The countdown is on for puppy (Irish Setter), we pick him up a week Friday :) so now im probably going to post a different question every hour as I think of new things :D :D

I spent last night re-arranging my kitchen to fit in his crate (lucky I did because when I moved my fridge freezer I found a dead shrew underneath it thanks cats, now im paranoid and checking under everything :( )

What do all of you put in you puppys crates ?  I have a small bed for him and I brought loads of vet bed from crufts.  I was thinking of lining it with newspaper just in case of accidents then putting in  vet bed and his bed.  Should newspaper be showing or would this encourage him to wee ?? I dont intend putting newspaper down for him at all as I want to encourage him to go outside I just thought in case of accidents in his crate at least it would absorb it.  I thought of putting a couple of safe toys in for him and maybe  a water bowl ? he wont be spending that much time in there, I thought just shut him in at night and maybe a couple of hours during the day for some time out.

Any advice would be much appreciated because I have never crate trained a puppy before and although ive read loads about it nothing beats other peoples experiences.

Thanks in advance

Claire :)

When I first got my Staffie pup, I put her in my largest crate during the night. I had her cosy bed at one end, and newspaper at the other end in case of any accidents. I figured she was too young to hold all night, and it was better to be prepared with newspaper than have wet or soiled bedding. When I thought she was old enough, she went in a smaller cage with just her bed in. (obviously still big enough for her). And that worked really well. We still had the odd accident, but who doesn't. :)

Michelle.

To answer the question in your heading - visiting babies, geese, turkeys, peacocks and occasionally even dogs :D

If a puppy needs to eliminate it will, regardless of where it is or whether paper is showing.  I currently have an empty crate in with my puppies as if one is a bit slow eating I will shut him or her in there to finish their meal in peace - the bitches especially will also go in there to wee

On a more serious note I just put bedding in the crates, if you use fleece/vetbed  and your pup does have an "accident" then it will soak though and the top remains dry.  If you put water in, make it secure - easier said than done - as pups invariably tip it over.

If the crate is much larger than your pup and you only intend him to sleep in there you can temporarily make is smaller by putting a cardboard box or two in there to take up some of the space.

HTH

hi all,
I have a large crate which I used when my staff had her puppies. It has since been used to house a stray tom cat whom I have been feeding for the past 2 years. I said that when my neutered tom went then I would take in the stray. I couldnt do it before as it wouldnt have been fair on my old cat. Unfortunately he had to be pts last month as he had a tumour. I caught the stray a couple of weeks ago and kept him in the crate after he was castrated. He is back outside now as he couldnt cope with living indoors with the dogs etc after being on the streets for so long but he stil comes about three times a day to be fed and maybe later on will maybe decide to come indoors. Anyway the crate is there in case he gets ill and needs to be indoors again.

I have a rabbit and her four baby rabbits in one of my crates - the dad in the one next to her :) 2 Guinea Pigs in the other :D :D

The dogs are too big anyway LOL

I decided not to put paper down in the night for Leon and went for the crazy but effective method of setting myself an alarm to get up and take him out in the early hours of the morning (2am/3am/4am) varying it so he didn't get too used to the same time every day, depending on when we went to bed/got up if that makes any sense? Only had to do it for 3-4 weeks and he has never had an accident in his crate (touch wood!!) Other than that, a big fluffy cushion, water bowl and a fat rubber toy he cant seem to make a dent in!

I put Millie's bed in hers, and some newspaper at the other end for her to wee on.

But she never once weed on the newspaper in her cage, day or night, but asked to be taken out instead, (to go on the newspaper in the kitchen, lol) so after a few nights, I stopped bothering with the newspaper, and just continued getting up when she asked. 

She really had the 'no weeing in the bed' instinct, even at around 4 months if we put her on our bed, she would never dream of doing a wee on it, but would wake me up and ask to go outside.  My little angel :-D