Crate trained by night #3?! or was I just lucky?

[Fkennedy]

So last night I accidentally found out that Lincoln could hold it for 8 hours.

He sleeps in his crate in our bedroom. On night #1, he did not like the crate. He was whining for a little bit but then he went to sleep. He woke us up every 1.5 hours or so. We took him out to the potty spot every time he is up, sometime he goes, sometime he doesn't.

On night#2, we played with him a bunch to wear him out. Walk, flirting pole, train,... He was a tired puppy. We use crate game to get him in. He wasn't resisting as much and whine a lot less. I set up an alarm every 2 hours to try to establish some schedule. What I learned was that my alarm would sound before he wake us up. I actually had to wake him up to go potty. There were 4 breaks that night and he went at EVERY break.

Now night#3, we played with him the same again but this time he is really really tired. He fell asleep on my husband foot while its still in his mouth if you can imagine. My husband grab a piece of small treat and a clicker about to play crate game with him. No need. Lincoln follow him to the bedroom and walk right into the crate and go to sleep. This night hubby told me that instead of me setting schedule for Linc, let him be the one telling us when he wants to go. So I did. We took him out at 9 right before he got in the crate. We went to sleep. I woke up at 5 in the morning and realize I didn't get up at all last night. I whisper my husband if he took him out he said no he thought I did. So we checked on Lincoln and he just look at us back. I open the crate door saying "go potty?" he turn up side down with his feet up in the air like he wants to play with me instead of rushing out like he did the last couple of nights. I carried him out to the potty spot and almost immediately he did both. And boy that was a pile of poo lol

So was I just lucky that he was tired? I read that at this age (8 weeks) he can only hold up to 3 hours max. Or he actually can sleep that long without a break?

[Fkennedy]

Oh and as far as training goes, he learned how to come, sit, stay, and paw. Clicker was a big help. I can see that he associate the clicker sound with treats now. He only listen when there are no distraction though. If there is distraction, he's done. In fact, I was training him with the treats that he loves. When my husband came home, Lincoln just want to follow him around the house. Even though he knows I have goody to offer. He just doesn't care anymore lol.

Is this also normal? GSD is smart!

[GoSailGo]

It was about the same with my puppy and I was so worried the first few nights because he could hold it for a crazy amount of time. Every book I had read told me he wouldn't be able to hold it more than a few hours. The first night I woke him up about 3 times and had to drag him out of his crate each time...I took him outside and waited...waited....waited more...he just stared at me like I was an idiot, walked over to me feet, lay on them and went back to sleep without going potty. I kept this up for two nights and finally gave up and let him sleep the full 8 hours. He never changed either (he's now 17 weeks old)...just loves his sleep. He would sleep for much longer if I didn't have to get up for work. I had to wait for a few weeks to try and teach mine a lot because all I could get him to do was flop over. He is very smart when he's got energy though.

[mego]

Same with me. I posted a thread about this a few weeks ago hehe, she's slept through the night ever since

[Fkennedy]

So that means the crate is definitely working then? He did so good at night but during the day he is still terrible. There were like 3 accidents today. I want to crate him during the day too even though I work from home because I will eventually go back to work in the office from 8 to 5. I just don't know how to start though. I don't want him to "go" inside the crate and become used to it.

How do you crate train during the day?

[jocoyn]

Oh gosh it is EASY if you are home. If you are not watching him, put him in his crate and take him out every two hours for a potty trip, then some play time, then pop him back out again before putting him up (excercise can get things moving). I telecommute and Beau never had an accident in the house that way. Then you can let him be in his pen for a little bit AFTER he goes outside because he will be empty...

[mego]

I don't think he will go in the crate if he doesn't at night!!
If he's not used to the crate, Give lots of good treats and let him walk in and out of the crate while you're home and just make it an awesome place, work up to locking him in there with you in the room for literally like 1 minute or 2, and then a few minutes with you not in the room (unless the crate is by you) eventually when it's ready for nap times and he's used to it you can just stick him in the crate for a few hours and work. A lot of times I put mine in the crate and sit next to the crate for like 10 minutes on my bed til she falls asleep, then I leave the room and go do my stuff. She still sometimes fusses when she doesn't feel like nap time but I need her to nap, but usually that relaxes her

Since I go to school, mine gets crated in usually ~3 2-hour blocks during the day, I play with her between each block so she's tired and then she naps or chews in her crate. she has NEVER peed in the crate. Sometimes during the day she has to stay in there for 4 hours if I have to do something, but she doesn't mind. If she's NOT tired, I know she'll be bothered by being confined so she ONLY gets bully sticks in the crate while I'm at home so I can listen to supervise, and her crate is her only place she gets Kongs with food. She looks forward to that stuff, and I feed her all her meals in her crate w/o the door locked, I sneakily leave the room whlie she eats so she's like "Oh, Ive been alone? that wasnt so bad"

[Fkennedy]

Originally Posted by jocoyn

Oh gosh it is EASY if you are home. If you are not watching him, put him in his crate and take him out every two hours for a potty trip, then some play time, then pop him back out again before putting him up (excercise can get things moving). I telecommute and Beau never had an accident in the house that way. Then you can let him be in his pen for a little bit AFTER he goes outside because he will be empty...

OK and then just increase the time along with him growing up? I want to reach 4 hours holding capacity soon so when I go back to the office I can come home at lunch and let him out.

[jocoyn]

Yes. I think they say an hour for every month of age (holding capacity) though they can go longer at night (think about it - do YOU go without going 8 hours during the daytime? - sleep slows down urine production)

[Fkennedy]

Originally Posted by jocoyn

Yes. I think they say an hour for every month of age (holding capacity) though they can go longer at night (think about it - do YOU go without going 8 hours during the daytime? - sleep slows down urine production)

But I won't have to depend on the crate forever right? I mean at some point down the road he will learn to hold it without being in the crate? I want to try bell method too. How can I build that into crate training?