I CAN'T TAKE IT ANYMORE!!

She was at the vet on Wednesday and then 3 weeks prior to that. She's been given a clean bill of health, minus the worms, which, after being dewormed, I expect a night of no sleep because I know she is uncomfortable.

We thought maybe it was a bladder infection but that's not it.

We thought maybe it was that I was gone but I am back and it's still awful.

I explained why we can't not crate her above. She is only 11 weeks old and doesn't know how to let us know she has to go out yet. The only way we can tell is when she gets uncomfortable enough in her crate and whines to be let out. Then we take her out to pee/poo.

gotcha.

i was thinking she might imagine that the entire room was a crate if the door was closed...

The door is always closed. I can't sleep with it open.

That's the approach I took with Bailey in his early days with me. First the crate, then a small room, then a small room + the landing on that floor, then the entire upstairs, then the ground floor and upstairs, then the whole house became his territory. The changes were made in about 4 week increments.

Nights were increased in the same pattern as daytime use, cept the move from crate to just the bedroom happened in about a week. He accepted the bedroom as his crate very quickly.

Some dogs just bark more than others. She will calm down over time, but you might have to get ear plugs for now. I think you should just keep working with the crate, she will get into trouble if you give her complete freedom. Do try and get her very tired before locking her up for the night.

You are also reminding me why I don't get puppies any more. When I first saw her picture I thought :" awww puppies are so great". Now I remember why I stick to one or two year old shelter dogs. Thanks Bella.

Bella, does your dog have a favorite toy?

If so, you could try letting the dog have the toy only when he is in his crate. Kongs are great for this because you can tuck some dog treats in there and the dog has to goof them out.

Don't ever ever ever put the dog into the crate for punishment. Don't ever put him in there when you're upset with something.

Make sure he gets lots of attention when he is in the crate and NOT barking. Once he starts barking, walk away and don't come back until he quits. When he quits praise the living daylights out of him.

I read a great book once called "Smarter than you think" about dog training. I highly recommend it.

( psst, boomerang -- Zoe's a she )

Bella Dea,

Do you have Zoe on any kind of a schedule for going to the potty? Like half an hour after she eats or before she goes to bed? Different times? Dogs learn schedules pretty quickly. Perhaps if she could learn a schedule she would be better? It's a thought. Have you tried the incontinent pads? Will she go on those or just anywhere?

can't take it
here is a website giving lots of advice on all aspects of dogtraing .
it's a prtty substantial site .
now if you could only get your puppy to read , you'd be in clover .
here is hoping it will be of some help ! hbg

...PUPPY TRAINING...

here is a short section from one of the articles :

House Training When You Are Not Home

Confine your puppy to a small, 'puppy-proofed' room and paper the entire floor. Put his bed, toys and food/water bowls there. At first there will be no rhyme or reason to where your pup eliminates. He will go every where and any where. He will also probably play with the papers, chew on them, and drag them around his little den. Most puppies do this and you just have to live with it. Don't get upset; just accept it as life with a young puppy. The important thing is that when you get home, clean up the mess and lay down fresh papers.
-----------------------------------------------------------
do you think you can 'live' with that approach to 'housetraining' ?
hbg

MA, We never got into the Puppy Pads thing because to me it confuses the dog. "ok I can go here in the house but not over here?" type thing.
She really isn't bad about the house training. I just don't want to think she's house trained too quickly because if she isn't, I could wake up to piles and puddles all over. I learned that today....she has gone 5 days without an accident. And then tonight, just ran upstairs and pooped and peed on the carpet. She didn't go to the door. She just took off and went. Don't get it. But life goes on.

Boomer,
We haven't punished her yet because well, she is just a puppy and hasn't done anything bad. I mean, we watch he closely. Shoes that get picked up are immediately removed from her mouth. If she starts to bite, we let her know it isn't acceptable. So if she doesn't like her crate it isn't because she thinks it's her bad place.
But the toy thing sounds like a good idea.....I may have to try it.

ehbeth, you have a boxer, right? If so, any suggestions on this highly entertaining, but frustrating breed? :wink:

GW, puppies are wonderful but so so so so so much more work than I really thought. I mean, you know they are going to be work but when you get one, it's so much more.

UPDATE: She fell asleep on the couch so I scooped her up and put her in her crate. And waited.....

Nothing.

RAMEN!!!

The real test will be tonight at 3am when she wakes up to go potty. We shall see......


Thanks everyone!!!

Sweet dreams Bella Dea and I wish you a peaceful night!

"destructive puppy phase" pretty much answers the question. Exactly how old is she? I'm a free-lance trainer and have encountered this problem several times. She's probably bored and scared. There are several things you can do.

During the day you need to associate the create with "fun" stuff. She thinks it's a prison. Keep a couple small fleece/canvase puppy toys and a rawhide bone (compressed, NOT rolled. big differance) as well as a few teathing toys in the crate. Get a "Kong" toy (if that's her in the picture I'd recommend the normal red ones, your local pet shops can help you determine which size). Everytime you put her in the crate say in a playful, high-pitched voice "mommy's got stuff to do so you be a good girl", then immidatly give her the stuffed toy. Kongs can be "stuffed" with a wide variety of things but the best are: creamy peanut butter (just a little bit smeared as far inside as you can), mashed potatoes (cheese & garlic are good because garlic is a natural internal flea control in SMALL amounts), "kong stuffing" (this looks like cheese-whiz and comes in 3 flavors), or other soft dog treats. The point is to get stuff that's going to "stick" to the back and/or inside of the kong so the dog is chewing at it (thus helping teathing and lessening destructiveness) to get the good stuff out. Lasts about a half hour for my bulldog and even longer for the husky.

When she starts crying, just say "No! Quiet time." in a firm, deeper tone. If need be give her another "new" toy (always keep a basket on hand of stuff to rotate out). After she's been quiet for about 5 minutes, take her out and give her some play time. This is another possitive reward for her being quiet, and not for getting what she wants by crying.

Also ALWAYS feed her in the crate. If they associate the crate with food they'll be far more inclined to go in.

At night things are different. Take away her toys except one teathing toy (her favorite if she has one) and the compressed rawhide. Make sure to talk sweetly in a high pitched voice when you put her up for the night telling her it's bed time. Give her something comfortable (but machine-washable and preferably cheap like an old towe) to sleep on. If it "smells like you", all the better. Also puppys need to stay warmer than adult dogs so make sure she doesn't get too cold. Most pet stores have a new product that's self-heating and can be placed under the "bed" for extra warmth without any burn risk. (they also work well for your own sore muscles) Get a large stuffed animal, her size or bigger, for her to snuggle with up. Thift stores are the best place to check as people win these often at carvanavals then donate them to be re-sold for cheap to help charrities. Puppys also feel more comfortable if they hear a regular "pulse". An old-fassioned ticking alarm clock set just outside the crate out of reach is perfect. Just be sure to set it to go off AFTER you wake up so you can shut it off without the alarm frightning her.

My Siberian Husky was a real night-mare to crate train, but now I just say "dinner time" or "go to your room" and he instantly runs inside the crate and stands there looking out through the open door expectantly. He only cries when he has to go outside or wants to play (at which point he has a toy in his mouth too). As soon as he comes in from outside he imediatly runs into his crate and stands there waiting to see if I either shut the door, or tell him it's okay to come out into the rest of the house.

I hope this helps with your little girl. Good luck.

I'll try it with my bitch, maybe she'll stop barking at me

i fear for your life, Chumly...



BD, how's it going?
any progress?

It's going....last night, I wanted to watch a little tv after climbing into bed and she wouldn't have it. 3 weeks ago, she had no problem with it. But apparently now it bugs her. But the middle of the night has gotten better. We need to work on pooping and peeing in the same trip. She got me up twice in a half hour because she only peed the first time and then had to poop.

Speaking of poop, I can't figure out this new little trick she has....pooping and peeing in the house. We go 4-5 days with no accidents and then out of the blue she will run upstairs and by the time I get up and follow her, she's squatting and pooping or peeing on the carpet. This happened a few times and so I started blocking the upstairs off when we were in the living room playing/watching tv/relaxing. So what does she do? Crap at the base of the stairs. 9 times out of 10 she goes to the door and scratches or barks or stares out the window (sliding glass). But that 10th time she just feels like she needs to poop or pee inside. I don't get it.

Other than that, she is getting huge.

Here is a pic from the first week we had her (8 weeks old, 10lbs) with BubbaBear as a comparison tool.


And her about a week ago (11 weeks, 17lbs)


And how tall she's gotten! At her food bowl at 9 weeks.


At her food bowl at 12 weeks.


The angles are slightly different but you can see just how much she's grown.

Don't worry too much about the house accidents, she just doesn't have enough muscle control yet. In another few weeks she will be more reliable.

You can establish to different commands for poop and pee. When you want her to pee tell her to "do it" and when you want her to poop switch to "hurry up". Just be consistent in what ever phrase you choose.

She does look like she has doubled in size. I swear I once saw my bulldog actually growing when she was about this age. She was sitting in front of me and it was if her bones just released and suddenly she was an inch wider in the chest and her front legs lengthened about the same.

kewl.
(what sort of drugs were you on at the time, and can i have some?)



BD,

having never attempted to house-train a puppy, i don't have much advice to give... except keep in mind that dogs are intelligent, and Zoe will eventually figure out where to do her bidness...

I certainly don't claim to be an expert here but I do have experience with Boxers. It sounds like she is barking out of boredom or because she isn't receiving enough exercise.

She's also approaching the age where separation anxiety is kicking in. She wants to be with her "pack" (you) and is not happy about being separated from you even if she can see you. This phase will pass if you hang in there and keep crating her. You must not give in, no matter how hard that is.

You absolutely are doing the right thing by crate training her. Crate training is not cruel or in any way mean to the dog. Quite the opposite, actually. It provides them with a safe, secure place that's all their own not to mention a perfect tool in accelerating the housebreaking process.

Boxers are high energy dogs. I don't know if this is your first boxer or not but understanding the breed is helpful. They absolutely must have several exercise periods during the day. Do you walk her? How often are you walking her? Do you have a backyard? If so, is she outside long enough to expend energy? Giving her a good, high intensity 30-minute walk before bedtime will do the trick.

Try the 30 minute high intensity walk before bedtime. High intensity = walking fast and not allowing her nose to hit the ground to sniff or check things out until you are almost finished with the walk. Continue to put her right in that crate when you get back. She may still protest for a day or two but the bedtime walk eliminated our boxer's annoyance barking after two days.

Good luck!