# Fouling the Crate...



## Sarahnya (Oct 27, 2008)

Hmm I'm having a bit of an odd problem with my puppy. She is just over 8 weeks old and seems to have got the idea her crate is the toilet.

She has stopped going to the toilet outside and just cries by the door even though I'm out with her, I think it's because the ground is wet as it's been raining and she doesn't like it. 

I've just had her out again and then put her in the crate as she is getting sleepy, the first thing she did was pee! Do you think taking the paper out will help? She even poops on her bedding and then treds it all over, I've not had a pup thats done this before she has got everything backwards lol


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## Twiggy (Jun 24, 2010)

Sarahnya said:


> Hmm I'm having a bit of an odd problem with my puppy. She is just over 8 weeks old and seems to have got the idea her crate is the toilet.
> 
> She has stopped going to the toilet outside and just cries by the door even though I'm out with her, I think it's because the ground is wet as it's been raining and she doesn't like it.
> 
> I've just had her out again and then put her in the crate as she is getting sleepy, the first thing she did was pee! Do you think taking the paper out will help? She even poops on her bedding and then treds it all over, I've not had a pup thats done this before she has got everything backwards lol


I lot of mine have done it. Just be patient and consistent and you'll get there.


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## flosskins (Jan 27, 2010)

yup mine completely disproved the idea that a dog will not foul its bed, being quite happy to pee and poo all over her bed, walk it round and sleep in it! However she did get better with age, and at 14 months is now about 99% housetrained! I just perservered with being outdoors, and not letting her back in until she went, then praising her when she did. She now goes out and if she isn't peeing i can say 'weewees' and she'll go. feel a little stupid if the neighbours are around but better than clearing up a puddle!


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## Jasper's Bloke (Oct 30, 2009)

How much space does she have in the crate? There should be just enough for her to turn around and lie down comfortably, if there is too much she may see it as space to sleep, space to toilet. You can reduce the amount space by blocking part of it off (some crates come with a partition for this very reason) or by putting a large cardboard box in there. Having said that if she is toileting on her bedding then that may not be the problem.

Do you feed her in the crate? Perhaps if she gets used to eating there she will be less inclined to soil it. These are just two ideas you might want to try but in the meantime I would keep taking her outside and reward heavily whenever she goes in the right place and keep the fuss to a minimum when she doesn't. 

Some dogs just get toilet training really easily and I know it can be really wearing when they don't, but at 8 weeks she is only just away from mum, it's early days so hang in there and she'll soon come around.


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## tripod (Feb 14, 2010)

Where did you get your puppy? And from what sort of rearing conditions?


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## Burrowzig (Feb 18, 2009)

My Kite did that too. She would poo in her bed and lie in it (quite firm poos luckily!), and she's wee on the paper around her bed, and sometimes on the bedding. She had come from a farm where she lived in a stable type thing, with straw down, and no clear difference between sleeping/toileting areas. Also, at 8 weeks they don't get much warning that they need to go.

Give loads of praise and treats when she goes outside, don't make a scene when she gets it wrong. Feeding in the crate is a good idea, and get up to take her out in the night - if she gets the idea it's OK to go there at night, why not in the day too?

What sorted Kite out was that I wasn't timing the night toileting trips right. I stopped using a downstairs crate and took her to bed with me, then she'd wake me up by wriggling and I'd take her out (that was last winter, you can imagine what fun that was!). After 14 weeks there were only a couple of accidents. By day, I used a 6 foot light lead tied to my belt, so I could always keep an eye on her and get her out when she showed the signs of wanting to go.


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## Sarahnya (Oct 27, 2008)

She is getting a bit better now but I really have to keep an eye on her in case she makes a beeline for the crate. She was only 6 weeks when we got her and is 8 and a bit weeks old now so it's still early days so there is no worries, unless it carries on lol

She is going outside again now but clearly does not approve of rain


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## haeveymolly (Mar 7, 2009)

I know many many owners swear by the crate and ime in no doubt that they are very good for some, molly our last pup she is now 2 was the only pup ive ever had a crate for i always said i wouldnt have one before, she is the only one that was a nightmare to toilet train maybe i wasnt using it properly i dont know she would happily go outside and wee but the minutes she went in her crate she would wee he bedding was soaked all the time instead of running to the door for a wee she would run into the crate and do it. Molly was so delayed in being toilet trained the only thing i could put it down to was the crate in the begginning.


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## ClaireandDaisy (Jul 4, 2010)

TBH if it was me I`d get rid of the crate and go back to basics with house training.


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## haeveymolly (Mar 7, 2009)

ClaireandDaisy said:


> TBH if it was me I`d get rid of the crate and go back to basics with house training.


Thats exactly what we did.


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## Sarahnya (Oct 27, 2008)

Hmm I may have to leave her in the kitchen if I'm going to abandon the crate, or as someone else said take her to bed with me so I know when she wants to go right away. I'll try it tomorrow night and see how we get on


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