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Location: Dogsey and Worcestershire
Joined: May 2004
Posts: 49,483
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Hi Matthew
Originally Posted by
Kerberos
Thanks all for your advice. And I shall be looking into the classes on Monday. For now, I have some generalized questions.
1) How much space should I give the puppy inside the cage? I'm told to divide it so he won't eliminate in the other half... but how much space does he need? Is it common that puppies will eliminate in the other half if I give him too much space?
I am not happy with the concept of allowing a puppy to eliminate in the crate.
A dog will naturally try to eliminate away from the area in which it eats and sleeps, I guess this is an instinctive thing in many dogs to prevent vermin/infection. You do occasionally get a puppy which comes from a litter where the dam has failed to keep the litter box clean and it soils its bed but this is not common.
I prefer to take a puppy outside at regular intervals eg on waking/after meals/play/excitement/last thing at night/when it sniffs the ground and circles and about once an hour to begin with then praise it when it relieves itself and clean up any accidents in the house without a word using a none ammonia based cleaner like biological washing powder.
At night the puppy goes in a box beside my bed.
See my post here for an explanation.
http://www.dogsey.com/showthread.php...48#post2343248
How big should the pen around the cage be? Again, this is another spatial question, but I'm merely being thorough in that I want the dog to have optimal space, and I have found no steadfast dimensions for what would be appropriate. Again, how necessary is it that he is confined to the play area and for how long?
Any crate should be big enough to allow the puppy to stand easily and to lay down taking into consideration the puppy will grow and you may be using the crate for some time. It is a good idea to restrict the puppy to a play pen or secure area whenever you can't watch it.
3) How often should the puppy be left alone in the first 6 weeks, and under what conditions? ie. shut in the cage while I'm not there, encouraged to subsist without me being there every moment, and when and how to allow him free roam privileges.
4) At what age to restrict full roaming of the house, and how much supervision is required. I'd appreciate if anyone answering this question could be as thorough as possible, because I have not yet found any strict guidelines.
I gradually get a puppy used to being left alone during the day at times when it will be likely to settle down to sleep (after a meal/play/it has been out and I know it is 'empty') and I prefer to leave it in a bed in a play pen or if it is trained to a crate in the crate in the kitchen so that it is safe and to help with house training. At other times when I am around to watch it the puppy roams freely in the kitchen .
The puppy is taken into the sitting room for a brief visit when it has been outside
and I know it is empty. As it becomes house trained it is allowed around the house under supervision.
You mention 6 weeks, not sure of the relevance of this time period ? All puppies vary slightly and you can't really put time limits on them .
With regard to house training, a puppy doesn't
begin to gain physical control of its bodily functions until it is around 16 weeks old so it can't be expected to wait long to relieve itself before this time.
Have I missed anything
?
See this article on crate training which may be of help ..
http://www.dogsey.com/dog-articles.php?t=15552