# Crate training is just not working. Please help. (Siberian husky)



## Laika_ (Apr 29, 2013)

My Laika is a 3 month old siberian husky. I have been trying to crate train her. And I just can't seem to get it right.That whole "Dogs don't poop/pee where they sleep" thing...I feel is inaccurate towards my dog.. Problem is. She will urinate, and poop all over the crate, and just LAY in it. She will not cry, or fuss, it's like she has NO problem laying in her own mess. The longest she's in the crate is through the night. I've been trying to wake up before everyone in the house so that I can catch her early, and take her outside to use the bathroom. That doesn't seem to work either because once I'm down there, she's already beaten me to it. Crate is once again soiled, and she's just laying here wagging her tail.
It's disgusting and I feel like my dog has no sense of cleanliness, either that or she's just plain dumb. My dad has recently made me move her crate to the basement (we had our basement fixed It's like a mini apartment, not to mention at night it gets much cooler down there which is why i've noticed she tends to sleep all night without a fuss) 
But she's only down there at night, I never leave her down there when we're all home. I keep her tied in the living room with a long rope so I can watch her every move...

So back to the crate. What am I supposed to do?? I'm getting really tired of waking up at 6am for no reason, just to go down there and once again, clean up her mess. I take her outside every night before putting her in the crate, and she doesn't drink water before going in. I give it to her in the morning after breakfast. I just want to know whats making her just want to poop and pee where she sleeps, and just lay in it like no problem..also

We are keeping her in a large crate, that has been cut off in the middle so she has a little room to stand and turn around and stretch. But I'm guessing for her, is also room to poop and pee. I have also added the same tiles to the floor of the crate, that we have in our kitchen because it's alot cooler and she seems to love laying on our kitchen floor. I'm not sure if that can have an effect on her wanting to use the bathroom...she doesn't do it either way when she's upstairs so that can't be it.

When exactly do they start to hold the urge to use the bathroom..? Is it 6 months? 
Please I hope someone has a solution...or has gone through the same thing.


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## WonderBreadDots (Jun 26, 2012)

Your dog is not able to hold it all night long. You will need to either put the crate close (like right next to you) to where you are sleeping so you can hear her stir and move then you need to be up and ready to go like a firefighter to take her outside. If putting the crate next to you is not an option then you will need to set an alarm clock for every hour or two (two being max) and take your dog out to see if she has to go. Your dog has gotten into the habit of going in the crate because (barring any medical condition) her subtle cues to let you know she has to go out in the middle of the night have not been answered and she had no other choice.

Personally, I would rather get up every hour or two for a few months than have to wash a dog, crate and any bedding every morning for the rest of the dogs life. Good luck.


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## blenderpie (Oct 5, 2012)

She can't hold it that long is the simple truth.

My puppy also pees in her crate. She came to us with a UTI and simply couldnt hold it. I was waking up every hour at night after cutting off her water at five and still coming down to pee. She's mostly grown out of it (she'll go in her crate about once a week or so and mostly for attention (she's learned that us seeing her squat makes us rush her outside). 

Prevention is the key. I'd start with waking up every two hours at night. If she does it during the day, too, take her out of the crate every twenty minutes to go. This is all about forming a new habit, so you wanna make sure she goes out EVERY time that It's possible (obviously restrict food and water intake before you leave the house for any length of time.)


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## sassafras (Jun 22, 2010)

You get up at 6 am, but she may have urinated/defecated at any point between when you went to bed and 6 am... if she has to go at 3 am, what choice does she have but to go in her crate and then lay in it? She's a baby. She can't physically completely control her bladder and bowels yet. It's your job to help prevent accidents until she develops that control. 

If you're going to keep her crate in the basement, then start getting up once in the middle of the night to take her outside.


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## HollowHeaven (Feb 5, 2012)

Huskies are neither dumb nor unclean. In fact, they are some of the cleanest dogs out there. They groom themselves. Mine will actually go out of her way to avoid dirt, mud and her waste.

Your puppy cannot hold it. This is the simple fact of the matter. Either put the crate in your room so you can hear her or set an alarm so you can get up at some point during the night and take her potty. 
Most dogs will not lay in their own waste. The fact that she is proves she cannot hold it.


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## Laika_ (Apr 29, 2013)

I forgot to add a few things to my post. 

First of all. My bedroom is downstairs, next to the basement door. The crate is kept next to the door, and I keep both doors open so I can hear her fuss or cry at all. I go to bed late most nights, and I am a light sleeper. Let me tell you, she sleeps all night. When I first brought her home, she used to sleep in my room, she was about 9 weeks maybe? She slept right on my bed, and like I said. Slept all night until 5-5:30 am I would feel her walk around, and boom. I'd rush her outside to go potty. She really didn't wake up at night at all to go potty because I would feel her do so. I never gave her water before bed and always took her outside. So she was actually pretty damn good at holding in her urine through the night because she just wouldn't go in the bed. I noticed she started sleeping in a little later, and would wake up at 6am, so I would get up, take her out and she'd go right back to bed. The only reason why I resorted to the crate downstairs at night is because it's almost summer here, and my bedroom get's almost to 85 degrees through the night and I don't want her to go through with the heat, cause she'd wake up panting like crazy and I noticed she wasn't getting enough sleep, so when I brought her downstairs which was way cooler and less humid she immediately did great in the crate no fussing, nothing. My only issue is the laying in her own waste...Why isn't she waiting for me to take her out at the same time I used to since she came home? If she were to make a sound at night I would hear it pretty clearly, because there's not much distance from my room to the basement and it's pretty silent in the house. The only thing that's changed is her environment, she's in a crate at night now...and it's better than laying in a hot bed. 
-I know Huskies are clean dogs.
-She didn't come from a poor breeder because he took great care of his puppies.
-I can't really say that she can't hold it because she did really good holding it in through the night when she slept in my bedroom with me. That's from 10pm to almost 5am. That is why I decide to wake up at 6 because that's the time she started waking up in the morning to use the bathroom, while she was with. Exactly the reason why I left her in the crate at night without worrying about it, and just going on with normal routine. Only thing changed was environment. 

Only issue here is, why is she decided to just go in her crate, where she sleeps. And Just laying in it, instead of waiting for me to take her outside. Like I always do.

I am taking her to the vet to see if she may have some sort of infection or bladder issue which I hope she doesn't.


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## Kyllobernese (Feb 5, 2008)

I do not think a 12 week old puppy can hold it all night. I got Kris at 11 weeks and I had to take her out at least a couple of times during the night until she was 16 weeks old when she started sleeping through the night, which is usually about 8 hours. Her crate was by my bed and if I heard her starting to stir, I would get up and take her outside. I had to move her into a bigger crate so it is now in my laundry room and she sleeps all night but goes out first thing as soon as I get up.


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## sassafras (Jun 22, 2010)

Laika_ said:


> -I can't really say that she can't hold it because she did really good holding it in through the night when she slept in my bedroom with me. That's from 10pm to almost 5am. That is why I decide to wake up at 6 because that's the time she started waking up in the morning to use the bathroom, while she was with. Exactly the reason why I left her in the crate at night without worrying about it, and just going on with normal routine. Only thing changed was environment.


No, the other thing that changed was an extra hour. If you know she can hold it from 10p to 5a, then don't get up at 6a. Keep getting up before 5a. She is a baby... she does not have complete or consistent control of her bowels and bladder yet and unfortunately now - by necessity and through no fault of her own - she's learned that it's "ok" to go in the crate and you've lost some of the advantage of it in that regard. So you have to be extra careful about anticipating her need to go outside and taking her out _before_ then. 

In my opinion you are really rushing her based on some early success and unrealistic expectations. Take a step back in your schedule and your expectations of her.


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## packetsmom (Mar 21, 2013)

An additional thought...you might try feeding her earlier in the evening and taking away her water a little bit before bedtime and make sure she gets some good time outside before you put her to bed so that she can get anything out. These things have really seemed to help my pups make it through the night better.


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## megs2219 (Feb 23, 2013)

She probably can hold it all night if she never wakes up at all. As a human I am like that, if i sleep from say 12am-8am all the way thru I do not need to get up and pee. But i I get woken up at 3am by some sort of noise I will almost always make a trip to the bathroom. My guess is that she's waking up in the middle of the night, and thus having to pee. Why? It could be the heat, 85 degrees is too hot for a dog like that. It could be that the crate is not as comfortable/too small and thus she wakes up where she used to sleep thru the night. I don't know that its an absolute given that a dog can't hold it thru the night my pup started holding it all night long around 12-14 weeks and he's a small dog so i imagine there are a few that can hold it. But for every dog that can there are many that can't. 

I'd suggest 3 things: 1) go for a check-up at the vet to make sure it's not a UTI or other medical problem, 2) start getting up 1/2 way thru the night say 2 or 3am and take her out to pee. It's a major annoyance to get up in the middle of the night (i like my sleep) but it'll help in the long run so she doesn't establish the crate as somewhere to pee. 3) make sure that bedding or whatever is in the crate is cleaned with an enzymatic cleaner. You can buy them at the pet store, Odoban is a good one and you can get it from amazon and I've heard that vinegar works as well but never tried it. Make sure that bedding is sanitized and cleaned so she doesn't smell the urine. If you're just washing it with soap and water it probably smells like urine to her and she thinks that is where she's supposed to go. I hope those steps help and you can get into a better routine as I am sure that's frustrating.


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## Flaming (Feb 2, 2013)

My dog is 7 months and still needs to go out before 5:30am, most puppies just can't hold it that long. The rare exceptions do exist but the majority will need a break in the night or early morning. For us it was a 3am break until 5 months old.


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## HollowHeaven (Feb 5, 2012)

Laika_ said:


> -She didn't come from a poor breeder because he took great care of his puppies.
> -I can't really say that she can't hold it because she did really good holding it in through the night when she slept in my bedroom with me. That's from 10pm to almost 5am. That is why I decide to wake up at 6 because that's the time she started waking up in the morning to use the bathroom, while she was with. Exactly the reason why I left her in the crate at night without worrying about it, and just going on with normal routine. Only thing changed was environment.
> 
> Only issue here is, why is she decided to just go in her crate, where she sleeps. And Just laying in it, instead of waiting for me to take her outside. Like I always do.
> ...


-I feel like you should know that a good breeder isn't someone who keeps their puppies fed and played with. A good breeder is someone who shows dogs, who health tests (checks for sound hips, eyes, elbows, hearts, patellas, genetic defects, etc.) A good breeder will not breed a dog that has not proven itself in some way, meaning the dog usually has at least one title.
Just for future reference. Just because someone isn't mean or neglectful to their pets doesn't make them a good breeder. It makes then BYBs with a bit of a conscience. 

-She obviously cannot. Get up at 5 and take her out to the bathroom. 

Puppies cannot control themselves until about 6 months old. She may not even realize she has to go until it's way too late. 

The dog cannot hold it. Get up at 5 or earlier and take her out, or continue to let her lay in her own waste.


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## Crantastic (Feb 3, 2010)

I don't know, man, if I had a choice between getting up an hour earlier for a while or bathing a dog and cleaning its crate first thing every single morning, I think I'd get up earlier. You can always go back to bed.


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## RabbleFox (Jan 23, 2013)

I get up every morning at 7am to walk my grandma's dog. She can't hold it for more than like 8 hours even when she is sleeping. She is 6 years old. After our morning walk, I go back to bed. No better sleep than after walking around the block in my jammies with the little dog. I'm not kidding! 

Gotta work with what the doggy gods gave ya. I don't mind getting up early or in the middle of the night to let a pup (or older dog with small bladder) out. Its way better than trying to get pee out of the carpet. Once you get into a routine its not so bad. As your dog matures, hopefully her bladder will catch up with your expectations. Dogs and puppies like consistency. If you can make a schedule out that works for you and your dog (you will know because she will stop having accidents) then thats the way to go! Little dog likes to go out about 5 or 6 times a day. 7am, 10am, noon, 3pm, 6pm, and just before bed is the usual.

You do have to be prepared to wake up relatively early just to feed and let a normal adult dog out too. Pepper likes to get out and pee around 7:30/eat his breakfast. He can wait longer but its not fair when all I have to do is get up, open the door, pour food in a bowl, and let him back in.


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## Laika_ (Apr 29, 2013)

HollowHeaven said:


> -I feel like you should know that a good breeder isn't someone who keeps their puppies fed and played with. A good breeder is someone who shows dogs, who health tests (checks for sound hips, eyes, elbows, hearts, patellas, genetic defects, etc.) A good breeder will not breed a dog that has not proven itself in some way, meaning the dog usually has at least one title.
> Just for future reference. Just because someone isn't mean or neglectful to their pets doesn't make them a good breeder. It makes then BYBs with a bit of a conscience.
> 
> -She obviously cannot. Get up at 5 and take her out to the bathroom.
> ...


You probably don't understand me clearly. But I did say, that if my puppy wasn't able to "hold it in" than she probably would have urinated on my bed through the night for the first 3 weeks I had her. But I said, that she slept ALL night without having to get up and use the bathroom at 2am in the morning. If she did. Then I would have taken her out. But that wasn't the case because she NEVER woke up through the night. Clearly, she's capable of holding it in. You're making it seem as If I'm just going to care about my sleep, and just let her lay in her own waste...do you think I LIKE? seeing her laying in her own feces/urine? No. I have been non-stop working with this dog, and I just came to see if anyone else had the same issue i'm having, and if they had any sort of advice, I've gotten a few people who have been polite about giving me the info I need on what I can do. I do not have a problem with waking up early to let my dog out. But If my dog isn't fussing or crying in the middle of the night to use the bathroom,which she doesn't than I wouldn't think she needs to go. Why? Because she's sleeping. If she was, and I was completely ignoring it, then I would have the answer to my question as to why I wake up to her in a soiled crate. And I wouldn't need to come here and ask for help because, I would know that it's my mistake in not letting her out when I know she needs to go. But I do not have that problem. 

I decided on removing the divider and placing a puppy pad her crate for tonight, and I'm waking up at 5am which is the time she was being taken out when she was staying in my bedroom. 

I appreciate you're help really. But If you don't understand exactly what I'm explaining, then please don't come at me with a tone that makes me feel like a dog owner that doesn't care.


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## WonderBreadDots (Jun 26, 2012)

Sleep next to the dog crate. 

You say in your first post you recently moved the crate to the basement and you are sick of going down there in the morning to find a soiled crate, then in your second post you say you do sleep by the crate but then later in the same post you say your bedroom door is near the basement stairs. If you feel some posters are not sympathetic to you it may be because your story is not consistent. 

Set an alarm if you can't sleep by the crate. Your dog is giving subtle cues even after going to the bathroom, it is uncomfortable for the dog to lay in the waste, but you are sleeping, plain and simple. Again, good luck.


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## Crantastic (Feb 3, 2010)

If you know your puppy is soiling her crate around a certain time every day, it's common sense to get up a bit before that time and take her out. Let us know how it goes tomorrow morning!


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## blenderpie (Oct 5, 2012)

Not all dogs make noise to alert that they have to go.

And keep in mind that she's growing and changing everyday! You just see the outside, but the inside does too. She CLEARLY dies have to go at some point in the night. You arguing that she didn't have to previously is invalid because it's extremely evident to you waking up with her covered in her own waste that she does.

Now that she knows that It's "okay" to go in her crate you have your work cut out for you as far as making sure it doesn't happen. She's becoming used to being in her own waste and so she's not going to be motivated by the size of the crate to hold it.

You need to do what EVERYONE ELSE on this forum has done when raising a puppy you need to get up one to three times a night (or in the case of my puppy who peed in her crate, every hour). It might be MONTHS before she "grows out if it" if she even does. I simply do not understand why you are fighting about getting up because "she can hold it" the waste in the crate is strong evidence that no, she cannot.


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## Macee s mom (May 3, 2013)

My puppy has slept on my bed on a leash so if she moves I can feel her and take her out.. Try leashing her to you and making her sleep on her bed beside your bed. That way when she gets up to pee she pulls


Sent from Petguide.com Free App


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## HollowHeaven (Feb 5, 2012)

Everyone is getting what you're saying.
What you're saying is when you first got the dog she slept through the night.

But now she's settled into her home, her routine has changed, and she is now waking up an hour before you want to. If the dog could hold it she would. This isn't a behavioral problem, it's a 'baby cannot control itself' problem.

Suck it up and take her out earlier.


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## Laika_ (Apr 29, 2013)

MY first post, was literally an angry post. I had just finished cleaning up her mess once again, and then I came upstairs and decided to try the forums, since I didn't get why she was doing it. I even called my dog, Dumb. Which is really mean...and she's not dumb at all actually. My apologies if the story doesn't make sense, I didn't add much detail to it. I just don't like how some of you are just telling me so bluntly to just wake up, take the dog out, or let her sleep in her own waste. Kinda like I care more about my sleep then my puppy. But that's not true. It was just strange to me that my puppy would just want to lay and sleep in her own waste...I would think she would start fussing/crying at around 4-5am(the time she usually wake up to go outside) to go to the bathroom instead of going where she sleeps, and then that's when I'd get up and take her out. But she decides to go in the crate? I'm only 10 steps away from her so I can hear her clearly if she needed to go outside. One of you said that some puppies don't make noises/fuss when they need to go out, so maybe I have one of those puppies. 

For all of you who want to know how it went. I SUCKED IT UP and I woke up at 4:30 in the morning to check on her, she was awake, super silent no fussing, just laying down and the crate was not soiled, even after I took out the divider and added a puppy pad. I took her outside, around 5 like I did when she came home and she went potty. Which means that she IS capable of holding it in through the night. My puppy, is actually proving too me, that she doesn't need to be taken out every hour of the night, if she can hold it in until 5am for me to take her out. Now I will agree, that MY MISTAKE was waking up at 6 KNOWING that she was being taken out at 5. I expected her to hold it in an extra hour, which she cannot do. So i corrected my mistake and I woke up earlier, to take her out. Which, I have NO problem doing. I'll see how she does the next few days also.


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## doxiemommy (Dec 18, 2009)

I will add a couple things:
- first, it's hard to get a sense of someone's "tone" on the internet. When you type out a response, no one really knows how you would have SAID it if you were speaking to someone, i.e. would it be snotty, would it be blunt and straightforward because you're just a blunt and straightforward type of person, would it be send with a smile, to soften the words. So, please, if you feel like someone is being rude, just maybe think that if they were saying it in person, it may not have sounded that way, it's hard to tell over the internet.

- when YOU type a post, but, don't include all details (like in your first post) we can only go off of what you write. And, some folks here respond from the original post only, and don't weed through all the responses, and may not see the other stuff you later added. So, realize that we can only give advice based on what you tell us.

- one thing I have learned about puppies (and we are on our fourth, currently) is that they are INCONSISTENT. Bladder control is one of the things about puppies that is inconsistent, and it is because they don't gain full physical control of their bladder/bowels til six months of age. Until then, yes, sometimes they do well at holding it, and sometimes they don't. They may go weeks doing well, and then start slipping up and having setbacks. They may KNOW what to do, but, it's a matter of their bodies not being fully developed yet, so they sometimes can't help it.
Setbacks in potty training are very, very common. They just are. 

There are lots of folks whose puppies do pretty well early on, and then those people expect that success to continue. But, sometimes that success is due to an owner being extra careful when the puppy first comes to them, and being more watchful and taking them out more, and then, as the puppy does well, the owner relaxes a bit. Sometimes that's fine, the puppy is ready to move forward, but, sometimes the puppy still needs that extra careful approach for awhile longer.

All that said, here's the thing: your puppy is still very young. He may have been able to hold it the first few weeks, due to the stress and nervousness of a new home (sometimes a puppy that comes to a new home is extra tired because of the stress and change and fear). So, if he slept all through the night in the beginning, it may have been just that he was knocked out from being stressed by all the changes. 
After a few weeks, he's settling in more, and is more comfortable. PLUS, you've changed where he sleeps. And, CHANGE is a very common cause of potty training setbacks.

And, yes, there are puppies (and adult dogs, even) that don't make any sound when they need to go out.

I am not going to say that you only care about your sleep or that you are fine with your puppy sleeping in his own waste. But, I will say, if you know that setting an alarm to let the puppy out 1-2 times a night will prevent that, I'd suggest that. It's pointless to say 'but, he USED to be able to hold it' because he isn't able to hold it now. 

As for my experience, all of my puppies required that middle of the night potty trip, and each puppy stopped needing that middle of the night potty trip at different ages, because they're all different in their development.
Good luck!


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## Kyllobernese (Feb 5, 2008)

I am glad things are working out better for you. When I first got Susie, my Bernese cross, she slept in the bed with me and if she moved around, I would take her outside. I think because she was warm and comfortable she learned to hold it all night sooner than I expected her to.
Even when she moved onto the floor (got too big and hogged the bed) she never went in the house. I have always found that bigger dogs seemed to be easier to housebreak than the small dogs.


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## Laika_ (Apr 29, 2013)

Yeah, you make a lot of sense, Doxiemommy. And that probably is the case here. I'm definitely not giving up on my puppy, I was successful this morning because I woke up an hour early then the time she's used to going out, and she didn't soil her crate, So i'm going to try again tonight. She's only 3 months so I still have a long way of training too go. She never potty's inside the house during the day because I always have my eye on her, she's a husky and she drinks TONS of water so I always follow her around watching for that squat and I rush her outside, but I do have set times where she goes out for example, at noon, I feed her give her water, then I wait until 12:45-1 and I take her outside to go. Same thing around 6pm. So she's slowly getting there. Thanks for the input!


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## HollowHeaven (Feb 5, 2012)

Don't put a pad in the crate. That's allowing her to go in it and it'll will basically teach her that it's okay to go in there.


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## samshine (Mar 11, 2011)

Another thing you can do to help is feed her in the crate. Dogs generally have a strong instinct about not soiling where they eat. Just toss her kibble right on the floor of the (clean!) crate. You want her to start thinking of the crate as a giant food bowl. This often makes a difference after a few days. Good luck!


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## Gogoclips (Apr 27, 2013)

I'm happy that she did okay this morning. My puppy was a lot like yours in terms of potty training. He slept through the night from the first night we brought him home (3 months old), and we woke up super early to take him out. But, we had to carry him to the door because he couldn't hold it long enough to walk from his crate in our bedroom out the door. He never fussed when he woke up, just kind of shuffled around. Now, at 5 months, he is completely house trained, but yesterday morning proved that he is still a puppy. We woke up at about 7, let him out of the crate. He rang the bell to go out but my husband was cutting up some fruit for me. He rang it again and stood by my husband and whined, but my husband wasn't fast enough and he had an accident, poor pup. There are days where he refuses to get out of his crate in the morning and sleeps in until 10, but that incident just reminded us that when he has to go, he has to go, no waiting around!


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## packetsmom (Mar 21, 2013)

Yep...the dog is definitely doing this just to bother you. 

Seriously, though, most puppy pads are scented with some sort of pheremone to make them more attractive to the dog to soil on, so I wouldn't put them anywhere near the crate. It's even worse if you're training her to use them, then by putting one in the crate, you're basically telling the dog this is where you want them to go. I second everyone who suggested you feed her in the crate. Dogs generally don't like to go where they eat, so that might help. As someone else said, puppies are inconsistent. Just because she could hold it one night doesn't mean she can another. Some dogs backslide on potty training, obedience, and pretty much everything you've taught them when they're having a big growth spurt.

Try not to take it personally. Your dog is just a baby and there will be a lot of ups and downs over the months to come. It will be a lot of "two steps forward, one step back" or even 3 huge steps backward, then a pause for what seems like forever followed by a giant leap forward past where you started. It isn't always a predictable curve upward and forward, but a lot of jagged lines. That has everything to do with normal development and nothing to do with you as an owner or how the dog feels about you. Just be consistent and patient and roll with it and you'll both be fine.


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## Hambonez (Mar 17, 2012)

My puppy didn't necessarily progress with things in a linear fashion. He'd be good at one thing and bad at another, then get good at that thing, and the first thing would slip. You just kind of have to roll with the punches and try to stay one step ahead of the two steps forward one step back routine. It sounds like your pup was holding it, then wasn't, so instead of agonizing over why it's happening, just accept that it's happening, try getting up once at night and see if that does the trick. If it does, then get up halfway through the night for a week, then start extending the time between bedtime and potty time a little at a time, back tracking if there is an accident. If she still has accidents getting up once a night, then get up twice for a while, then once, etc... No reason to try to force the pup to hold it if she's showing that, for whatever reason right now, she can't. It won't be forever, and there's great payoff for putting in the hard work up front!


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## Laika_ (Apr 29, 2013)

I spent most of the day deep cleaning the crate making sure it didn't smell at all! I also moved it to another spot just incase the floor kinda smelled like urine also. I'll try the feeding inside the create since that actually makes a lot of sense! We'll see how that goes. I plan on going to bed late tonight, so i'll check up on her tonight and take her outside, then take her out again early in the morning. If that works, than that's the routine i'll go with. You guy's definitely have some great idea's i'll try, and see how they work. Thanks so much. 

Now, do you think she understands that petting her and praising her when she goes outside is a good thing? That's what I usually do, Because I know some people bring out treats to give to their puppies and I tried that but she doesn't seem to like to eat them so early in the morning...she kinda smells it and moves on. Is there anything I can do to make pottying outside a fun thing for her? Since treats don't seem to work?


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## Crantastic (Feb 3, 2010)

Did you clean with an enzymatic cleaner like Nature's Miracle? Those kind of cleaners completely kill the smell. Dogs can smell things much better than we can, so deep-cleaning with normal cleaners won't cut it as far as a dog is concerned!


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## packetsmom (Mar 21, 2013)

Laika_ said:


> I spent most of the day deep cleaning the crate making sure it didn't smell at all! I also moved it to another spot just incase the floor kinda smelled like urine also. I'll try the feeding inside the create since that actually makes a lot of sense! We'll see how that goes. I plan on going to bed late tonight, so i'll check up on her tonight and take her outside, then take her out again early in the morning. If that works, than that's the routine i'll go with. You guy's definitely have some great idea's i'll try, and see how they work. Thanks so much.
> 
> Now, do you think she understands that petting her and praising her when she goes outside is a good thing? That's what I usually do, Because I know some people bring out treats to give to their puppies and I tried that but she doesn't seem to like to eat them so early in the morning...she kinda smells it and moves on. Is there anything I can do to make pottying outside a fun thing for her? Since treats don't seem to work?


If she likes the petting or praise, then that's good. Normally I'd suggest a bit of play with a favorite toy as a reward for a dog that doesn't go for treats, but I tend to avoid making late night or early morning potty trips too exciting so that my pups don't start thinking it's a good idea to wake me up just to play.


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