# Puppeepoopalace, potty training- long



## careng (Nov 1, 2017)

Has anyone used this? If so what was your experience? I just ordered it because I am struggling with where to keep my 16 week old puppy Smokey when I am not home (I work fulltime) and at night. I do have people coming in and walking and playing with him 2 to 3 times per day when I am not here. His original owners worked with my friends neighbor who had gotten them for there 13 y/o daughter. After 4 days realized that they knew nothing about puppies, daughter wasn't taking care of him (not a surprise) and decided to give him away. My friend sent me a picture of him (so adorable) with a note saying the above and that they wanted him out of the house that day or the next. He is a havanese Shih Tzu mix. I immediately said I would take him. We had to put down our Bichon who we had for 15 years last year and I have been feeling his loss and I have an 11 y/o Havanese Winne. Anyway he came to me with a 30" crate. First night I got him at 9 pm so I didn't really have time to introduce him slowly to the crate. I have no idea what they were doing in his previous home as I had never met them. I put a divider in the crate to make it smaller and he peed and pooped in it. After 2 days I got a smaller travel crate and put him in there. He continued to pee in it. I brought in a trainer and she suggested an ex-pen so I got one 36" high because he likes to jump. He has been in that for the last 2 weeks during the day and in the small travel crate at night. 

This past weekend he started pooping at night in the travel crate. On Saturday I had left him home for a few hours in the ex-pen and had taken my other dog, Winnie to a friends house for a few hurs, 3 at most. When we came home the ex-pen was empty with the gate closed, and there next to me appeared Smokey, wagging his little tail. The next day I went out with a friend for a few hours and both dogs were home, Smokey in the ex pen and Winnie confined via a gate in the same general area-kitchen family room combo. I but a small bungee cord over the gate so he couldn't open it because I had wondered if he had managed to open it just a little and squeeze out. He was fine that day, that night, 2 am he pooped in his crate so after cleaning him and the crate I took him downstairs to the ex-pen and put him in and went back upstairs. I left the tv on for him and went back up to bed, he did bark for quite awhile but eventually quieted down. When I came down staris in the morning he was there to greet me happily wagging his tail and looking lovingly up at me. He had gotten out again. That day he got out twice when I was at work and I decided it just wasn't safe for him to jump out so he is back in the big crate with a bed on one side and paper on the other. He has pooped on the other side of the crate but has peed on his bed. I am now at a loss. I ordered this and am hoping this helps. Any other thoughts?
Picture is the first I saw of my little guy. I got him on 9/28/17, he was born 7/4/17
Thanks


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## jay_39 (Sep 1, 2017)

Hi Caren, Congrats on your little guy Smokey! He's such a cutie! I'm so sorry you're having so much trouble with the escaping and potty training, though. I don't have my puppy yet so I can only provide advice based on everything I've read here on the forum on potty training. If he is relieving himself in his crate, it's possible he is being left alone too long without having the opportunity to relieve himself in an appropriate place--i.e., on a pee pad or outside. He's still kind of young, so maybe he can't hold it as long as you might be expecting him to? Puppies have to be given the opportunity to go to the bathroom where you want them to. If they have to go in the middle of the night, you'd have to hear their signals. Is his crate not near you in the bedroom where you could hear him stirring or signalling in some way that he has to go? If it is, and he's just not making any noise and you're waking up to a mess, then I wonder if you have to get up at least once in the night to let him out to go so he doesn't go in his crate. He probably doesn't want to relieve himself in his crate but may not have a choice if he's not let out and put on a pee pad or taken outside--whichever you're wanting him to do. Definitely read up more here on potty training here on the forum--there's a wealth of info! A few things you generally have to do to make it a success: 1) giving him many opportunities to go (especially after eating or drinking--how long after either depends on his age--others may be able to advise here) and putting him where you want him to go; 2) once you take him to his bathroom place, using a key word to signal you want him to go, like "get busy" or "go potty" or "hurry up"; and then 3) a treat and LOTS of praise when he does it. You'll definitely want him to relieve himself before bed, and if he's still pooping in the middle of the night, you may be feeding him too late--I'm not sure.

If you have to leave him in a crate during the day because he's such a little Houdini, the Puppeepoopalace looks like it might be a good idea--I checked out the website. Since it's a pee-pad system, and consistency with potty training is important, then my best advice would be to stick to indoor housetraining for now (meaning, use a pee pad at nighttime when you're letting him out of his crate to relieve himself). Those are the main things I can think of. I'm sure others here can chime in with first-hand experience and some really good/better advice and correct anything I've said if needed. Fingers crossed for you!


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## careng (Nov 1, 2017)

jay_39 said:


> Hi Caren, Congrats on your little guy Smokey! He's such a cutie! I'm so sorry you're having so much trouble with the escaping and potty training, though. I don't have my puppy yet so I can only provide advice based on everything I've read here on the forum on potty training. If he is relieving himself in his crate, it's possible he is being left alone too long without having the opportunity to relieve himself in an appropriate place--i.e., on a pee pad or outside. He's still kind of young, so maybe he can't hold it as long as you might be expecting him to? Puppies have to be given the opportunity to go to the bathroom where you want them to. If they have to go in the middle of the night, you'd have to hear their signals. Is his crate not near you in the bedroom where you could hear him stirring or signalling in some way that he has to go? If it is, and he's just not making any noise and you're waking up to a mess, then I wonder if you have to get up at least once in the night to let him out to go so he doesn't go in his crate. He probably doesn't want to relieve himself in his crate but may not have a choice if he's not let out and put on a pee pad or taken outside--whichever you're wanting him to do. Definitely read up more here on potty training here on the forum--there's a wealth of info! A few things you generally have to do to make it a success: 1) giving him many opportunities to go (especially after eating or drinking--how long after either depends on his age--others may be able to advise here) and putting him where you want him to go; 2) once you take him to his bathroom place, using a key word to signal you want him to go, like "get busy" or "go potty" or "hurry up"; and then 3) a treat and LOTS of praise when he does it. You'll definitely want him to relieve himself before bed, and if he's still pooping in the middle of the night, you may be feeding him too late--I'm not sure.
> 
> If you have to leave him in a crate during the day because he's such a little Houdini, the Puppeepoopalace looks like it might be a good idea--I checked out the website. Since it's a pee-pad system, and consistency with potty training is important, then my best advice would be to stick to indoor housetraining for now (meaning, use a pee pad at nighttime when you're letting him out of his crate to relieve himself). Those are the main things I can think of. I'm sure others here can chime in with first-hand experience and some really good/better advice and correct anything I've said if needed. Fingers crossed for you!


Thanks for that information. He hadn't been pooping at night until this past weekend. The vet saw "flea dirt" on him and had me give him capstar which is a pill that kills fleas on them in half an hour and they also had me start him on flea and tick drops too, that was on Friday, so I thought the pooping at night is related to the Capstar. It happened on Saturday night so Sunday night I took him outside at 2 am, he peed, did not poop, I walked him around a little and when I put him back inhis crate and I went to the bathroom, he was barking a lot which he always does. I went back to bed and he quieted down but was the squirming a little, and next thing I knew I could smell something and he had pooped. He has been very good about going outside and when he is not in the crate he almost always goes on the potty pad, maybe missed it 2 x per week. I think the Capstar started the middle of the night poop and I only gave it for 2 days not 3 because of it. I have had 2 other dogs that I got as puppies and i think each of them may have gone in the crate one time. It's a good thing he is so cute.


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## jay_39 (Sep 1, 2017)

I'm sorry--I thought him going in his crate was an on-going thing (at least the peeing part). Sorry for bombarding you with useless information (rolling my eyes at myself). I hope he's feeling better soon and that the palace you ordered is a good solution


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## Molly120213 (Jan 22, 2014)

I have used a crate to potty train my last two dogs. Most dogs do not like to potty where they sleep so it teaches them to hold it until you let them out to potty. Then they get some supervised freedom in the house. I feel like the Puppypoopalace goes against the purpose of the crate because the potty area is in the crate. I much prefer expen or gated off confinement with a separate sleep and potty area. You sound like you have people coming in several times a day which is good, and the puppy should be able to hold it. Do you know where the puppy came from originally? There may have been no potty training started with the breeder or it could be a pet shop situation where they are made to go in cages. This will make things more difficult but if you keep at it hopefully your puppy will catch on.


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## Melissa Brill (Feb 22, 2017)

*peeing/ pooping in crate*



careng said:


> Thanks for that information. He hadn't been pooping at night until this past weekend. The vet saw "flea dirt" on him and had me give him capstar which is a pill that kills fleas on them in half an hour and they also had me start him on flea and tick drops too, that was on Friday, so I thought the pooping at night is related to the Capstar. It happened on Saturday night so Sunday night I took him outside at 2 am, he peed, did not poop, I walked him around a little and when I put him back inhis crate and I went to the bathroom, he was barking a lot which he always does. I went back to bed and he quieted down but was the squirming a little, and next thing I knew I could smell something and he had pooped. He has been very good about going outside and when he is not in the crate he almost always goes on the potty pad, maybe missed it 2 x per week. I think the Capstar started the middle of the night poop and I only gave it for 2 days not 3 because of it. I have had 2 other dogs that I got as puppies and i think each of them may have gone in the crate one time. It's a good thing he is so cute.


When does he get his dinner (in relation to bedtime)? Could it be that he doesn't have enough time to process dinner and poop before bed? As for the peeing in his bed, how big is his bed - could it be that it's big enough that he can pee in one spot and still sleep on a dry spot? Do you or have you had a pee pad or some specific place for him to pee/ poop in his crate or expen? I know there are differing opinions about his, but if he's not letting you know that he needs to go out and pee at night, perhaps you could remove water early enough before bed that he's not peeing at night (though that doesn't help the peeing when you're away during the day).

Looking at the puppee poop palace that you posted, it would still seem like you would need to add some sort of specific pee pad or box so that he would use that instead of the whole area around his bowl/ water (I'm not sure that pooping next to his bowl is preferable to dogs than in their bed area especially if they can still curl up on a dry spot...) Did he come with a blanket or anything that he really likes that you can put on his bed to make it 'his' space - it could also be that you consider it his bed but for him it's just a slightly softer part of the crate (which also goes to the size. If it's big enough he can still curls up on a clean spot).

If the expen was working better, you can get covers for many of them to prevent him from climbing out.

No real advice here, but some questions to think about.


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## careng (Nov 1, 2017)

Melissa Brill said:


> When does he get his dinner (in relation to bedtime)? Could it be that he doesn't have enough time to process dinner and poop before bed? As for the peeing in his bed, how big is his bed - could it be that it's big enough that he can pee in one spot and still sleep on a dry spot? Do you or have you had a pee pad or some specific place for him to pee/ poop in his crate or expen? I know there are differing opinions about his, but if he's not letting you know that he needs to go out and pee at night, perhaps you could remove water early enough before bed that he's not peeing at night (though that doesn't help the peeing when you're away during the day).
> 
> Looking at the puppee poop palace that you posted, it would still seem like you would need to add some sort of specific pee pad or box so that he would use that instead of the whole area around his bowl/ water (I'm not sure that pooping next to his bowl is preferable to dogs than in their bed area especially if they can still curl up on a dry spot...) Did he come with a blanket or anything that he really likes that you can put on his bed to make it 'his' space - it could also be that you consider it his bed but for him it's just a slightly softer part of the crate (which also goes to the size. If it's big enough he can still curls up on a clean spot).
> 
> ...


Thanks for your response. I do not plan on putting the water or food in the crate when I am not there and certainly not on the pee pad. I think that many times when he has peed in the crate he is overexcited aand trying to get out. I am going to video tape him because he just gets so worked up. I have tried the blanket, the dog bed, my tshirt that I slept in but when he gets so agitated I think that is when he pees.

To address the previous comment, I am aware that we don't want them to eliminate where they sleep but he has peed even in the smallest crate. The last time he pooped in the small crate was the last night I had him sleep in it and he did poop in the front corner and really didn't even get it on himself.

He eats dinner around 5 or 5:30, I have someone come in that walks them, feeds them, plays and then takes them out again. I get home around 8-8:30, take them out first thing. We then play and hang out and I take them out again at like 10:30 pm> Last night he did poop on the last walk and didn't poop in the crate last night but he did pee. He peed on the paper, not on his blanket. He gets so worked up thought that everything is pushed around in the crate. Sigh. Trainer is coming again tonight to work with us. We are doing puppy Kindergarten and he is a star student, This will be his 3rd session with the private trainer at home trying to help us figure it out. I think it would have been a whole lot easier if I was home all day but unfortunately that is not an option.


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## Barbara Levy (Apr 22, 2016)

This was our set up. The crate is 6’x2’. I used it as an expen. It is hard to see but there is a divider than goes 3/4 of the way across so there is a clear demarcation between bed space and potty. When he was little I reversed the UGoDog and bedding so it was easier for him to get to the pad when he was out playing in the family room. He only did that for several weeks until he learned to run to the door instead to be let out (he much prefers outside potting). He never soiled his bed so I can't help with that.


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## Laurmann2000 (Sep 12, 2015)

Congratulations on your little guy. He's very cute. I don't have advice but just wanted to say congrats.


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## rorythehavanese (May 24, 2017)

I don't have any advice-I just wanted to say that he's adorable!


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