been happy, easy to train and safe. There will be a little whimpering and barking, but remember you are protecting and teaching them. The only thing with crates is never use them as a punishment ... Ever.

Trust me, they'll be happier crated in the long run and so will you.
 
This thread has morphed from "crating for house training" to "the safety benefits of crating in a house fire" and/or "crating in the event of an auto accident". While I believe that the progression is healthy and helpful, I can't shake the feeling that we will be given an "off focus" finger wag and a very productive conversation will stall.

With that in mind let me add this: My fear is that there will be those of us who will simply encase our beloved dogs in crates and drive off with the false sense of security that we have protected our animals as much as we can. Crating is great, but there is sooo much more to keeping our dogs safe while traveling than simply using the crate. At the very least, do a Google search on "pets and car travel" and do a little reading. Type/size of car, location of crate in the vehicle, size and type of the crate and size and health of the dog all effect the safety of our pets. Its a lot larger than simply using a crate.
 
I've discussed the idea of crating them further and have made some progress, turns out my bf was just feeling bad about the idea of segregating them from the family during the night, so he said we could possibly crate them up in our room. He's still not 100% on it, but definitely progress. :) He had a negative view of it, but things are better now!

And @melbell - that is a good idea! I might give that a shot, hopefully I don't drive everyone mad running around during the night!

Also, what size should a crate be for a sheltie? I've been having a look around.
 
Katagaria said:
I've discussed the idea of crating them further and have made some progress, turns out my bf was just feeling bad about the idea of segregating them from the family during the night, so he said we could possibly crate them up in our room. He's still not 100% on it, but definitely progress. :) He had a negative view of it, but things are better now!

And @melbell - that is a good idea! I might give that a shot, hopefully I don't drive everyone mad running around during the night!

Also, what size should a crate be for a sheltie? I've been having a look around.
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Crate training is not cruel, most dogs love their crates when trained properly. They become like a den for them, a safe and comfortable safe haven for them, not a tool for punishment.

When we got our first sheltie Milo, he was very confused about where he should do his business. We'd bring him outside and he'd purposely hold it till he was inside again, the do his business on the floor.

My Dad believed that crate training was cruel. A month later and still no progress with house training and my mother and I over ruled him and bought a crate. Milo was house trained within a week and we never had issues again.


My three were all crate trained as pups. I used to confine the three of them to a single room when we were out, where there were dog beds and one crate with the door open. I set up a web came so I could watch them when I was at work and discovered that the three fight over who gets to sleep in the crate, its their #1 choice. :smile2:

You might want to show your family these articles.

http://www.cesarsway.com/dog-care/housebreaking/Crate-Expectations

http://www.precisionpet.com/CrateTraining.aspx

http://moderndogmagazine.com/articles/trainers-truth-about-crates/174
 
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JLSOhio51 said:
This thread has morphed from "crating for house training" to "the safety benefits of crating in a house fire" and/or "crating in the event of an auto accident". While I believe that the progression is healthy and helpful, I can't shake the feeling that we will be given an "off focus" finger wag and a very productive conversation will stall.
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I fully understand your concern for topic drift. Honestly, I only mentioned them as additional talking points the original poster could use to help convince her family crate training was a positive thing for a puppy.

There is no doubt it helps with the housebreaking and will most certainly help with her overnight issues and set her pup up to be successful.
 
Silaria said:
I fully understand your concern for topic drift. Honestly, I only mentioned them as additional talking points the original poster could use to help convince her family crate training was a positive thing for a puppy.
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I think you may be missing my point about "topic drift". Quite frankly, I think that the (seemingly) quick move to step in and limit the drift of some of the topics here does a disservice to the conversation. At times, the conversations moves in what looks to me to be a logical and beneficial direction, even though that direction is tangential to the original post. I view this as a good thing when the discussion remains civil and worthwhile information is offered.

In other words, I think that moderators are often too quick to step in with the "finger wag" as I put it. I fully support their efforts to keep us on track, however, sometimes I see the intervention as too quick. I think that this particular thread is a perfect example, and I think the "drift" was just fine.
 
I can understand how a crate would be useful for travelling, but it doesn't apply to me because we don't have a car at present and even if we did, we wouldn't have to bring our boys because all they need is within walking distance luckily.

I really want the idea of crating them to be a positive experience for them, but the times that they have been in a crate before hasn't usually been for enjoyable reasons (at the vets and groomers) so I hope that hasn't left them stuck with thinking crates = negative thing and experience, you know?
 
Katagaria said:
I can understand how a crate would be useful for travelling, but it doesn't apply to me because we don't have a car at present and even if we did, we wouldn't have to bring our boys because all they need is within walking distance luckily.

I really want the idea of crating them to be a positive experience for them, but the times that they have been in a crate before hasn't usually been for enjoyable reasons (at the vets and groomers) so I hope that hasn't left them stuck with thinking crates = negative thing and experience, you know?
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if/when you use crates, start with the crate games. you can youtube them. It helps A LOT! like I said before, my boy would throw a hissy fit every time he went into a crate (he had to as both of us work 8+ hours per day). Now, he runnnnns to his crate in excitement, he gets a yummy cookie and gets to go to sleep.
 
Good news. We are going to go down the crate route, my boyfriend's mother has finally had enough of cleaning pee and poop!

Next steps are trying to find somewhere to put two cages, trying to find two good sizes cages and then attempting some crate games, woo... guess who is going to be doing all the work? Lol.
 
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