CJRamze

Hi There.
I'm new to the forums here and was seeking some advice from Basset owners. My names Chris and I'm from the UK.

We (Myself and my partner) have been searching for a Basset for some time and after much contact from Shady people (Who we can only assume were running puppy mills) we finally found a puppy we fell in love with. He was named Alfie and we traveled for a number of hours to see him, hes just over 14 weeks old and full of love.

He was being resold, fully vaccinated and up to date with all injections. His carer had a food guide and took very good care of him (From what we could see and what we believe)

He was kept in a Cage which I read is one of the best forms of training for puppy's so their used to their den.

Hes been in our house now for 3 days and we are just curious about crate training and things we should and shouldn't do. I've been slowly getting him used to his new Travel crate/kennel over the past three days, it isn't massive but Is big enough for him to stand up in and turn around.

Last night he spent his night in his Travel Kennel. he seemed happy enough, He got up once or twice but once I realized he just wanted attention I walked him back to his crate and said "Alfred, Bed" and he lay down again, I praised him and went back to my bed, I did this about 2-3 times and each time he went to sleep, woke up, looked for me and I took him back. He seemed happy enough and to my knowledge he spent all night in his kennel with the door open.


Yesterday I closed the door on his kennel and he went utterly bonkers. Yapping and whining and I'm wondering in this situation what should I do?

Should I walk away for five minutes and come back when he stops yapping?
And what happens if he doesn't stop yapping and whining?

This evening My girlfriend went to make dinner, I told her to take him to his kennel treat him and show him affection for getting into his kennel, His kennel is in his own "Room" but it has a babygate so he can see out, Within seconds of her closing the gate he was yapping and barking, clawing at the gate. She walked to the kitchen at the other end of the hallway after 2 minutes of yapping he went a bit quiet, I told my girlfriend to go out, let him out but keep an eye on him and praise him for not yapping.

She went out to see he'd pooped in a couple of places in the room. I assume he was frightened. I then told her to clean it up with the special spray and not to tell the dog off, Pretend like nothing had happened and continue as normal and let him out.

Is this correct?

Should we keep putting him into his kennel, putting his toys with him, praising him for going in there etc?

At night should we move the kennel into our room?

I also see alot of guides say only close the door for 5-10 seconds then increase the times in increments to get the puppy used to the space and the fact the doors closed. Dont let them out until they are calm
others say let them out if they start yapping because their clearly not accustomed to it..

I'm wondering, If my puppy goes crazy straight away, what should I do? If I let him out straight away that shows that he gets what he wants if he goes crazy... But if I don't let him out like this evening he poops everywhere...

I don't mind cleaning it up but is that normal?

I'll take a few pictures tonight of his and our setup and maybe a small video to help aid any advice you can provide.


Also moving the kennel from room to room with us is that a good idea? Does he need to get used to his bed being in a certain place?

Or is it just better that hes around people?


I'm just looking for some advice, I see alot of scam websites, alot of contradicting information and alot of people that seem to know what their talking about.

I'm reluctant to take him into the front room with us because I know as soon as I let him out he will intentionally pee on the carpet as that's the room hes designated his toilet! (A whole other story I might have questions on later)

Any advice or info would be greatly appreciated, I feel a little overwhelmed but at the same time I'm enjoying the experience and looking forward to the future.

Wworm

Hi & congrats on Alfie!

sounds like you are doing a lot of good things.

in general, bassets like to be where people are, so even in crate they will probably do better if they are crated wherever the people are hanging out.

good idea to slowly work with the door closed with him. Worm would whine a lot too, but then when there were moments he stopped, we praised him & gave him a treat, or let him out then.

a lot of times they have to pee/poo right after coming out of the crate, esp at this young age. it might make sense to pick him up right after he comes out of the crate and take him to the pee spot (leashed?) for him to do his business. then treat & praise then he can come back in to play. that might be a good routine for him.

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see what the Worm is up to: http://bassetworm.blogspot.com/

DaniyPatito

Ok so I am going to do my best to answer these questions...I think if he freaks out right when the door is closed try throwing a treat in there rubbing him down etc a couple times then close the door do not move stay there open it right away and give a treat, try building on this. Honestly my guy was never really happy in the crate unless he was sleepy he never wanted to chew or play with anything while in the crate.

I agree with worm better to have the crate where you are at night it is really important. As for whining and not really needing to go at night they whine take them out do not say anything pet them etc if he does not go in five minutes put him back in the crate without saying anything. If he does give a treat go back to crate you want to keep low stimulation. You may find after a period of time every time he whines at one am he does not have to go just let him whine then. He is probably just getting use to the new enviroment.

As for the freaking out when your girlfriend left he may have been freaking out because he had to go, I had a couple oops moments with that, also how big is the room he is in they will not normally have accidents in the crate because it is small.

You did the right thing cleaning it without yelling since you did not catch him in the act also take him out to see if he needs to go more right after that.

Good luck with the guy, post pics!

DaniyPatito

oh just read the part about the carpet every time you take him out of the crate he goes outside right away to go potty

loopylou

Welcome and congrats!!!

We had a similar problem with Monty, he used to go crazy at night but I think he was just scared after all we'd taken him away from his mum and siblings! The night time thing improved by us doing something I'm sure some folk would disagree with. We'd switch of the lights to go to bed and then one of us would lie at the cage (closed) for about 10 mins just to settle him and then we'd go to bed. Sometimes he'd get us up during the night whimpering but another 5-10 mins of just lying there, no touching ot talking, and he'd be fine. When we first got him we introduced him to the cage during the day in very small doses and always with treats. I even got in the crate at one point! If you need a bigger cage I suggest doing an online search as you can get a large one for less than half the price of Pets at Home.

Stick with it, he'll be well worth it!

Wworm

Loopylou! you got in the crate with Monty??? funniest thing i heard all day...!

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see what the Worm is up to: http://bassetworm.blogspot.com/

DaniyPatito

Also another thing you can do is teach him to stay using the crate MikeyT posted a video about that, do a search for crate training. Another thing I found helpful at first to get him to settle down at night is when I first put him in the crate I sat outside the door until he was asleep he did not whine at all when I did this! (sorry I keep remembering more things!)

loopylou

Wwormie - whatever it takes!!!!!

It was one of those occasions where I was glad there wasn't a camera

CJRamze

Hi Guys
I'm in work at the moment so my replies will be limited.
Thank you for all the advice its all very much appreciated, He doesn't potty as soon as he leaves the crate because well.. I've not managed to keep the door closed for more than 5 seconds so far before he goes mad.

I'll take it slow this evening take him into his crate a few times and reward him.
I'm really thinking of moving to a proper crate instead of this travel one so I can stroke him through the bars.

The first night we had him I leash walked him around the apartment to get him used to all the sights, sounds and smells and then moved his kennel into his room and his pee mats into our bedroom (Which has patio doors)

Hes very disinterested in the mats for Pee/Pooping purposes, instead he trys to eat them!
The first evening I had him in the front room with me and he pee'd by the front of the room near my TV, Everytime I let him back into the front room he'd go back to that spot and pee there again I felt that hes now marked that territory and is returning to it purely to urinate as hes designated it his "Toilet"

I cleared it all up with cleaning products (The ones you get to remove the smell and traces) but he still goes back there to pee all the time. The first evening he was pooping there too but Since I've managed to take him outside and all three times hes gone for a poop!

Last night he held in a poop for a full 8 hours and went outside!
I was so proud a tear nearly came to my eye!

Sadly hes still peeing in the house... and not on the mats so I'm a bit unsure on how to combat this, I try to stop him whilst hes in the act, But hes a basset hound! hes so low to the ground I cant tell if hes stopping to stare at me or stopping to pee and by the time I realise hes already pee'd!

If I catch him peeing should I say "Alfred NO!" or should I ignore his actions, Clean it up and try to make him pee outside? Some people say that telling the puppy "Alfred NO" is bad because he wont pee infront of me in future at all (Outside or in!)

I'm heading home in a minute to my slightly stressed out girlfriend, But He'll be so happy to see me that It melts my heart!

Thanks for all the help and support thus far guys.
It really means alot.

nuttypigs

Welcome to the forum, yay another Brit.

We got Bella at 14 weeks and she has been a nightmare to housetrain, all I can say is keep at it, lots of praise and a treat when Alfie does his business in the right place, and ignore it when he doesn't.

I can't offer any advice on crate training, Bella has slept in the kitchen behind a baby gate since we got her, the first couple of nights were a bit trying, but she soon settled down, and now she's a big girl and not peeing in the night she's progressed to the sofa overnight, where she's currently taking over and put herself to bed.

The best piece of advice I got was from my local Basset Welfare rep, who basically said Hound's are really food orientated, and will basically stick 2 fingers up at you unless there's something in it for them. So true

Good luck!!