am I being a bad mommy? (very long!) UPDATED!

here is the situation...we have had our puppy for a week and he is currently 9 weeks old. We have him in a crate right now since we work during the day. He is a shih tzu and is currently only maybe 3 lbs so he is very tiny.
He is in a large crate, big enough that I was able to put his bed towards the back and newspaper in the front in case he has to go during the day. (My DH & I come home for lunch every day and my father comes to the house to check on him mid-morning and sometimes mid-afternoon) so he is never alone for more then 3-4 hours at at a time. He has been going to the bathroom while he is alone in the crate which is probably because he has so much room in there to have a seperate bathroom area/bed area....so after speaking with some friends who came to visit him we have decided to divide the cage in half, remove his bed and leave him just on newspaper (to avoid him relieving himself in the cage). So now he has half the size area he had without his bed....and he seems pretty comfortable. Was this the right thing to do? Ultimately I want to train him to go just outside but he hasn't had all of his shots yet so full outside training has to wait. Any advice is welcome to make sure that everyone is happy all around!

Thank you!

ETA: Thank you all for your advice! When I went home for lunch I got rid of the paper and gave him back his bed, which takes up the whole area that he has alotted with the divided cage. We will see what happens with I get home from work tonight!!

Message edited 3/7/2008 1:59:15 PM.

Re: am I being a bad mommy? (very long!)

Keep the cage divided, but keep the bed, not the paper. only give food and water in the morning when you get up and make sure puppy goes on a wee wee pad right by the door (so when he can go out you move the pad outside, but he is used to going by the door to go) When he gets visits have them let him go on the pad and then play. Make sure noone puts him in the cage until he has gone to the bathroom. Dogs will avooid going where they sleep, so it should work! Good luck!

Re: am I being a bad mommy? (very long!)

You absolutly did the right thing. You want the dog to have enough room to stand up, lay down and turn around. I personally would not put newspaper in there. I put a blanket in there with porter and he peed all over it every day. So i stopped putting a blanket in there and he stopped peeing in the cage.

If you own your own home you can take him out in the backyard just to go to the bathroom. Make sure he does not eat anything and take him to only one spot in the yard so you can start the outside training process.

Message edited 3/7/2008 12:14:20 PM.

Re: am I being a bad mommy? (very long!)

That was the right thing to do. I would remove the newspaper and put a bed or towels instead though.

Re: am I being a bad mommy? (very long!) UPDATED!

I agree with the APs you most certainly did the right thing, especially with replacing the newspaper for the bed.

Trust me, my DH was REALLY against using a crate (his family NEVER used one before) and so now FINALY I have him on board with using it to train our 4 month old pup.

He's doing the best hes ever done and all we keep in it is 2 of his chew toys. He hasn't had an accident in it yet.