CarterCollie

Yet more good advice from you all, and even if I thought it was the right thing to do i am much happier and more confident knowing your opinions too. It's already working, for Buddy and for us.

Right. Hello. We have seemingly solved the crate at night issue so that's brilliant. My wife doesn't work so is home for most of the day - the main reason we agreed to get Buddy - but she does have school journeys and errands to run taking her out for an hour or so max. Buddy isn't able to go out for walks for another 3 wks until he's had all his jabs. We have had a few messes on carpets and floor indoors, all perfectly fine and expected - he has free run of the garden whenever he wants. However yesterday he was left in the kitchen for 30 mins. In that time he did a massive poo on a puppy pad then looked to have walked it through repeatedly, rolled in it etc. He ended up having his first shower. He's done exactly the same this morning - we left him downstairs whilst getting the kids ready for school - came down to the same issue. No dog flap means he can't go out by himself. I do t want to use the crate as punishment at all - in fact it's very hard indeed to tell him off! Would you suggest him being shut in crate at all times when unsupervised for now? Or is this something we can swiftly teach him is out of order. And if so - how can you discipline a playful puppy? We would much rather give the dogs the run of the kitchen when we pop out with puppy pads down for them - but not come home to poo-mageddon...

Great replies guys, thank you. Gloria - that's a great tip. We do try to have individual time with each which is pretty easily done. However when we are all sat together, the little chihuahua/Jack Russell is very demanding! Any attention given to Buddy and she is there in your face. She's just started obedience classes so we should hopefully get that fixed because no way do I want my collie subordinate to a chihuahua !! Also proved the 'more than one wee required' theory several times now! But it's still going well - both sleeping in their own crates from 10pm to 5am, no mess and very few crying episodes, nearly a week of this now.

Update if you are interested. First night success!! Fed them at 6pm Water removed from 7.30pm Last trip outside with them at 10pm then both locked in their own crates, in the kitchen side by side. Went to bed 10.30pm and set an alarm to check on them at 2am. Snuck downstairs - no noise, so I thought I wouldn't risk it and just crashed on the couch. I was expecting to get woken up at any time so had rubbish sleep (not bothered) but it was only when our 4yr old boy came downstairs at 6am that I could hear that the Collie was awake - not crying just playing. Went in to kitchen to get a massive lovely greeting, straight outside for a wee. He did poo in the kitchen after though - I'll work on that separately - but all in all an overwhelming success - 8 HOURS in the crate, no crying, no mess. Thanks again for all your inputs it's making a difference here (so far - only night #1!)

One further question guys. If we sleep upstairs and the dogs are currently downstairs in the kitchen, would you suggest moving the crate upstairs with us at night? Will make the quick dash to the back door a longer one with stairs to negotiate. Or would you suggest me hitting the couch for the first few nights so I can hear them and act quickly. Want very much to adopt this whole 'let the dog wake me and act quickly' whilst it gets used to being shut in overnight, just working through the logistics!

This is all excellent, excellent advice. Thank you. And for the records - I'm a Mr Carter, not Mrs! We will start tonight and I'll update this post with progress should you be interested, but Im grateful to all who have commented!

Thanks for the replies guys. Buddy is almost 8 weeks and Penny is only 3 months so both puppies. Seems a shame to split them up at night though when they have formed such a bond over the last few days but I guess I'll try shutting them in their respective crates and checking every 2-3hrs tonight.

Hi all. New to the group. We picked up Buddy 4 days ago and he's incredible. Sleepy and playful in equal measures. We've got a large crate for buddy and a small crate for Penny, our Jackihuahua (Jack Russell/chihuahua - very small). However we leave the doors open at all times so they can go to sleep if tired, and buddy tends to just sleep on the floor so we carry him into the crate if this happens - now both dogs seem to like sleeping together in the big crate. At night we leave them in a kitchen diner with both crate doors open. Both go to the toilet outside in the day with occasional accidents which is fine and at night we put 4 puppy pads down. In the mornings there are always several poos and puddles, most on the mats but some not. I'm reading that a lot of you lock them in their respective crates at night. Makes sense to me, but with so much toiletting happening at night how can I do this? Should I set my alarm to let them out throughout the night? Appreciate any tips - dont want to set us up for a hard time by being too soft early on!