# Crate Size



## JulieJ (Nov 9, 2010)

Any suggestions on crate size for my pup ? I have a fold up metal one that she uses during the day because her puppy pad is in it, not sure that is the way to go but puppy pads are a new concept to me, no puppy pad in her night time crate. She often potties in the crate she sleeps in which I thought was something dogs would not do. My poodle it but not until she was a senior dog. Any helpful hints please? Thanks


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## omguthrie (Oct 13, 2009)

In my opinion you are confusing her. Sometimes she has potty pads in her crate and it's okay to potty in there, so how is she to know when she can and when she can't potty in the crate? The whole point of crating is that they don't want to potty where they sleep but by putting potty pads in the crate you are teaching her to potty where she sleeps. 

How old is this pup? If she's old enough to hold it through the night then I would put her in a small crate, just big enough to stand up, turn around and lie down. I would use that crate as well whenever you want to crate her. If you are concerned that she can't hold it then you have 2 options (in my opinion). 1) use the crate and get up during the night and through the day every 4-5 hours to let her out to potty. I like this option because I don't like potty pads and want my dogs to do all business outside. 2) Use potty pads but put them in a larger area like an exercise pen so she can move around to use the potty area but has a sleeping area as well.

To me it all depends on the end product that you want. If you want to use potty pads then do option 2. If you want your dog going outside then I would do option 1. To me it seems fairly difficult to change back and forth because potty training is based on being very very consistent and if you put down potty pads but still kinda crate train and sometimes put potty pads in the crate and sometimes take her outside it is very difficult for her to know what you are asking of her.


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## Brodysmom (Jan 8, 2009)

Excellent post by Omguthrie! I agree 100%.

I use an extra huge crate for Brody (ex pen sized, it's for a great dane). It has a washable pee pad in it, but also has a large bed (standard sized pillow). If we are gone for awhile, I don't feel bad - knowing he can go on his pad. 

He had a couple episodes of diarrhea when he was a puppy. At the time I had him in a very small crate for housebreaking purposes. Poor guy had to have diarrhea and then lay in it ALL NIGHT. It was awful. At that time I decided to never put him in that position again and switched him to the giant crate. (An ex-pen serves the same purpose). There's a place to relax and a nice bed and then he can walk over to the pad if he really needs it.

He's 2 now and never goes on his washable pad. He goes outside only, even in bad weather. But I like knowing it's there just in case. It's a cute green plaid quilted pad, so it doesn't look ugly in his crate. (He liked to tear up the paper ones, which is another reason I switched to the washable ones).


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## JulieJ (Nov 9, 2010)

Thank You SOOO much. Great advice. I do have a larger crate in my family room that I have been placing a paper pad in the back of. She has a fleece blanket and a pillow in the front of the puppy pad. Maybe this crate needs to be larger ? The bed I use for her in my bedroom is actually a plastic puppy carrier. She has more than enough room in this to sit, lay down and turn around. Room to spare. She has had accidents in here at night. She is only eleven weeks. Maybe I need a smaller dog carrier that she sleeps in ? I have not tried to potty train her outside yet because I hadn't really planned on doing that. We live in MI so it gets pretty cold. Thanks so much.


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## Brodysmom (Jan 8, 2009)

JulieJ said:


> Thank You SOOO much. Great advice. I do have a larger crate in my family room that I have been placing a paper pad in the back of. She has a fleece blanket and a pillow in the front of the puppy pad. Maybe this crate needs to be larger ? The bed I use for her in my bedroom is actually a plastic puppy carrier. She has more than enough room in this to sit, lay down and turn around. Room to spare. She has had accidents in here at night. She is only eleven weeks. Maybe I need a smaller dog carrier that she sleeps in ? I have not tried to potty train her outside yet because I hadn't really planned on doing that. We live in MI so it gets pretty cold. Thanks so much.


I would say go bigger, or go smaller. If you want to use a little crate, it needs to be very small. Just enough room to lay down. NO extra room to potty and then try to lie away from it as that defeats the purpose. Or go big. Use the large crate and have a sleeping area and then a potty pad. Either way would work.


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## JulieJ (Nov 9, 2010)

What would I do without you guys ? I so don't know this breed and want to do everything right. I did research, I really did. Have a great Chi book to help but I am firm believer that others advice and experience is best. So are you saying I should not have her in my room in the carrier she sleeps in ? I can go get a smaller carrier, that is not an issue, I just want to do this the right way for her. Does it confuse her if she has a large crate that she potties and sleeps in and then a small carrier for night time sleeping ? Guess I am confused here. My toy poodle was outdoor trained and slept in her carrier by me or with me in bed.  Different breeds, I know Glad I have you guys


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## ExoticChis (Jun 20, 2010)

Honey has a crate large enough for her bed, water, food, peepad. She has never once used her peepad, she holds on. But I know my self that some times I need to go to the toilet during the night...couldnt imagine having to hold on when I really needed to go!! I am also a firm believer that she needs a toilet just incase. I work 2 days per week and she is crated those two days. But still she holds on, and she still has her toilet there just incase. Her crate is in our lounge room, but she does sleep with me if there is a thunder storm... She hates them! Even in my bed she will pant and stress but not as bad. Other then that she always sleeps in her crate in the lounge room!


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## omguthrie (Oct 13, 2009)

I agree with Brodys Mom. Go bigger or go smaller and stick with it. I wouldn't put her in a small crate in your bedroom and ask her to hold it and then in a bigger crate with potty pads during the day. Pick one or the other. If you want to teach her to potty outside then use the small plastic crate all the time when she is crated and take her out on a good regular basis. She can learn to potty outside, even though you live where it gets cold. If you want to do the pee pad thing then get a big crate or exercise pen and use that with the pads. 

Do make sure you think ahead in life if you decide to use potty pads. Do you want to deal with a dog pottying in the house for the rest of it's life? I have no desire to clean up pee and poop in my house so my dogs go outside. I know a lot of people here do use potty pads very successfully; it's just what you want to do. I would just say to go ahead and start the method you want to use in the future now. There is no reason your chihuahua can't be trained like your toy poodle to potty outside and sleep in a crate or in your bed (later down the road).

My young dogs sleep in a small crate in my bedroom at night and are crated in that crate when I'm gone during the day. As they become more trustworthy (around 2 years old) they are allowed to sleep outside the crate in my bedroom on their own dog beds but are still crated during the day. As they get better and better they earn out of crate time when I'm gone during the day.


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## JulieJ (Nov 9, 2010)

Hello  I wanted to touch base and thank you for the great crate advice. I am using ONLY the bigger crate for my precious Tess and she is doing awesome with the pooing. I have a puppy pad in my living room by the door and she will use that to poo on as well. I was thrilled when I saw her do it this morning. She however STILL insists on peeing on her blankets and the carpet unless I am able to catch her. I do put her in her crate after eating and drinking and applaud her greatly when she does job on the pad as she is suppose to. I do think I have a stubborn Chi that is as stubborn as her owner.. Time and persistence, I know. Thanks again though....you advice helped tremendously. Blessings..


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## cprcheetah (May 4, 2009)

I have used potty pads for 5 years with Zoey, but recently (last 2 weeks) switched to using Yesterdays News Cat Litter as my new Min Pin was getting confused with peeing on the pads (she would pee on blankets/carpet etc). My trainer explained it to me, you want them to go potty on something soft & absorbant, yet get mad when she pees on clothes/blankets/carpet that is also soft & absorbant. Dogs can't tell the difference between a soft absorbant potty pad and clothes/carpet/blanket etc. My girls are in an extra large wire crate that has a litter box in it. Ziva cannot have any blankets in her crate (yet) as she is still peeing on the blankets). Zoey is fine with blankets in her crate, she will use the litter box.


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## JulieJ (Nov 9, 2010)

Hey, ya know, that makes perfect sense. I wonder then what I should use as a bed for her in her kennel ? I don't want her to get cold.  She just scared the beggibees out me.. She jumped out of my arms, landing on the floor and started yelping.. Oh my gosh was I scared to pick her up ! She is okay. I hope she never does that again. They are so tiny and fragile. All I could do was see myself hauling to our vet emergency office here. She is wagging her tail and back to herself again. Ate and everything but I was in tears ! My toy poodle fell off our nine foot deck. Not good ! Only had a scratch on here though. An angel caught her. All I could think when Tess jumped out of my arms was about Chloe when she did that off the deck. I have my deck super railed now. Was upset that she got so close to the edge without anyone stopping her. Okay, enough babbling. Thanks again so very much, seriously, you guys have already made a difference. Just let me your opinion on a bed for here so she doesn't get cold. Blessings.


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## JulieJ (Nov 9, 2010)

Good Morning... Well, Tess has her new bigger kennel / crate with a lot more room. Silly girl still peed on her blanket that she was suppose to sleep on, but she pooed on the potty pad..LOL. I just don't know what to use at night to keep her warm if I take her blankets away.  I am softy there but yet know that she can't be the "boss". She is still young at twelve weeks but surely don't want her thinking the blanket peeins is "okay". Blessings...


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## Chimom4 (Sep 26, 2010)

Omguthries posts are great! I, too, don't want my dogs going inside for the rest of their lives. The breeder I got Chip from had started training the pups for both outside and for potty pads. My worry is that if I trained him to use a potty pad, he would think that any rug or piece of fabric would be ok. I immediately started crate training him when we brought him home. There were the inevitable few accidents, but within a few weeks he was completely house broken. I don't use any potty pads. Of course, I do have other dogs as well, and I think that helps as they seem to watch each other. I have thought about the fact that if I lived in an apartment, I would maybe try litterbox training.


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## JulieJ (Nov 9, 2010)

Yes her post are great. I have gotten good advice from several here. So appreciative of it all too. I have wondered about the outside potty issue but I think I am sticking with what I have started with the inside puppy pads for now anyway. she does go to her pad in the living room which is carpeted, to poo. The peeing is what she is doing wherever she feels like it except the hardwood floor upstairs and in the kitchen. She will even come out of her crate that now does not have a blankie in it, and pee on the carpet. I got me a stubborn one for sure but she is still young. We will get there. I am used to the toy poodles. They trained so quickly for me but again, it is a totally different breed.


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## cprcheetah (May 4, 2009)

When I was training Zoey as a puppy, I put a potty pad in an apple box and she didn't come out of that box until she peed on the potty pad. Same thing now that we are retraining for litter, they have a pen around the litterbox (just big enough for the litter box) and if they want out they have to go potty then they can have some free time. As soon as they get up, after they eat, play, nap, right before bedtime are all times they generally have to go potty. That works for us. I'm having the same issue (peeing on the blankets) with Ziva so she has a bare bottomed crate which is hard because I don't want her cold (so I put a sweater on her) but at the same time I HAVE to get her potty trained somehow.


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## 17428 (Jul 10, 2009)

I have a X-Large crate/cage for Dahlia with
one peepad in it.She has the kitchen gated off 
and has the whole kitchen with wood floor to roam.
I also have a medium crate in my SUV for traveling
as she hates being confined to a carrier and howls the whole time.
She accepts the crate and sleeps in hers at night no prob.
She knows 830pm is bedtime.
We rent so she cant roam the house and make boo-boos.


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## imadigger (Sep 5, 2010)

We we got Chico, I kept him in a large wire crate. I put a small bath mat in it and every two hours we took him out to pee on the wee pad. I never put pads inside the cage. I think it gives them mixed messages. Eventually we lengthened the time to 3 hrs then to 4 hrs. etc. He got used to using the pads. After all his shots were done, we started taking him outside to potty. He prefers to go outside now, and rarely uses the pads. At night he sleeps in a very tiny canvas carrier that I zipper him in. His bedtime is 11pm when I go to bed. He holds it in all night, and we take him out first thing in the morning. Usually around 7am. The only problem I have is that I can't keep rugs on the floor. He will pee on them. I didn't realize he was doing it until I caught him in the act. Otherwise he is a really good little pup.


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## 17428 (Jul 10, 2009)

I agree it would confuse an outdoors potty routine.
Dahlia doesnt go outside here......too wormy and
way too dangerous in my neighborhood!


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## JulieJ (Nov 9, 2010)

Hello ~  Well thanks to all your wonderful advice I "think" Tess might have the just of most of it down. I did purchase another kennel for my bedroom just like the one in the family room When I first moved her out of my room and had her only in the family room she was NOT happy. Smart as they are to show me so, she peed and pooed on the floor of it beside the puppy pad holder. I decided she did this because she was mad about the change and put a pad holder and pad in my room in the same type of kennel in the family room...NO outside of the pad accidents. I did notice that if I wiped down the floor of her kennel with the bleach / water solution and then rinsed well.. she did not pee in any area that she had peed on earlier. Don't know if that really was the solution but so far it has worked. Thanks so very much for all the tips. I shared the site with my friend who has a Chi too. Blessings


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