Doggy door

[Chocolate Lab]

Hello,

I am in the process of getting a doggy door in my house. I wanted to know if anyone has any suggestions on how to train my puppy to use the door. I can't come home everyday to let him out of his crate to go potty outside and I thought of putting the crate next to the doggy door where he can go outside and potty hoping that he can come back inside. Will this be a good idea? my puppy is 12 weeks old.
Also does anybody have any suggestions on how to get my puppy to go inside his crate on his own?

Thank you

[calgal]

One person on one side with some treats and one on the other with treats. You push the puppy thru and the other person praises and gives a tiny treat. Then they push puppy thru and the other praises and gives a tiny treat. Do this for just a few times. That's all it will take. We have trained 14 fosters with this method and it's always worked like a charm.

[Chocolate Lab]

Thank you I will give that a try, that actually sounds like fun do you have any suggestions on how to get him to go inside his crate on his own?

[fireworksinjuly]

you do have a fenced in yard right? I just want to make sure.

I thought of putting the crate next to the doggy door where he can go outside and potty hoping that he can come back inside.

do you mean put the crate on the inside of the door so he can only go outside and in the crate?
outside|\[crate]
or just next to the doggy door.

[Chocolate Lab]

yes I do have a fenced backyard. you are right I was thinking of putting the crate on the inside of the doggy door where he can only go outside and when he comes back in the crate is the only way he can go. I am not sure if it work I believe someone at the petstore gave me this idea.
Please let me know if this makes more sense

[fireworksinjuly]

I dont think a puppy should have that much unsupervised freedom when it comes to going in and out of the house. puppies can get in a lot of trouble outside alone, where they can end up very sick or injured.
Puppies also need a schedual to train better at going to the bathroom. With that Kind of freedom hed expect it all the time, and if he didnt get it hed go in the house.

if you have to leave him alone all day why not find someone in the neighborhood or a family member to let him out in the middle of the day. Im sure with summer fast approaching a local trustable kid would love to make a few dollars a week and play with a cute puppy.

[Chocolate Lab]

Thank you for the advice right now we are leaving him in his crate and when my husband gets home in the afternoon he takes him out. The puppy has been really good at not going potty in the crate. I went home for lunch today and I noticed that the puppy was barking a lot and when I put him back in the crate he started barking non-stop. I felt really sad.
I am not sure if this is the right forum to ask this question but do you have any advice on getting the puppy to go inside the crate on his own? right not I kind have to push him. (if this is not the right forum I will go to the training one)

Thank you

[calgal]

There are many books out on crate training, plus you can get the information right on the computer. I do know his crate has to be made a fun place to be for him and NEVER for punishment. I just left Zadas crate door open and put toys and chews inside till she was comfortable going in and out of it. Please don't let your puppy go in and out the doggie door unsupervised.

[Barrett]

Perhaps you could by an X-Pen (or two)and put it up around the outside of the door. That way he doesn't have full run of the yard, has enough space to play and use the bathroom. The X-Pen comes with stakes to anchor the pen into the ground so he can't tip it over.

[Novel]

I always treat when the dog goes in the crate, even long after they willingly go in their crate. At 12 weeks, you should be able to say "(Puppy's name) kennel" or crate. or whatever woed you're using. Show him the treat and put it in the kennel. He'll go in for the treat and praise him when he does. It will take no time at all for the puppy to go in expecting a treat, don't disappoint him!

[Cassiepeia]

I agree with what Barrett said. Great idea.
Training it to go through the dog door...Calgal's way is great. My mother actually used pretty much the same method but held the door slightly open the first few times so the dog could actually stick her head through without having to push the door much. She soon realised that it wasn't much effort to use the door.

Cass.