Which is the Best Option?

[Karysmith78]

Hello!

Ok I would like to know which would be the best option for my 2.5 month old puppy - a crate or a "play pen".

We've only had our puppy for about 2 weeks now. Right now, the schedule we unfortunately have is that my puppy currently is in his crate is 8 hours overnight, about an hour in the morning he's out of the crate, and then back in for about 8 more hours in the day, without anyone coming during the day to walk him, and of course, he's out in the evenings. I know this is not ideal, but its what has to be done at the moment.

At times, my puppy (Ein) has done both number 1 and number 2 in his crate. I don't know exactly which to attribute it to other than he is in his crate so long. I know that puppys don't tend to do such things in the crate because they don't want to have to live with their waste, but Ein has done it on several occurances now...and not just during the day but at night too.

So we're not sure if we should accept the inevitable that he's just going to go in the house or we should try to keep going with the crate.

My fear of having him in a play pen area, is if I will every truly be able to train him properly to "go" outside (with the notion that he will be trained to use the puppy pads indoors while we are gone/asleep). But I really want him to be able to get the exercise and the mental stimulation he needs.

We've also thought about having him the in crate at night and in the play pen in the day but not sure switching it up with solve any problems either.

Any ideas/tips/suggestions?? (as for getting him someone to let him out everyday, thats not doable at the moment).

Thanks!!!!

[Chip's Mom]

Hello:

When we got Chip, he was 8 weeks old. We fixed him up a 4 ft square playpen and set it up in the kitchen. Inside, we put his fairly large crate, a few toys, water, food, a chewy bone and a puppy pad. He was put in at night when we were in bed or if we had to go away in the evening. During the day, if my husband was gone or too busy to watch him, he was left in his playpen. If he had to go to the bathroom, he used his puppy pad. We took him outside often when we were home and in the evening, he had the run of the house supervised of course. I always praised him when he went potty outside and he is now completely housebroken. We did take him out of his playpen when he was about 3 - 4 months old. Can't remember now, but he got his exercise, didn't potty in his crate and it worked well for us. I made sure I cleaned the area quite often with urine off.

[corgimom]

Originally Posted by Karysmith78

Hello!

Ok I would like to know which would be the best option for my 2.5 month old puppy - a crate or a "play pen".

We've only had our puppy for about 2 weeks now. Right now, the schedule we unfortunately have is that my puppy currently is in his crate is 8 hours overnight, about an hour in the morning he's out of the crate, and then back in for about 8 more hours in the day, without anyone coming during the day to walk him, and of course, he's out in the evenings. I know this is not ideal, but its what has to be done at the moment.

At times, my puppy (Ein) has done both number 1 and number 2 in his crate. I don't know exactly which to attribute it to other than he is in his crate so long. I know that puppys don't tend to do such things in the crate because they don't want to have to live with their waste, but Ein has done it on several occurances now...and not just during the day but at night too.

So we're not sure if we should accept the inevitable that he's just going to go in the house or we should try to keep going with the crate.

My fear of having him in a play pen area, is if I will every truly be able to train him properly to "go" outside (with the notion that he will be trained to use the puppy pads indoors while we are gone/asleep). But I really want him to be able to get the exercise and the mental stimulation he needs.

We've also thought about having him the in crate at night and in the play pen in the day but not sure switching it up with solve any problems either.

Any ideas/tips/suggestions?? (as for getting him someone to let him out everyday, thats not doable at the moment).

Thanks!!!!

Do you leave food and water in the crate for him, during the night or day? and how big is his crate right now? And you mention that he has done it at night time also. AT what hour do you feed him supper and when do you take his water away before bedtime?

Are you too far from home to come and let him out during your lunch hour?
I am assuming you feed him in the morning and then take him out to go potty before you leave for work - does he poop at that time?

I think it is a long time to expect a 10 week old pup to hold from going potty for so long .

I would crate him at night and then get an X pen with puppy pads for the day. This way he can stretch his legs and move around. Or put him in a laundry room or bathroom behind a baby gate with safe fun toys for him to play with along with leaving the radio on for some background noise.

[Chip's Mom]

Linda:

The radio is a good thought. My son does always leaves a radio on when he leaves his pups. Sometimes we leave the tv on and sometimes we forget.

[tandemgal]

Kery,

Welcome to GO Corgi! We have had numerous discussions on crates and pens and gates for our corgis - check out past threads for good info.
when I leave my Girls (Emma & Chloe) I either gate them in the kitchen (also where their crate is) or on nice days I leave them on our gated deck (they have shade & dog house there too) But my Girls are 7 years and 10 mths and I live in an area that I don't need to worry about stray dogs or strangers.


Hope to hear lots of corgi stories and see lots of pictures of the new puppy!

[mochamix79]

Hi Kari, welcome to puppy hood. My boyfriend and I have an 11 week old puppy, Huw, and we made the decision before we brought him home that he would be crate trained. The breeder we got him from used wood shavings in a kiddie pool and that's where the dogs learned to go potty. We've had him for 2 weeks now, and not once has he pottied in his crate. We did buy him an intermediate size crate so he can use it as an adult, and even though it's too big, he's been good. We are in the same situation...in the crate 6-8 hours a night...then he's blocked off in the kitchen with water, his crate, toys and his potty box. Since he used shavings from day 1, we made a litter box and use wood shavings. When the box is in the house, we do not have any accidents. My goal however, is not to keep the box in the house. As he gets older, I anticipate crating him when we are gone (since he can hold it at night, he'll do well when he's older) or putting him in his 144 sq.ft. dog run when the weather is nice. It's really hard right now, but routine is necessary. We go first thing in the morning (pee & poo), then we go for a 10-15 minute walk an hour later (pee & poo), and then he's in his play area for 5-8 hours. When we get home (around 5:30-7:00pm) he eats and then poos and then eats again about and hour to 90 minutes later and poos just before bed. Pee is another story. He's more prone to do that at any time, and we have yet to get him to ask us to let him out. But in another post of mine, I had some great responses....we shouldn't expect too much right now. They are still very young. Let's just keep working on it, share ideas and know that they are the smartest dogs ever...and will figure it out. Good luck!

[Dillydoodle]

First thing is the reason that Ein is going potty in the crate is due to the fact that he is being kept in there far too long for a 10 wk old puppy to hold it. He is being forced to go in his crate and the more that this happens, the more he will accept it as an acceptable thing and therefore the harder it will be to train the puppy to go outside only. Their crate is usually the last place a puppy will potty , only doing it if they are desperate. Puppies rely on us to keep a schedule that is reasonable for them- every 4 hours if you are crating. If you can't make it home for a puppy after 4 hours, then it really is quite unfair to keep them in there - you should probably gate off your kitchen or use an ex-pen set up on an easy to clean floor and get wee wee pads and set up that way and plan on housebreaking your puppy when your schedule lightens up a bit. Just my two cents...
Emilie

[Michael Romanos]

You just can't keep a little Corgi pup locked up in anything all day long and expect anything else but a bored, unhappy, stressed puppy who has toileted even though it is against their nature and will to want to foul their bedding etc and go in the vicinity of where they are locked in.

[Jespah]

Hi Kary,

Welcome.

I had both my first Corgis from 8 weeks old and was in a similar situation. If you make sure he is not drinking water after 8:00 PM, and he goes outside for a pee around 10:00, he should be able to hold it until the AM. The first thing you must do in the morning is pick him up from his crate - don't let those feet hit the floor and carry him outside for his first pee. Get him out for another pee and poop just after eating.
If you have the space, I think they are better off in a larger space with an area set aside for pee and poop - either with newspaper or pee pads. Essentially you have to train him to eliminate in one place inside, then teach him to go outside at the same time. First you house train then you house break. It's not the simplest way of doing things, but some of us have no choice due to our work hours. Both my dogs were fine and eventually learned to only go outside and to go every time we go outside. I took them out first thing until they were each a year old - by then their bladders were large enough to hold the pee until after they had eaten.

[sweetlychee]

I suggest a play pen. But a small puppy should not be locked up the entire day. They need constant supervision for they are still learning and growing. If you lock them up the entire day and then take care of them at night, it creates a lot of stress for them.

Please have your puppy be with someone until the corgi grows up old enough and trained.

A play pen provides more area to move and always give fresh water, food, toys, treats, and some form of entertainment.

Good luck!

[Karysmith78]

Let me add some information that was asked for me to post.

We feed him about 7am, and like I said he's out for an hour in the morning, so he can play a bit, and do some "business". Then he's in the crate for around 8-9 hours (I only have a half hour for a lunch break, and my husband works too far to come home every day), and then he gets fed again about 5:30. We take him outside several times in the evening, depending on if he's giving us the signal he has to go out or starts to go and and we take him out. The last time we take him out is about 10:45-11pm and then goes into his crate for the night. Sometimes we can't get him to go that last time we take him out...no matter how patient we are.

The past few days he's been a little better and hasn't been going in his crate but I think that putting him in a play pen during the day and crating him at night is going to be the best option right now. Thanks for all the help everyone!

[Fluffypants]

I would (and have done this with Jackie since we got her) have him sleep in his crate at night, and put him in a large ex-pen, or gate him into the kitchen, during the day.