crate training
Hi! This might just be a general doggie question, but I've never had a dog before so I'm not sure. We have an 11 week old Boston and he is getting better at going to the bathroom outdoors, but still has multiple accidents indoors (which is to be expected). While we're at work (between 7am and 3pm) and at night (between 9:30 and 5am) we keep him in a small area in the kitchen with his bed and puppy pads. 90% of the time, he will pee on the pads so that's not really a problem. We also have a crate but we have not started to crate train him because I was told puppies can't hold their bladders until they are 12 weeks old anyway. Right now, we just feed him in there so that he will get used to it.
Now that it's snowing and he doesn't like being outside to go to the bathroom, he's going on the floors inside a lot more and we'd really like to start the housebreaking process. I was told that crate training was the way to go. The only problem is that I feel bad moving him from his kitchen pen to the crate. He had some bad seperation anxiety issues at first and is getting much better and I'm afraid that putting him in the crate will really freak him out. The crate is maybe half the size of his area in the kitchen, but we got it too big (36 inches) and we will probably have to close part of it off. We probably should have done that from the start (we've had him for almost two weeks now).
Does anyone have any suggestions? Maybe keep him in the crate during the day but put him in the kitchen at night until he gets used to the crate and then use it all the time?
Thank you!
Here is a picture of our little guy:
Now that it's snowing and he doesn't like being outside to go to the bathroom, he's going on the floors inside a lot more and we'd really like to start the housebreaking process. I was told that crate training was the way to go. The only problem is that I feel bad moving him from his kitchen pen to the crate. He had some bad seperation anxiety issues at first and is getting much better and I'm afraid that putting him in the crate will really freak him out. The crate is maybe half the size of his area in the kitchen, but we got it too big (36 inches) and we will probably have to close part of it off. We probably should have done that from the start (we've had him for almost two weeks now).
Does anyone have any suggestions? Maybe keep him in the crate during the day but put him in the kitchen at night until he gets used to the crate and then use it all the time?
Thank you!
Here is a picture of our little guy: