New Puppy...Questions

[AFWife]

We got her from the shelter so she's used to being in a crate...no crate anxiety. She's a little over 2mo. (10 weeks they think)

I still have a few questions. 

1) We feed her in the crate. She wants to stand half in and half out of the crate to eat. I've been picking up her back half and setting her in while saying "place" (the command we want to use to get her to go to the crate) 

2) Today she stopped wanting to go in. I want her to get used to napping in it. She whines for a bit when I put her in (5-10mins) but settles down and sleeps. We have her in there at night too...is that okay?

3) She doesn't wake us up to take her to potty at night until she's peed a couple of times in the crate. Should we be setting alarms and making her or will she get it?

4) How long until the play biting is done? She nipped my toddler today because he got down on her level and she was in extreme play mode.

5) Should I be shutting the door on the crate when she's in it?

[starrlamia]

Originally Posted by AFWife 

We got her from the shelter so she's used to being in a crate...no crate anxiety. She's a little over 2mo. (10 weeks they think)

I still have a few questions. 

1) We feed her in the crate. She wants to stand half in and half out of the crate to eat. I've been picking up her back half and setting her in while saying "place" (the command we want to use to get her to go to the crate) 

Just dont put the food down until she is fully inside the crate, i would just stand and wait.

2) Today she stopped wanting to go in. I want her to get used to napping in it. She whines for a bit when I put her in (5-10mins) but settles down and sleeps. We have her in there at night too...is that okay?

yes, just ignore her when she whines, do not give her any attention at all. Too boost her view of the crate give her chews and treats in there. Any special items like bones, stuffed kongs etc = eating in the crate.

3) She doesn't wake us up to take her to potty at night until she's peed a couple of times in the crate. Should we be setting alarms and making her or will she get it?

Absolutely, you wouldnt expect a toddler who is potty training to do it herself at first, set an alarm and take her out.

4) How long until the play biting is done? She nipped my toddler today because he got down on her level and she was in extreme play mode.

depends on the dog, what is very very important is to be consistent in your teaching of bite inhibition, and especially around your toddler learn her play queues and you will be able to see her becoming over aroused, i would seperate them at this point, maybe take them both outside, throw a ball for the puppy to get that energy out.

5) Should I be shutting the door on the crate when she's in it?

if she is eating or has treats then yes, if she is just sleeping in it without you telling her too then I wouldnt. My dogs go in and out of their crates during the day to nap, its their choice so I leave the door open, however if they are eating I close the door.

[tinuviel_k]

 1) We feed her in the crate. She wants to stand half in and half out of the crate to eat. I've been picking up her back half and setting her in while saying "place" (the command we want to use to get her to go to the crate

If you want her to eat in the crate and don't want her half-in-half-out then I would put the food in there with her and close the door until she is used to eating that way.

2) Today she stopped wanting to go in. I want her to get used to napping in it. She whines for a bit when I put her in (5-10mins) but settles down and sleeps. We have her in there at night too...is that okay?

That is okay. As long as she is not in acute distress it is okay to hold firm boundries with the crate training and naps. Use lots of positive reinforcement to get her to go in the crate on her own, and make the crate as pleasant a place as possible for her to be. We fed treats in the crate, gave her treats for going in on her own, kept interesting "crate only" toys and chews that we would rotate in and out of the crate, etc.

3) She doesn't wake us up to take her to potty at night until she's peed a couple of times in the crate. Should we be setting alarms and making her or will she get it?

What size is the crate? For potty training purposes it should be just big enough for her to stand up, turn around, and lie down comfortably in it. Any bigger and a puppy is more likely to potty in her crate. I had a large crate for my pup (she was 8 lbs when I brought her home, and is 70 lbs now) but it had a divider so that the crate could start small and grow with her.
If the crate is the proper size and she is still pottying in her crate at night then setting an alarm every three or four hours and taking her out is a good idea. You really do not want her getting the idea that her crate is the place to potty, and it might take some real work for a couple of months to break the habit. As she gets older and has more control over her bladder you will be able to wake less often, and hopefully she will let you know when she needs to go out.

4) How long until the play biting is done? She nipped my toddler today because he got down on her level and she was in extreme play mode.

You've got a while till the play biting is over! It is so hard with little kids because they really want to play with the puppy, but puppies are made to wrestle and play with their teeth. 100% supervision is key in the stage, as is redirecting the puppy, giving her plenty of toys to bite, chew and mouth during play time.
You should work with you pup on developing a soft mouth. When the puppy play bites you give an abrupt, high pitched "YELP" and quite playing immediately. This is puppy language for "you play too hard!" She will eventually learn to hold her bite (bite inhibition), which is incredibly important. With our pup I trained my daughter to yelp EVERY time she was mouthed. Merlow learned (after a few months of repetition) that mouthing kids is NEVER okay.
For my husband and I we tolerated a certain pressure of mouthing before yelping, and as she got older we responded to lighter and lighter pressure, until finally we permitted no teeth on skin whatsoever. This trained our dog to respond to us with lighter and lighter tooth pressure, and she really knows how to hold her bite. Puppies learn this from playing with each other, but unless you have more than one puppy it falls on the humans to teach the skill.

5) Should I be shutting the door on the crate when she's in it?

If you need her to be in the crate while you are doing something else and cannot directly supervise her, then yes, close the door. My pup had her crate closed during naps, at night, when I was in another room and couldn't take her with me, and when she was being too wild with our daughter and needed to calm down. As she gets much older and is fully house trained (no more pottying inside, no eating shoes and furniture, good people manners) then the door can stay open more often. In the mean time make the crate a comfy place to be: soft, warm, with a good number of interesting treats and chews and toys that you can rotate and keep her happy and interested in.

Have fun with your new pup!

[AFWife]

I think part of the pottying in the crate comes from her time in the shelter...because she got used to it being okay. 

How do I train my TODDLER to stop agitating her? He goes running around the room with his hand dangling ON PURPOSE or rolls on the floor in front of her...and of course she play bites him. He gets upset at ME when I tell him not to do it. He's almost 3 so he's capable of understanding. And right now I have her in the crate because they were both getting too riled up. He's eating a hotdog and keeps throwing it around on to the floor...he didn't start that until we got the dog. I don't get it.

[starrlamia]

what do you do when your toddler acts that way?

can you let her play bite with him? im sure one hard enough bite and he wont do it anymore (probably not a popular opinion lol)

I would probably to time outs (if you do them) when he acts that way, its the same as the puppy play bititng, take away all fun and attention and after a while it isnt worth doing anymore.

[AFWife]

It's almost like he LIKES being bitten...he purposefully provokes it and then sits and giggles while she chews on his hand. It's driving me crazy.

[starrlamia]

i would seperate him out of the scenario when he does that

[AFWife]

Originally Posted by starrlamia 

i would seperate him out of the scenario when he does that

I have been. I told him that when he purposefully makes her bite HE will get the time-out...he's slowly understanding.

Another issue: She was napping (we have the crate in the living room) and had only been asleep a few mins when my toddler started playing and squealed really loudly. That, of course, jolted her awake and she immediately started whining. I decided we (the humans) needed to come upstairs to play and let her calm down and, hopefully, nap. She whined for a good while...but I made the right call right? She's still a baby and needs to nap...

[starrlamia]

puppies do need to nap, but they are pretty good about self regulating, if they are tired they wil pass out (usually in the most ridiculous and adorable positions). I wouldnt be too worried about forcing her to nap, she probably wakes up and whines because something is going on and she cant investigate what it is. You could try leaving the crate door open when she naps, she may come out to see whats going on and go back to sleep. Either way isnt going to hurt her.

(ps Im way more well knowledged on dealing with dogs then kids lol)

[AFWife]

She hasn't been self-regulating...yesterday she went from sleepy looking to WILD in seconds. All of a sudden she was running like mad and biting everyone...kind of like my toddler acts when he's exhausted (we call it "the last push before sleep") so I crated her. She whined a few mins and then passed out cold. 

[tinuviel_k]

My pup wasn't really able to self regulate either. Setimes it is just TOO fun when the kids are getting wild and crazy! I'm sure that if left to her own divides she would have eventually napped all o her own, but first she'd get frantic and manic and a little too wild with the kiddo, so I learned to notice her "I'm tiered" signals and then had an enforced nap in a quiet place in her crate. It worked well for us.

[AFWife]

Originally Posted by tinuviel_k 

My pup wasn't really able to self regulate either. Setimes it is just TOO fun when the kids are getting wild and crazy! I'm sure that if left to her own divides she would have eventually napped all o her own, but first she'd get frantic and manic and a little too wild with the kiddo, so I learned to notice her "I'm tiered" signals and then had an enforced nap in a quiet place in her crate. It worked well for us.

EXACTLY THIS. When she gets tired she get snappy with everyone (including me). Yesterday she got me GOOD a few times (those needle like puppy teeth...OUCH) so I took her out to potty (she chewed on the leash the whole time and never went) and put her in the crate with her "crate chew" (rawhide). She whined about 2mins and laid down to chew her rawhide and the next time I looked she was asleep. I think it's like kids don't learn to self regulate for awhile...