Hi, I am new to this site and a new boxer owner. My hubby surprized me with a new puppu for my B-day. the puppy was brought out to him, he didn't see where they "lived". Since day one, Maggie has use her crate as a toilet...we assume she was kept with her mom/litter mates in a closed crate and not taught to keep her bed clean. I assume this from reading threads from this site re: this. She is 12 weeks old if left in crate for 2 hr.s she will pee 4 times on her bed She just did this while we were at church. I talked to the Vet. , she suggested we put her in a small room, crate door open and papers on the floor. (We must leave her 4 hrs in am and 4hrs in afternoon as we both work). She comes out of her crate to use the paper and doesn't dirty her crate. Am I doing this right? Thanks in advance for any suggestions.
New Boxer Puppy
- Thread starter nurse200
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VTbxrFan
Boxer Insane
Welcome! The fact that your husband didn't see the conditions the puppy lived in are certainly an indication that something wasn't right. It's worth trying partitioning off the crate so she only has a small area, but that might not work if she is just used to being in dirty conditions - her natural tendency to want to avoid that might have already been broken.
Others might disagree with me, but I personally think that if your vet's suggestion is working and she's using the papers, continue with that. Just be aware that it will make it more difficult to completely housetrain her if she's first trained to papers. It can be done, though, and it's often the only option available to people who can't take a puppy outside every couple of hours. The rule of thumb is that puppies should be able to "hold it" for the number of hours that is their age in months plus one - so a three month old puppy typically can last 4 hours. According to that guideline, she should be getting to a point where she can last the four hours that you leave her, but of course each puppy is unique and there is no guarantee that she'll follow that rule - particularly if she has already gotten accustomed to going in her crate.
If her beginning wasn't so great, you might have to work a little harder on housetraining her (and other issues that might come up), but be patient and give her time to learn and she can still be a great pet.
Others might disagree with me, but I personally think that if your vet's suggestion is working and she's using the papers, continue with that. Just be aware that it will make it more difficult to completely housetrain her if she's first trained to papers. It can be done, though, and it's often the only option available to people who can't take a puppy outside every couple of hours. The rule of thumb is that puppies should be able to "hold it" for the number of hours that is their age in months plus one - so a three month old puppy typically can last 4 hours. According to that guideline, she should be getting to a point where she can last the four hours that you leave her, but of course each puppy is unique and there is no guarantee that she'll follow that rule - particularly if she has already gotten accustomed to going in her crate.
If her beginning wasn't so great, you might have to work a little harder on housetraining her (and other issues that might come up), but be patient and give her time to learn and she can still be a great pet.
Thanks to everyone's response,We live in northwest TN approx 40 NW of Jackson. I keep Maggie attached to me via leash when I' m home except for bedtime sleeping. She understands "Maggie peepee and Maggie poopoo" when we go outside. She rarely goes in the house because I take her out about every 40 min., reward, praise... She has been in the bathroom with crate open and papers on the floor for 4 days (when we're not home) with no accidents in the crate. I'm hoping she will want to keep her crate clean after a while and maybe try again in 1-2 months? The crate I'm using is partitioned off with room to stand up, turn around, lie down. The first crate I used was even smaller.
You stated you have a bed in your puppy's crate. My boxer would use the bathroom in his crate everytime we put his bed in there. However, since we have removed the bed he has not messed in his crate any more. I think the sent of his urine being on the bed may have been what was causing him to use the bathroom in there as opposed to holding it like he did prior to us putting the bed in. Now, his bed stays in the kitchen where he lays while I cook. He does not mess on it but he's not on it for a long period of time either. Just a suggestion that may help.
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