Training to Go Outside

[Howie]

Good Morning

Firstly I would like to say thank yo so much for your replies yesterday to my questions about my new boy - Howie!!

We did crate him last night - and he did great!! As some of you said he is used to the crate - I think that will be his night time routine.
No accidents in the crate - I work x3 a week and we leave around 6:15 AM - I got up at 5:00 to feed him and take him out for a walk and hopefully a pee and poo.
I feed him first - outside his crate and walked him for about 30 min. (it is dark at that time)
He peed several times but no poo.
We did not crate him for the day - yesterday he did have an accident in the kitchen after being alone all day - I do not want to crate him during the day when I'm at work if I can - it is just so long - we get home around 5.
Do you have any suggestions??
Have a wonderful day!!
Terri

 

[Mom2Melli]

If he is comfortable and happy in a crate, it might be good to crate while you go to work for the time being. As he gets more comfortable with the home and routine you can stop.

 

[Ann]

I'm glad we've been able to help you with Howie, Terri! There aren't many problems or questions at least some of our members haven't been through.

As for training your boy, the smaller a space you can give him, the better it will be to encourage him to hold it until you get home. He's probably used to being in a crate all day and not messing in it, so you can certainly do that as long as you give him plenty of time out of the crate when you're home and lots of attention. Be sure to leave water in the crate for him too. A cup that attaches to the side is best for this.

If you don't want to confine him to the crate, I'd suggest gating off a small area of the room his crate is in around the crate, so he doesn't have too much space where he can mess. You can use an ex-pen for this, or baby gates if he can't jump them or get caught in them. You have to be careful of collars and tags getting caught in things especially when you aren't home, so if you opt to use this method, I'd remove his collar for the day.

Good luck, and keep us posted!