I’ve very pleased to report that training with Zeke is going really well! It does help he’s a bright little thing.
Zeke has two crates, one downstairs where he has a mattress, water bowl, and safe toy. This is his quiet space for naps during the day, and yes puppies need to sleep a lot! It’s where I feed him, and where treats magically appear when he’s not looking (both associating his crate as a fantastic place to hang out). He is clearly comfortable, and he will head off into in his crate to play with a toy.
For night time there’s a crate in my room too. It has another comfy mattress that the breeder had for a couple of weeks before Zeke came home. It has familiar smells, his puppy blanket, and a puppy Kong chew toy.
I don’t use a play pen, nor do I use puppy pads. Personally, I’ve never really seen the point of training a puppy to toilet in the house, then to retrain them to go outside? Must be confusing.
The benefit of crates, aside from a safe den for Zeke to sleep, is that dogs don’t like to toilet where they sleep. At night Zeke wakes me when he wants to go out. Yes, this initially meant 4+ trips out into the garden overnight, but it’s getting less frequent. We’re twice, sometimes three times now. It’s getting easier or I’m getting used to it, but I hope in a couple of weeks we should be at six-hour intervals.
During the day Zeke sometimes stands by the patio doors to go out, but mostly I watch his body language. Yes, I’ve missed a few wees, but that’s my fault. The ones I’ve missed have been when he’s playing. On these occasions I say nothing to Zeke, I clean it up (good old enzyme spray), and take him out into the garden. Each time he toilets in the garden, lots of praise!
Until next time
Jen
