puppy- need crate training advice

We just got the cutest little 2.5 month old lab mix. Today is our first day with her... I'm very confused about crate training....

First off- she is not allowed outside for a couple months because she hasn't had all her shots yet. So, we are trying to train her on the wee wee pads.
She has already pee'd twice and pooped once in the crate.... what should we do?
Right now we have the crate in the kitchen and the kitchen gated off... She has full run of the kitchen and we keep the crate open. We feed her in the crate and close the crate behind her when she is eating...
Should we keep her more in the crate than out? when i take her out-- I should go straight to pee-pee and have her pee and then back in the crate?

Right now I have the ability to be home with her all day... so when should she be in the crate and when she should not... any advice would be helpful Thanks!!!

Re: puppy- need crate training advice

be sure you clean the crate thoroughly with a cleaner like nature's miracle. it gets rid of the enzymes left behind when they potty. these enzymes are what will attract them to a particular spot for pottying

make sure she is on empty before putting her in the crate.

puppies usually need to potty shortly after playing, eating and napping. about 10-15 min's after any of these activitities, lead the pup to the wee wee pad area, block them off and let them do the business. if you see her potty, praise lavishly and even give a small treat immediately after wards. this will help with the pee pad training.

as a general rule, puppies can hold it for the # months +1. so if your pup is 2.5 mos. i would expect her to need to pee every 3-4 hours.

another thing that helped us tremendously when house training was to be control freaks over the food and water. don't leave the food down. this helps you know when she's eaten and how much. and then anticipate when she may need to eliminate. pick up the water an hour before bedtime.

also observe her need-to-go signals. as a puppy my dog would sniff the ground, and seemingly disappear somewhere private, like down a hallway. we also took up all our rugs because they tend to like soft surfaces. if you catch her in the act, just pick her up and bring her to the pee pad. don't scold b/c you don't want them to learn peeing in front of you is bad. you just want them to learn the right place to go.

i hope some of these tips are helpful to you.

Re: puppy- need crate training advice

I took Maggie out to go to the bathroom from day 1. As long as you keep her on your property it's fine. I think wee wee pads are confusing for dogs and get them used to going in the house. Especially with a lab mix, those pee pees will be huge soon! I only put maggie in the crate when I left the house, to sleep, and when I showered. Otherwise, she had full run of the house when we were home and she was supervised.

Re: puppy- need crate training advice

i took my 3 month old pup out from day 1. we just went in our yard and a couple houses away. i was not a big fan of paper training and then outdoor training. i didnt want to confuse him.
he only went in his crate when we went out. oh wait in the beginning he slept in his crate at night as well until he was fully trained to go out. we would take him out about every 3 hours so he he got the hint to pee outside and brought treats out w/ me and he got it right away. we also trained him to ring a bell when he had to go out. it hung on the door knob and when we went out for walks we rang it and then he began to ring it himself. after a while we got rid of bell b/c he just waited by door..... it worked well for us

Re: puppy- need crate training advice

We never put his food or water in his crate. His crate was for sleeping or being home alone.
we got him at 8 weeks and the vet said he could could in our backyard as long as there hadn't been any dogs there for 2 years.
He came to us paper trained so in his gated off area there would be news paper and I slowly started to decrease the paper size so he would go in the same spot every time. If he missed the paper I would increase the area b/c he wasn't ready and then mabey a few days later take the paper away again. I also would bring him outside constantly. I actually put newspaper outside so he would understand to go there. He picked it up very quickly.
from what I understand if they have an accident in the crate they were either left too long or the crate is too big for the dog. They usually don't make where they sleep.

Re: puppy- need crate training advice

i kind of agree with PP on bringing the dog right outside if you can. will make complete potty training that much faster!

Re: puppy- need crate training advice

Thank you all for your advice.

Re: puppy- need crate training advice