Help Sky won't stop going in the cage

Brownsdawg22

She is about 7months old and we purchased her from a petstore. We try to crate train her but she goes all over and its disgusting. Im talking 1 and 2. So I spend 2 hrs a night cleaning her and the cage. So then we try leaving her out but she just goes in the house. Which is obviously easier to clean but we can not get her potty trained. Any suggestions would be great!!!!!!!

youhavenoidea · Posted: Tue Aug 12, 2008 4:38 pm Post subject:

The fact that she came from a pet store is going to make it harder to house train her, as the first bit of her life was spent soiling in the cage she was stuck in. She doesn't know any better.

How old is she?

peppernaei · Posted: Tue Aug 12, 2008 4:42 pm Post subject:

Pet store dogs are often difficult to potty train because they have had to go in their cages. It is a very difficult start for a young pup.

When I have had rescues with this problem, I have initially confined them to a small area rather than crating them when I was gone. I still worked on the crate when I was home and able to let them out frequently. They were either confined in a bathroom, laundry room or exercise pen in the kitchen. This larger area allowed me in paper train them on one side of the area and have the clean open crate with bedding on the other. With time and a ton of patience they began to relearn to keep their crate clean.

I would never leave her unattended in the house because the accidents will create a behaviour, make sure she is empty before confining her, try to have someone come in to let her out every few hours and while I was home I would crate her often with frequent potty breaks.

Good luck with it!

Brownsdawg22 · Posted: Tue Aug 12, 2008 4:48 pm Post subject:

she is 7months old

youhavenoidea · Posted: Tue Aug 12, 2008 5:06 pm Post subject:

Christina · Posted: Tue Aug 12, 2008 5:07 pm Post subject:

That is one thing I read that dogs from pet stores are harder to potty break because they are used to going in the crate and they are used to the smell so it doesn't bother them, it is all they know to do.

I wish I could offer advice but my pup is pretty good about her crate and my other dogs are all 8 and above and I don't really remember having any major problems with them.

How long have you had her and been working on this?

Brownsdawg22 · Posted: Tue Aug 12, 2008 5:30 pm Post subject:

We have had her for about two months and tried both crate training and leaving her out and when we are there try to take her out as much as possible. She also goes at night alot should I just not feed her passed a certain point?

kcolsey · Posted: Tue Aug 12, 2008 6:14 pm Post subject: housebreaking

I wish I could be of more help...it must be frustrating! How does she signal to you that she needs to go outside when she is out of her crate? If you're having trouble getting a signal, you might want to try to hang bells on the doorknob of the door that she usually goes outside from. My puppy (now 10 months old) didn't give me any real clear signal that she needed to go outside - no barking, waiting by the door, scratching at the door, etc. I tried the bell method and it quickly solved the problem. She did not make an accident in the house once the bells were hung. There was a period of time where she rang the bells just to go outside, but now it's strictly business trips only!

peppernaei · Posted: Tue Aug 12, 2008 8:06 pm Post subject:

weimdogmom · Posted: Tue Aug 12, 2008 10:33 pm Post subject:

Yes, being in a cage for so long will make it more difficult for her to understand that it's no longer what is expected for her.

I would start with the very beginning of house training for her -- just like she was a very young puppy.

As far as letting you know she needs to go out -- all dogs are different. Mayu will race around the house like she can't remember where the door is.

Has she been to the vet? Have possible medical issues been ruled out?

Brownsdawg22 · Posted: Wed Aug 13, 2008 10:30 am Post subject:

Vet says she looks perfectly healthy. Outside of her dry skin which he gave us new shampoo for her. So I do not think it is health related I think it is just the fact that she is used to going in the cage b/c she was from a petstore.

Luvweims · Posted: Fri Sep 12, 2008 1:47 pm Post subject:

I agree with peppernai. Mindy was a rescue who was 6 months old when we got her and she had never been in a house. We confined her to a small room with newspapers and a doggie door to the outside. First we praised her for going on the papers until she learned to use them, and then we put some of the papers with "the smell" outside so she learned that was the proper place to go. We also had to train her to use the doggy door, and that helped because I didn't have to watch her to see if she needed to go, and she could go outside while I was gone. I think it only took a week.

You also have to be extremely diligent about watching her and catching her as soon as she starts to squat inside, then making sure she stays outside until she goes, then praise.

weimamama · Posted: Fri Sep 12, 2008 2:07 pm Post subject:

maybe her crate is too big? it needs to be only big enuff to stand turn around a nd lie down. If it's too big, she can "go" in one corner and still get far enuff away from it in another corner of the crate...you can buy a divider.

DrHolliday · Posted: Tue Sep 23, 2008 1:10 pm Post subject:

We got winston from a pet store as well. His first night in the crate he pee'd. We put the divider in it so it would only fit his pillow and from then on he held it. Still working on getting him to signal when he needs to go out. Might try bells on the door.