Crate Training a puppy - help!

We recently added a new addition to our family - an (almost) 5 month old male Yorkie-Poo named Benji :) He is the sweetest little mush, gets along great (so far) with Casey and my DS. Although I really have to watch DS with him, he is used to playing rough with 85 lb Casey. We actually have been thinking of getting a 2nd dog for a long time, and Casey seemed lonely so..now we have Benji :)

It's been so long since I crate trained a dog, and Casey was no joke, house broken within a week. (Casey is a golden retriever). My DH and I both work FT but we work close to home, so we've been crating Benji and taking turns coming home at lunch to let him out and let him run in the yard. In the crate itself, I originally had towels, but I really do not have the time or patience to wash towels daily on top of all my other laundry. I don't want to put down newspaper, he will shred it. I bought wee-wee pads which are working out better but he shredded them a little too (I have chew toys in there for him). He's not bad with peeing - he typically knows to go in the yard, but for some reason, he seems to always poop in the crate. But it's not like little nuggets (sorry) - it looks like it splatters (sorry to be gross) - all over the wee-wee pads. He of course starts whining and barking the minute we crate him so I am thinking he has nervous poop? He also hops all over the crate so the wee-wee pads get all crunched up and I have to hose down the crate pan daily. He sleeps in our bedroom at night in his own doggie bed, and so far we've been pretty lucky, he's good overnight.

So I guess I have a few questions:

What's the best thing to put in the crate with the dog?
Is crate training for small dogs different? (We have him in a giant crate that we used for Casey - he has a lot of room - should it be smaller?)
If you had a yorkie-poo or a similar dog, how long did it take to crate train him / her?

He's very good when we are home, a lot of times he goes and lays next to Casey. I'm just nervous b/c he is not fully trained yet and also - he's a puppy - he chews!!!

Thanks for any advice....

Re: Crate Training a puppy - help!

you MUST make the crate smaller. If it is big enough for a Golden you either need a new smaller crate or you will need to make it a quarter of its size.

Re: Crate Training a puppy - help!

Congrats on the new addition! The crate should definitely be smaller. You can probably just buy a divider at PetCo or something because those crates are pricey! As for the weeweepad, I wouldn't put it down at all. It sounds like it's more of a hassle than it's worth and really your dog shouldn't be going in the crate anyway. You said in your post you work full time but close to home. It would be best if you or your DH could stop in on a lunch break and take him out for a walk until he's a little older and has better bladder control. HTH!

Re: Crate Training a puppy - help!

Thanks ladies! We have a smaller crate and I put him in that this morning. I went to go put my DS in the car and then ran back in to get my bags and you know what...he escaped! LOL. I put him back in and locked it securely. I feel so bad because he whines and yelps when we leave and I don't want him to get hurt trying to get out of the crate. I'll go back this afternoon to let him out. I have to work on creating a better "environment" associated with the crate, because we only really put him in there when we go out. And he's smart enough to realize that now.

Re: Crate Training a puppy - help!

My dog learned to escape her crate, too, but not until she was old enough to not need it anymore. So we don't use it anymore. When we first got her, she was our second dog. Our first dog had a little bit of food aggression with other dogs so we'd feed our second dog in the crate. I think because of this, it never had a negative connotation. It was her "room". If we gave her a treat or a toy, she'd run and take it into her crate. If she was bad, she'd run into her crate and pout about it (even if she didn't get caught! ). I actually think she kinda misses it now! She still insists on being fed in the spot where her crate used to be. lol! Maybe feeding your new pup in there will help him associate it with good things! Just a thought!