i am hoping to bring home rescue dog in a couple of weeks a 12 month old cocker spaniel. she is nervous and not fully house trained. i was thinking of getting her a crate so she could have a place to relax and feel safe in. at the moment she is in kennels, she isnt crate trained. can i close the door on her crate at night due to her not being house trained. or should i not do this until she is use to being inside the crate, with thanks.
If she has never seen or been in a crate and is a nervous dog, you cant just put a dog in a crate and close the door. You have to introduce and train them to accept the crate and view it as a safe place and a den. So if you havent got any idea how to do this you need crate training advice well beforehand.
Crate training is only ever an aid to toilet training, the theory behind it that a dog will not soil their bed or immediate surrounding area, they still have to be taught where to toilet and left in there too long and caught short will likely do it anyway if they are desparate.
Crates after being introduced properly if you are going to use them can be useful if you cant watch a pup or they may be in danger but it should only really be used for shortish periods possible.
Instead take her out as you would a pup, Start at first every 30/45 minutes,
and also after drinking, eating, play and sleeping. When she starts to go, use a word of choice, used every time she should associate the word with toileting eventually and once she does you can use it as a toilet cue getting her to toilet virtually on command in most cases, when she has completely finished lots of praise and treats.
At a year old she should be able to go through the night without problems but for the first few days while settling in to make sure, you could set an alarm half way through and just pop her out if you want to make sure. Or you could even see if she will go through for a day or so, and if she doesnt then do it if needed at first until she is fully toilet trained and got the complete concept. Which may well be the best way. As long as shes in an area where its easy to clean up shouldnt be a problem if she does have an accident anyway. Ive had rescues who have been completely toilet trained but have had one or two accidents in the first day or two. Its a lot of work at the beginning but it usually pays off before not too long.
ETA, if she does have an accident dont tell her off, it can make them nervous about going in front of you and more likely to try to sneak off and do it unseen. Just clear it up with no fuss like its no big thing. Also make sure you clean up with a pet stain/odour remover as any smells left can sometimes encourage reapeats.
