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Subject: Should I put bedding in the crate?

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GSPCRNA

Pennsylvania

JH
Posts:32

12/18/2012 4:43 PM
Lucy has had a couple accidents in her crate and someone told us that if we don't put bedding in with her, she'd be less likely to do it. Any opinions?

everbell

Kanata, ON

MH
Posts:3166

12/18/2012 4:46 PM
She's just a baby ... I'm not sure bedding will make any difference. Look at the circumstances of why she had accidents: how long was she in, how much water had she had before, was she excited/anxious when she went in? Common wisdom is puppies can hold their bladders for the following number of hours: the number of months they are + 1 ... so 3 months would be 4 hours.

Joce and Rich Bogart and Shiraz (GSPs) Roxane (RIP: 1995-2009) and Tiger Lily (Cats) The Everbell Adventures

Texas Belle User is Offline

Austin, TX

MH
Posts:7851

12/18/2012 4:55 PM
I would just take her out more frequently. She may just be having a hard time holding right now. Don't make a big deal about it.

Bev Quarles, the Pointer Sisters (Belle and Halo), the Outlaw GSP (Johnny Ringo) and the little Princess (Fauna) Yellow Rose GSPs "A dog has the soul of a philosopher." - Plato

keanmu

Ontario, Canada

MH
Posts:450

12/19/2012 1:05 AM
When mine were young I gave them old towels. I had quite a few. Easy to wash off with a hose and throw in the washing machine.

Max2

Oneonta NY

MH
Posts:1111

12/19/2012 4:05 AM
Any of the pup's I ever crate trained went like this & they were done in a week. When that little - in the crate no longer then two hours. Yes even through the night.From the crate - outside. Return- Play with them ,never unattended & back in the crate. Worked for us. Within no time pup's had free run of the house with no accidents.

Chris

keanmu

Ontario, Canada

MH
Posts:450

12/19/2012 4:50 AM
I have never got up in the night with any pup I have had, GSP or otherwise. In the early non crate days i'd leave paper at the back door and when in the crate I just leave a towel in half of it and paper in the other half for night time toilet. Sometimes the towel would get dirty but I just washed it. I'd rather clean up than get up in the night.

NOLAGSP

New Orleans, LA

JH
Posts:31

12/19/2012 7:14 AM
I stopped using a nice bed in the crate because of chewing, not accidents. Beaux was potty trained pretty quickly but I soon realized that any bed in the crate would get chewed up quickly. I think others have had the same issue. We have had our current bed several months outside of the crate now with only one issue. That came this past weekend during a Christmas party where I put the bed in the crate to save space. I left it in not thinking and 2 nights later, there was a hole in it. Luckily he did not break the inner housing that holds the stuffing or it would have been trash.

smatulewicz User is Offline

Michigan

MH
Posts:1194

12/19/2012 7:33 AM
@keanmu - lol I'd rather get up in the night than clean up Which goes with my answer to this post is that it is really just personal preference. When Bella first come to us as a pup, The first night I got up every hour and let her out (no fuss, no words...I leashed her at her kennel, we walked straight to her potty spot. After she went we came back in and back to kennel.) After, I set an alarm for every two hours. Once I found her still sleeping soundly when I came to let her out, I decreased to every three hours which was ultimately once a night. This also seemed to help with her whining in the crate as for us, her crate was in a separate room and this way she knew we were still nearby. Also, Bella did much better in her crate with less space. Early on, I tried giving her enough room to have a puppy pad in back for accidents and the extra space gave her anxiety. And yes, we experienced no accidents on bedding, but found her to take her boredom in her crate out on her bedding (despite having safe toys available). I sewed the corners back up of several beds, before we ultimately wrapped her bed tightly in a couple of old sheets so as she pawed and chewed she rarely got down to the actual bed. Now that we put the kennel away, since she targets corners, I was able to buy just bed covers at Target (actually quite nice, and nice looking) and put them on her old beds. Less than half of the price of purchasing a new bed.

Splat

Illinois (Northern)

MH
Posts:3136

12/19/2012 8:41 AM
I have always put a towel or fleece blanket in the crate... I must be lucky cuz I have not had a pup/dog go potty or poop in the crate... at night when pups I would heard them wake and take them out but that was only once a night and not every night sometimes they would hold it all night... when we got our doxie a few weeks ago I thought the worst cuz they are so much smaller, how can they hold it like a GSP... she is sleeping in bed with my youngest at night... she wears a collar with a bell so I can hear if she wakes up... it is about 50/50 that she wakes up once or holds it all night... most of the time she only has to be in the crate a few hours during the day, but occasionally our schedules line up and everyone is gone from 7:30am-3pm... this has happened once so far while we have had her and she held it that entire time...

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