hi. i rescued a litter of cross terrier pups from a road side near my home in northern ireland. only one pup pulled through. the other 5 died. my vet recons that milo is approx 5 - 6 weeks old. i have started the crate training but im just wondering is he too young for this. im just using a basket with a lid at the moment. we have had a few accidents and if i catch him i just clap my hands, say no and take him outside to my garden (one area) and let him finish with lots of praise. he seems to look nervous when im praising him, as if he does not understand whats happening. i know he will catch on one day the reason why but im more or less just wondering am i doing this too early. the past two nights he has went all night without crying to get out of his crate! im really happy with this. just worried that if its too soon i may have problems in the future.

a basket with a lid on it?

Is it not rather dark...........?

LOL @ Tohme :D

Well done you for having the heart to rescue these pups from the roadside, shame about the others not pulling through :( But at least one did :)

When you say you're using a basket with a lid, what do you mean? Is it like a wicker laundry basket with a lid?

I use a crate for training my pup and many people on here do the same but we use the metal crates that are designed for dogs and they can be bought fairly cheaply from Ebay or pet shops. These are the best ones to use IMO ;)

It's never too early to toilet/crate train a pup, many breeders do it before the pups go to their new homes. When he goes to do the business indoors, ignore him and take him straight out, as he is doing his business outside, use a word that he will associate with toileting, like, "be busy" "hurry up" that sort of thing. Then when he's finished give him a treat/biscuit, he'll soon get the idea :) You are trying to teach him this is where to go and it will be useful as he gets older, they then normally go on command.

HTH :)

its a basket yeah like a laundry basket. plenty of air gets in. puppies and dogs love dark warm places to sleep in. wild dogs sleep in small caves. thanks for the reply. will keep up wat im doing.