[~Karla~]

Bickie's crate arrived today. I've set it up in our bedroom and it's huge as I bought the recommended size for a full-grown lab. Will it be ok to just use it as is, or should I block half of it off? I was going to get one with a divider but forgot to see if they did one for this particular crate.

[~Karla~]

Ok, first exploration of the crate was short but very exciting. Second exploration was slightly longer and included food, lots of excitement and a huge wee. Hmmm....

[lozoodle]

I don't have a huge experience with crating as I only really crate mine during winter overnight, but I would probably make it smaller for now. I think the theory behind it is they instinctively don't like to toilet in their bedding area, so with no room to move, that might address the wee issue?

[~Karla~]

She has a tendency to wee on her bed, walk away and then come back and sleep on the wee anyway, so I'm not entirely convinced the crating will stop it. It's more so she has her own safe space and to help with her separation anxiety.

[*Spikey*]

Hooray!

Leave it as a large area - if she develops the habit of sleeping in a non-wee spot, all the better. (If you can find a cover for it, that will make it even cosier. Don't forget to treat her whenever she pays it a visit. )

It will make it easier for her to learn not to wee at all when she gets bigger, and better bladder control.

With regard to the weeing, remember to be OTT when praising her for toileting outdoors. Very important for dogs that are anxious, so they develop positives associated with toileting outdoors, and eventually this turns into the only place they want to go.

With my middle dog (slow to TT overnight), I rotated 3 large, old towels through her crate - one soaking in Napisan, one in the wash, and one as her bed. It may encourage her to be clean over night, as she's starting from a clean base.

When you start with the crate, remember to do lots of pits stops for the first few weeks. So, a very late one, a couple through the night, and an very early one. When she achieves 'dry' overnight, its time to drop one of the overnighters.

Also, limit water after 9:00pm. Make sure you're setting her up to win lots of praise, rather than setting her up to wee.

good luck - if you have any questions, happy to answer them.

[~Karla~]

Thanks Spikey.

She usually does really well overnight and only does one wee on a puppy pad. Last night though, I took her outside for a wee at 11pm and she hadn't wee'd inside when the kids and I got up at 5:30am so I took her out and she did a wee and a poo outside straight away. I was very proud and she got loads of OTT praise (I had no treats on me).

She only wee's on her bed during the day, not overnight. But she'll happily sleep on wee covered Bec at night yet get up and use a puppy pad. Strange.

I only started with the puppy pads because she couldn't walk down the back stairs on her own when we first got her, but she generally prefers to go outside. She has fairly obvious signs when she's about to go, so I try to take her outside as soon as I see them and she nearly always goes within a minute. Considering she's still such a baby, I'm actually pretty happy with how she's going. I haven't scolded her for any toileting accidents, but I really OTT praise and often treat the outside successes (I don't go OTT for puppy pad ones anymore, but I do praise her still).

[~Karla~]

Hee Hee, stupid iPhone autocorrect!

[*Spikey*]

The wee on the bed thing is usually a hanger-onerer from puppyhood. When they're puppies, they have no control, so go wherever. Beds being an obvious recipient of targeting. So to a dog, it seems 'normal' to wee on a bed, just like you would wee on a puppy pad or outside. Ignoring it (well, apart from cleaning it up) with a focus on the praise for outdoors should eventually extinguish that behaviour - besides, as she gets bigger, her wee will stink far more, and it will be less 'pleasant' to lie in.

[Jaxxie1]

Sorry I must of sounded rude or something so deleted

This post has been edited by Jaxxie1: 08/01/2013, 10:16 AM

[~Karla~]

Jaxxie, the crate only arrived yesterday. Before that she was sleeping in the lounge room (with either DH or me on the sofa bed), so we had a puppy pad in the room as otherwise she would wee on the floor.

Anyway, last night was pretty successful I think. She slept in the crate with the door open next to my bed all night. No wee's in it and a big wee and poo outside this morning. I'm very happy with how she went!