# Puppy Gate Problems



## LabPuppy (Mar 7, 2014)

We have a 3 year old Chihuahua and just adopted a 3 month old Lab/Border Collie mix. We had a wooden puppy gate to keep them contained but they kept knocking it over and having full run of the majority of the house each day. I told myself it was because the gate was broken and wasnt staying up well enough. I ordered a new metal gate to keep them contained. I feel like this gate locks very tightly with the wall but today was the first day and it was knocked right over. I know it has to be the Lab doing it because the 5 lb chihuahua is just not capable. I'm not sure how to keep this from happening. Both I and my husband work so we are not home to train her in obedience during the day. We just have to clean up the mess when we get home. At that point I feel like she doesnt know what she's done wrong so I don't punish her for knocking down the gate. I don't know what else to do but I'm extremely frustrated and tired of cleaning up the accidents all over the house.... that's a whole other issue we're working through.... I think we have her #2 issues solved.... but I'm not sure what we are going to do about her doing #1 where ever she pleases...

Any help would be very much appreciated!!!


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## Kayla_Nicole (Dec 19, 2012)

Could you try crating rather then the gate? Some dogs just can't be contained using a baby gate. My male will jump gates. No matter how high they are, he can jump higher, according to his foster mom.

Crating is often also more effective for housebreaking as well. In a crate, a puppy is less likely to go to the bathroom than in a larger area, because they typically don't like laying in/next to their own urine/feces. 

However, I would only recommend the crate if one of you are going home mid-day to let her outside to go to the bathroom. I guarantee a 3 month old pup is not able to hold it for an entire work day.


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## cookieface (Jul 6, 2011)

Use a crate? Or confine her in a small room with a door? If you continue to allow her to eliminate in the house where and when she wants, you're going to have a very difficult time potty training. Can you or your husband (or friend, neighbor, relative) stop by your house during the day to let the puppy outside? At 3 months, she's going to need to potty during the day.

As an aside, punishment is not going to help in most training situations, especially when there is a delay between action and punishment. Your goal is to manage the environment to prevent undesired behavior (e.g., remove any items that puppy shouldn't chew, keep trash cans covered or out of reach, confine puppy so s/he doesn't have accidents) and train desired behavior (e.g., sit for attention, potty outside, chew toys and bones).


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## LabPuppy (Mar 7, 2014)

Right. We've stayed away from crating for that reason. I work 45 minutes away and it's not a guaranty that my husband will make it by midday to let her out.


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## LabPuppy (Mar 7, 2014)

cookieface said:


> Use a crate? Or confine her in a small room with a door? If you continue to allow her to eliminate in the house where and when she wants, you're going to have a very difficult time potty training. Can you or your husband (or friend, neighbor, relative) stop by your house during the day to let the puppy outside? At 3 months, she's going to need to potty during the day.
> 
> As an aside, punishment is not going to help in most training situations, especially when there is a delay between action and punishment. Your goal is to manage the environment to prevent undesired behavior (e.g., remove any items that puppy shouldn't chew, keep trash cans covered or out of reach, confine puppy so s/he doesn't have accidents) and train desired behavior (e.g., sit for attention, potty outside, chew toys and bones).


I've considered confining her to the laundry room since it's smaller and has no carpet. Maybe that's the way we need to go for now.


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## pinksand (Dec 11, 2013)

Were you able to housebreak your other dog this way? I imagine it would be very difficult to housebreak a puppy without a crate or supervision. If it's okay for the dog to eliminate inside when you are away how will it ever learn that it will have to eventually hold it and only go outside? If there's any way for you to get a neighbor or friend to come by mid-day when your husband can't I'd highly recommend crate training. If not, the laundry room sounds like a better idea than the baby gate. Maybe look into pee pads if you go the laundry room route?


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## LabPuppy (Mar 7, 2014)

Yes our other dog was house trained in the same way. We started by training her to use pee pads and then as she got older she began holding it. We've begun to have some success with puppy pads. Yesterday was the first day that she used it! We've only had the puppy for a week so we're at the very beginning stages since she came from a shelter type environment. I'm just trying to catch it before it gets too bad. I'm really liking this laundry room idea. I think that's going to be the route that we take.


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## doggiepop (Feb 27, 2014)

get crates and house break your dogs.


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## Shell (Oct 19, 2009)

I wouldn't keep a 5 lb Chihuahua and a large breed puppy in the same area when I wasn't there to supervise. Too big of size difference and young puppies are boisterous and clumsy and could hurt the Chi accidentally while trying to play. Even a minor disagreement between the dogs could be dangerous without a human there to intervene.

A small room can be used for confinement but a crate is better because it is hard to make a room completely "dog proof" for a young Lab aka chewing machine. A bored puppy home alone all day may end up eating the walls, floor, door frame, chew on any wires, open up cabinets etc which can all be dangerous for the pup. In a crate, he doesn't have access to anything like that. A midday break until the puppy is a little older would be preferable.


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## goodgirl (Jan 14, 2013)

Congrats on your new puppy - fun, huh?! When the puppy grows up it might be helpful to know about "predatory drift" at some point. Because of the size discrepancy. Hopefully will never be an issue in your case but you never know and it only takes an instant and damage can be done.
http://becomeaprofessionaldogtrainer.com/2011/06/predatory-drift/


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## Kyllobernese (Feb 5, 2008)

I agree with Shell, I would never leave a big dog pup alone with a little five pound Chihuahua. Puppies play rough and the Chi could get hurt by just getting jumped or stepped on. I know how hard it is to keep bigger dogs confined with a baby gate, even if they are screwed into the walls, they find a way to knock them down or get over them. I think your laundry room is a better idea but unless you give the puppy lots of exercise before you leave and leave lots of things to do (Kong, safe toys) he may still start to chew on the door frames, etc. for something to do. One other thing you could try is 'daycare' at least a few times a week.


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## Hambonez (Mar 17, 2012)

Get a gate that screws into the wall. Ours is very high (our dachshund mix can climb over standard baby gates) and is screwed into the wall on one side, with the latch part screwed into the wall on the other side so it locks shut. 

For the potty thing... When we got our dog he was 8 wks old. We realized fast that he would freak out in a crate, so we started him in an expen (keep in mind, he was 3.5 lbs of dog) with his crate open and a pad - which was the only soft surface other than his bed. (Over time we also made his pen smaller and smaller until he was just in the crate.) We never taught him to use the pads, he just did for lack of a better soft option. Someone would come home at lunch to take him out, and then there was about another 3-4 hrs before someone was home for the night. For the first few weeks, he'd use the pad once between someone coming to take him out. Around 12 wks old though, he stopped using them and just held it in between, so we took them away. The pads were just for us though, they weren't a substitution for housebreaking. Just made cleaning up faster. When we were home he went out every 15-20 minutes. He was never given the kind of freedom where he could go all over the house. If we were home, someone was looking at him 100%, if we weren't home, he was confined so mess clean up was minimal.


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