# Crate Training and "Poop" Schedule - Help!



## Jo_in_TX (Feb 14, 2012)

Teddy is ten weeks old and still eats three times a day. Her last meal is 
around 7:00 p.m. Her last trip outside is between 10:00 and ll:00 p.m. 

Because her stool was so messed up due to the coccidiosis, I am just starting to crate train her; she's been in an enclosed area with newspaper until a couple of nights ago.

Anyway, I am having a heck of a time crate training her due to her poop schedule. Teddy slept in her crate (door closed) until 4:00 a.m. when I took her out. We stayed out for the longest time, but she didn't poop outside. Sure enough, I got up at 7:00 to find three piles of poop on the newspaper - a day's worth, really.  Stool was totally normal - three piles of brown logs.

Anyway, she seems to do the majority of her pooping between 3 and 7 a.m.! How do I crate train this pup? 

I've crate trained several dogs and have never had this problem. We spend a lot of time outside several times a day, and she pees every time we go out, and occasionally poops, as well.

She's very smart and would crate train quite easily were it not for this stool issue. It's not like "I" haven't done this before.  Anyone have suggestions?


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## Jo_in_TX (Feb 14, 2012)

If my message is unclear - I took her outside at 4:00 a.m. after which I left the crate door open so she could access the newspaper on the floor. I knew she would have to go since we've been waking up to multiple poop bombs every morning!


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## shaner (Oct 17, 2010)

Why is there newspaper in the crate? Take that out, that's just encouraging the puppy to go in the crate. Also, make sure the crate isn't big enough that the puppy can poop in one part of the crate and sleep comfortably in the other side. Unfortunately, you may need to get a smaller crate for now. It kind of seems cruel, but that puppy needs to know that if it messes in the crate, it will have no choice but to sleep in its own filth. That alone will make a puppy hesitate to go in the crate. 

What you can also do is take the puppy out at 4 am like usual, then take the pup back out at 5, then at 6, then at 7, etc. until the puppy poops, then it can go back in the crate until you're ready to get up in the morning. If the pup poops at 5, great, then you don't have to get up at 6 or 7 to take the pup out. If not, unfortunately you may have to get up multiple times per night until your puppy understands when to go outside and when to hold it. It's a sacrifice we make by getting puppies


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## shaner (Oct 17, 2010)

Jo_in_TX said:


> If my message is unclear - I took her outside at 4:00 a.m. after which I left the crate door open so she could access the newspaper on the floor. I knew she would have to go since we've been waking up to multiple poop bombs every morning!


That's your problem. I would stop doing that. The puppy needs to know that it needs to go at 4 am, needs to wake you up so it can go out, or needs to go in the crate and sleep in its filth. That sounds bad, but that's the reality of it. Puppies don't want to go in their crates, so there's a good chance that puppy will wake you up. If not, you need to take it out every hour or so until the puppy understands to go outside when given the chance. It won't take long.


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## Twyla (Sep 18, 2011)

Due to the circumstances of Woolf's early life I had to really stay on top of it with the crate and house training.

The first few nights I set my alarm every hour (appx) and took him out. Then started backing off how often I took him out. By about a month of this it was sleep all night (thank god) and accident free. 

I would scoop him up and as going for the door, leash him and then outside used the cue (go potty - nothing imaginative eh lol) then stand there until he did his business. Then the praise, party etc.


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## MaggieRoseLee (Aug 17, 2001)

I know I keep the crate in my bedroom beside my bed and set my alarm for whatever time is midway thru my sleep (usually around 2 am). When the alarm goes off I spring out of bed, grab the pup from the crate, carry her outside and we wander the yard with me giving the 'go poopies/go peepees command'. As soon as they go (usually just pee btw) we immediately go back in the house and go back to bed (after a brief peepee party).


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## Jo_in_TX (Feb 14, 2012)

Let me make myself a bit clearer: Teddy is not having accidents in the crate.

Because she was very sick with coccidiosis (vomiting and diarheaa, multiple trips to vet, meds, etc.), she has not been sleeping in an enclosed crate until the last two nights. Prior to that, Teddy was sleeping in a puppy proofed area with newspaper on the floor. It took a while to get her stool anywhere near normal, although it appears that way, now. 

However, she apparently holds her stool until the middle of the night or early morning when she has explosions of poop. Although the stool looks normal, it doesn't seem normal for a little pup to hold all of that in and then go all at once! Seriously, whether she did this in the middle of the day or the middle of the night, it seems strange. I've never had a dog do this!


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## shaner (Oct 17, 2010)

Jo_in_TX said:


> Let me make myself a bit clearer: Teddy is not having accidents in the crate.
> 
> Because she was very sick with coccidiosis (vomiting and diarheaa, multiple trips to vet, meds, etc.), she has not been sleeping in an enclosed crate until the last two nights. Prior to that, Teddy was sleeping in a puppy proofed area with newspaper on the floor. It took a while to get her stool anywhere near normal, although it appears that way, now.
> 
> However, she apparently holds her stool until the middle of the night or early morning when she has explosions of poop. Although the stool looks normal, it doesn't seem normal for a little pup to hold all of that in and then go all at once! Seriously, whether she did this in the middle of the day or the middle of the night, it seems strange. I've never had a dog do this!


So the issue may still be medical rather than crate training then? If it's medical, you need to get that cleared up first. Once that's cleared up, what I said earlier applies. Leave the puppy in the crate all night, do not leave the door open. Set your alarm for 4 am, take the pup outside. If she doesn't poop, try again at 5 am, then at 6 am, until she poops. Once she does, praise and treat, then back in the crate. 

If she's having accidents in the house, she shouldn't be allowed to sleep out of the crate. 

To be honest though, it doesn't sound like a medical issue if she isn't having accidents during the day. If it's only at night when you're sleeping, it sounds like a crate training issue.


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## Jo_in_TX (Feb 14, 2012)

shaner said:


> So the issue may still be medical rather than crate training then? If it's medical, you need to get that cleared up first. Once that's cleared up, what I said earlier applies. Leave the puppy in the crate all night, do not leave the door open. Set your alarm for 4 am, take the pup outside. If she doesn't poop, try again at 5 am, then at 6 am, until she poops. Once she does, praise and treat, then back in the crate.
> 
> If she's having accidents in the house, she shouldn't be allowed to sleep out of the crate.
> 
> To be honest though, it doesn't sound like a medical issue if she isn't having accidents during the day. If it's only at night when you're sleeping, it sounds like a crate training issue.


I don't know if it's a medical issue, but I have never had such a small dog make so much poop at once. I'm talking three large piles of poop! Does that seem normal to anyone? This is her regular routine. It's as if she holds it in until she is going to explode. If I'm feeding her three times a day, shouldn't she be going more during than day than one or two little token logs?


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## shaner (Oct 17, 2010)

Jo_in_TX said:


> I don't know if it's a medical issue, but I have never had such a small dog make so much poop at once. I'm talking three large piles of poop! Does that seem normal to anyone? This is her regular routine. It's as if she holds it in until she is going to explode. If I'm feeding her three times a day, shouldn't she be going more during than day than one or two little token logs?


Doesn't sound abnormal to me. Like I said, leave the pup in the crate all night. Stop leaving the door opened and start taking her out every 60 minutes after 4 am until she poops. It won't take long for her to understand she needs to go outside or she'll be stuck going in her crate. Dogs don't like to mess their crate.


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