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Old April 7th, 2004, 02:56 PM
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Luna Tic Luna Tic is offline
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Unhappy Working parents of new puppy

Hi there, I'm a new member and a new parent of a 9 week old pup. We're having problems with her soiling in her crate while we're at work. She has a long morning (about 5 hours before one of us is able to get home to let her out at lunch) and then afternoons are shorter at only 3 hours. She usually pees/poops in the crate both in the morning and afternoons. AND she barks, whines, yelps the whole time.

We live in an apartment so we're trying to keep the noise down and don't want to disturb the neighbours too much. We have written them all notes however.

Any advice/suggestions? We love her and want her to be happy and don't want her to have to sit/lay in that all day.

Poor l'il girl
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Old April 7th, 2004, 03:55 PM
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Spoiled Spoiled is offline
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When I first got my puppy who was only one week younger than yours, he needed to go out every half hour. If your leaving your five week old puppy in a crate for five hours, how can you expect him not to make a mess? You need to let him out every hour at the most to avoid an accident. If he has been soiling his crate, why would he not yelp and whine? Who would want to be sitting inside a crate full of dog poop and pee?

Can you hire someone to take her out every half hour or hour?
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Old April 7th, 2004, 03:55 PM
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Oops, that was a "her".
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Old April 7th, 2004, 04:12 PM
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Luna Tic Luna Tic is offline
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It's not that we don't expect her to make a mess, it's just that we're worried about her.

As for the barking/whining, it's usually (reportedly) just for the first bit when we've left.

I guess my question was really, is being in the crate the best idea or should she be in a larger area with paper and her crate in that area.

As for having to take her out every 1/2 an hour, she doesn't even do that when we're around for the whole day.

Go easy on me, we just got her. We're looking for help/suggestions on ways to help HER. But we don't want to get her used to having someone around all the time or every half hour to let her out. We'd like her to be able to go a few hours (i.e. the morning) on her own...eventually. But I understand your point about taking her out more often. I'm just wondering what if that's not possible....
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Old April 7th, 2004, 04:33 PM
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At a Petland store there are pens for dogs made out of metal. I got one of these for my puppy, and we used it for the first two months until he had strong enough bladder and bowel muscles. We put paper on the floor and his bed and toys in there to, along with his food and water dishes. Maybe this would be the best for you, if your home most of the day. A baby gate blocking off a certain are with hard floors can be done to. It might be hard to prevent accidents when she's not taken out too often, but I'm sure you can manage to house train her.
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Old April 7th, 2004, 04:35 PM
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Luna Tic Luna Tic is offline
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Here's hoping!

I just really want her crate to be like her room and a place where she feels safe and happy. Not scared and messy. We're apparently (just heard from my boyfriend) trying the kitchen this afternoon. It has hardwood floors and he's put her toys and crate in that and penned it off. Hopefully she's happier there.

Though there were still some tears when he left....puppy was crying too!

You mentioned that you used it until your puppy's bladder/bowel muscles could take him longer. Now that she's started eliminating in her crate, will she always do so or once her muscles are stronger will she be able to hold it while she's in there?
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Old April 7th, 2004, 05:58 PM
Lucky Rescue Lucky Rescue is offline
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Getting tiny puppies in apartments when no one is home all day is a really bad idea, but you already have her so will have to find solutions.

Where does she sleep? If it's in a crate, then you must see that she is spending around 16 or more hours a day caged. Not a good situation!

Can someone come in during the day to take her out?

If not, you need to put her in a pen or very large crate that has space for sleeping, playing etc at one end, and eliminating at the other, on newspapers.

Housetraining will take much longer this way, but there is no other humane solution.
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Old April 7th, 2004, 06:05 PM
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Now that she's started eliminating in her crate, will she always do so or once her muscles are stronger will she be able to hold it while she's in there?
Most dogs hate being in their own messes. Their crates are like a "den" for them, and dogs don't like to soil their "dens." I'd say that no, she shouldn't want to eliminate in her crate.

Where did you get your puppy? Can you post a picture of her? She sounds like a cutie!
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Old April 7th, 2004, 07:30 PM
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Having raised Oliver (who is now 8 1/2 months) in a condo, and working full time, I may be able to provide you with some useful information that worked for me - granted all dogs are different... For the first week I found friends or relatives to drop him off with since his little world was in upheaval and he was having separation issues. After a week he did not scream when he could not see me and was better at being left alone (prior to this he would cry when I got in the shower and it has a glass door!!!)

After this he began a VERY consistent routine whereby the dog walker would come get him at 11:30 am and take him to play and socialize for about 3 hours at a time. Since he was so young, she often carried him while she walked the other dogs. He consistently goes with the dog walker EVERYDAY and looks forward to this as part of his routine. This routine allows him ample socialization in the middle of the day as well as relief of boredom. In fact, one day around Christmas I forgot the dog walker was not coming and let's just say that Oliver let me know his displeasure....

When home, I would take him out about every 1/2 hour to 45 mintues to get him used to going outside - much praise when he did so. There were generally one or two pees a day from the afternoon when I got home but these completely resolved by 4 1/2 months (sorry all, yes he was fully housetrained at that age...).

My best words of advice are to establish a routine early and be consistent. Dog walkers or day care are great since one of the huge reasons puppies will cry is loneliness. While coming home at lunch is a good start, this does not give the puppy the interaction that she needs/craves. Even today Oliver knows that as soon as I am home, my time is his time. Boy, have my television watching days gone out the window!!!

Hope this helps and good luck to you!

Michelle
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Old April 7th, 2004, 07:32 PM
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cmt489 cmt489 is offline
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Luna Tic,

I just noticed that you are also from Vancouver. If you are interested in the name of my walker, just let me know and I will give it to you. They are great!!

Michelle
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Old April 8th, 2004, 02:55 PM
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Donna Marie Donna Marie is offline
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Quote:
Originally posted by cmt489
Luna Tic,

I just noticed that you are also from Vancouver. If you are interested in the name of my walker, just let me know and I will give it to you. They are great!!

Michelle
What is the going rate for a dog walker anyhow?
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Old April 8th, 2004, 03:02 PM
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LavenderRott LavenderRott is offline
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Don't make a big deal out of leaving the house. If you spend a lot of time talking to your pup about it, she is going to be upset when you leave. Hand her a biscuit, or something to chew on (a kong works well) and tell her to be good in a calm, quiet voice. She will learn that this is what happens and it is no big deal.
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Old April 8th, 2004, 03:03 PM
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cmt489 cmt489 is offline
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I don't know what the "going rate" is but I do know what my walker charges. Oliver goes on a group walk everyday (max 6 dogs - 3 on leash 3 off) in the University endowment lands. They pick him up at my home, walk him for at least an hour and then return him. All told, he is gone about 3 hours a day (mind you he is his walker's self professed favorite so she tends to pick him up first and drop him off last - LOL!!) Since I pre-pay in blocks of 10 and he is an "everydayer" I pay $13.60 (CDN) a day.

Michelle
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Old April 8th, 2004, 06:36 PM
Karin Karin is offline
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As for the puppys barking and whining, she is only 9 weeks old and has been taken away from company. Try leaving a radio on while you are gone so she has a comfort with human voices.

She is just a baby and will learn about potty breaks but to much time in between them is alot for their young body to handle. Like the others said I would find someone you trust to take herout while you are away.
And remember, at 9 weeks she is in no way protected by vaccines! Make sure she is walked in "safe" areas..limit her exposure! She still needs to build her immunity. Three weeks after the final vax is the rule of thumb but vaccines are not always 100%.
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Old April 10th, 2004, 06:08 PM
RDM RDM is offline
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Quote:
Originally posted by cmt489
There were generally one or two pees a day from the afternoon when I got home but these completely resolved by 4 1/2 months (sorry all, yes he was fully housetrained at that age...).
Sorry, I will have to top that ;-)

Tweed was 6 weeks old when I brought him home (he was a rescue) and I worked full time. I didn't have a dog walker either. I babygated him in the kitchen and left paper down for him. he slept in a crate by my bed at night.

After the first night, he knew to wake me up, run to the paper in the kitchen, eliminate and go back to bed.

Four nights of that and he was holding it through the night.

By 7 weeks he was only going on the newspaper, whether I was home or not. By 10 weeks he only had the occasional poop while I was at work, and had stopped peeing. By 12 weeks he was completely housetrained.

I never did get a dogwalker for him. I left a radio on and lots of toys and things for him to play with in the day. He was a wonderful, wonderful puppy.

RDM
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Old April 12th, 2004, 11:37 PM
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Oliver and I bow to Tweed's superior skills at potty training In all seriousness, RDM, that is truly amazing!!!!

Michelle
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