help training 6 month old rottie

[BELLEE]

My husband and I have built like a puppy pen for Belle. We both work 8 hours a day and we don't want Belle to be in her crate that long so we have her on our porch. We built a tall wall so she can't jump over it and we took the door off of the crate so she can go in and out. We also have in the corner a large piece of carpet with newspaper on it so she can pottie.She has alot of toys and she can look out the windows. The problem is when we get home she has taken the newspaper off of the carpet and played with it after she has pottied on it and she potties on the floor where she plays. Sometimes she takes her towel out of the crate (I have for her to lay on) and she puts it in her mess and potties in her crate. When we get home she stays in the house with us and she is perfect. I let her out to pottie and she goes. how can I teach her to leave the newspaper alone, and to only pottie on it. Sometimes she does not bother the paper and she potties on it. She is a very smart puppy. We want her to be a in house dog and she does well when we are there and on the weekends, it is only the weekday when we are at work. What can I do to teach her the newspaper is not a toy?

[Bevyvuska]

I would recommend trying the Puppy Training Pads. They worked pretty good for us.

[BELLEE]

What are puppy pads? Where can I get them?

[OurBoyKane]

Hi BELLEE,

Where do you "let her out" to go when you're home?

At six months she wouldn't sleep as much as when she was younger, and she will have more energy, so I'm guessing she's bored out of her wits and newspaper or any paper for that matter is sooo much fun to tear up, just like rugs meant for sleeping on! But you probably already knew that.

Evan.

[BELLEE]

We live in the country on a farm so Belle goes out in the back of the house, She has certain areas she likes to go. Will she grow out of this stage?

[OurBoyKane]

I would probably be trying to make her a decent sized pen or kennel outside with a grass or dirt area for her to go on. Can you fence around the house area? I also beleive 8 hrs through the day, 5 days a week is too much time in a crate.

I don't think you really have too many options. I don't think you will stop her from trashing the newspaper or her bed. I don't think she will grow out of it in a hurry either. She is confined and bored so anything in the pen is going to be used for entertainment purposes at some stage.

Evan.

[LisaMD]

Pups with chew on anything that is there. If the towel is there, she will chew it; If her newspaper is there (it also makes a fun russling noise), she will chew it.

The point of crates are to confine fido, and keep him out of trouble. From my understanding you are supposed to provide nothing but, a chew toy or two in the crate. It is supposed to be small enough to prevent pottying in it thus, potty training.

I think you have an easy problem to fix. 1) you'll have to use the crate "correctly" (I never used them personally so all the correctly business is just what I was told), 2) ditch the crate and put a pen in the yard, if you are going to keep her out.

Just a thought or two

LisaMD

[LisaMD]

P.S. Unless, she is chewing on those items because of the fact she had pottied on them. Like eating her own..... Anyway, you might check to see if there is a connection there too.

My other cent worth.

LisaMD