Week 6: Buying their enclosure

My wife convinced me to buy a dog kennel ($99 from Farm and Fleet - you can find it cheaper on Amazon), basically a large sturdy metal crate built for large dogs, after she saw the 2x4 and chicken wire “contraption” I built.  After college I couldn’t find work and worked as a finish carpenter over the summer, so I assumed I could save money and build a kennel, but the results were laughable. When they get older, I will probably either just leave it or buy another for both to have one big enough for them

She reasoned that when we went up north to visit her parents we could keep them in a safe place and it would be a lot easier to potty train them with a kennel.  I agree especially on this second point, as their peeing is rarely done inside the place where they sleep.   For anyone looking to get a puppy, I would expect potty training to be a lot easier and way less urine to cleanup if you go the crate training route. 

They’ve never pooped in their crate, and only rarely urinate inside, except when I sleep through the night for over a 4 hour stretch and they don’t get out.  I’ve read that as they get older, their muscles develop so they’re able to hold it in for longer stretches of time.  I’ve been pretty good about waking up every few hours and taking them outside, but as the days get colder here in Wisconsin and the weather becomes inclement, the nightly trips seem less productive.  Getting Lizzie to pee is a real chore because she seems to always want to go back inside, and when she does start sniffing the ground and begin pee and poop mode, Charlie seems to always run up and knock her over.   Lizzie know appears to be unfavorable to the rain and the

Charlie consistently pees and poops outside, but both will just start peeing on the floor (luckily we’ve got tile right by the front entrance) if I open the cage and the front door and screen door aren’t both open.  It seems like any single hindrance to going outside causes them to rush out and piss on the floor!  When I open the crate, I’ve got to rush to the door to open it so they dont run to a closed door and start peeing on the floor. I'll probably just leave the door open before I get in, but the cat likes to run outside and eat the cat nip path we've got on the side of the house.