# X-Pen Advice



## TK9NY (Jan 6, 2017)

So, things are going fairly well with new puppy (newly named Limerick). He and Dublin get along well, he eats well, he's settled in and loves to play. But he and Dublin do kinda get rough with one another - there have been little yips and i have had to step in a few times to redirect the both of them. At only 9 pounds to Dublin's 40, i don't want Limerick to be accidentally squashed! Of course, they go right back to it so i'm guessing no one is really "hurt" lol.

Anyway, i was thinking of pulling Kiley's old x-pen out and setting up a "puppy corner" so Dublin can have breaks (and so i can get some stuff done around the house lol) but puppy doesn't have to be crated. I saw some older posts about setting them up and just wanted to see what everyone recommends, now. I could also, potentially, just block off the kitchen as one big puppy play pen....

Also - i'm not a fan of pee pads but he seems to be drawn to a certain spot in the house to pee, even though that spot gets thoroughly cleaned. Thankfully it's CLOSE to the back door, but... would it be beneficial to try to at least get him to go to one spot on a pee pad and then move the pad outside over time? Or try one of the turf pads that look/feel like fake grass? Should one be put in the x-pen?

We're all absolutely in love with the little dude so i'm not too worried about house training (he's barely been with us a week lmao) or anything, but advice never hurts! I feel like I'm pretty lucky that so far he really only gets up once or twice during the night to potty - i usually wake up to go to the bathroom myself at around 1-2 am and he pops his head up so i bring him out. He wakes up when the sun starts shining in the window at around 6am, and goes out then too.


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## Basil_the_Spoo (Sep 1, 2020)

I wouldn't worry about it. 

Basil has her "one spot" if an upset tummy causes a poop comes out at 1:00am. She is 1yr4mo old.

Take try to him out more frequently.

Also, remember that it's only temporary and his bladder will be strong enough eventually.. so just try to tough it out.


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## Skylar (Jul 29, 2016)

Do you have a crate and pen for Limerick? I always watched my puppy playing with my adult minipoo. At some point I noticed that my puppy would get too wound up and it was time for him to go to his crate inside his pen for a nap. This gave my older minipoo a break from the puppy. It’s the puppy who needs to be put in a pen when not supervised, not Dublin. Puppy should be either tethered to you, in the pen or being watched carefully in a safe area. Puppies chew inappropriate and unsafe items and they potty anywhere and you want to avoid your puppy growing up with bad habits.

Remember when your puppy pees or poops in the house, it’s your fault. Think about what you need to do so next time you get the puppy outside. Are you waiting too long between potty breaks? I followed Dr Dunbars potty plan Errorless Housetraining

If you had a tpoo and lived where it was awkward to get outside, potty pads make sense. Consider some dogs will associate the feeling of a potty pad with that of carpets or bed linens and may not understand the difference. Better to assess and improve your timing with potty training And forget potty pads. 

Everyone has accidents in the beginning until they get the timing right. My husband and I would look at the clock and say, “he just had a pee at 1pm so we need to take him out at 3pm”. That way we both knew and we weren’t guessing. Its a lot of work in the beginning it it’s just a few months and gets easier.


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## cowpony (Dec 30, 2009)

I agree, the x-pen is a way to give the older dog a break from the puppy. I set one of mine up in the kitchen, so he could hang out there while watching me work. I put the other one on our glassed in porch, which is a favorite napping spot for dogs. The puppy could nap there with the big boys without feeling like he was in exile.

I personally don't like using pee pads. For one thing, the puppy, being a puppy, is likely to chew and dig at the pee pad. Pee pads aren't durable enough to take that abuse. I'd get something more tougher, like a whelping pad, if you really want to go that route. Also, as Skylar mentioned, it is very easy for the puppy to start thinking it is ok to pee on any and all soft surfaces. It's much better to get the puppy habituated to going outside on a schedule. That being said, I did use pee pads for Ritter outside the door to his crate and his x-pen. He had a tendency to get so excited by the prospect of going out that he would dribble as soon as he stepped through the door. The pee pad collected the spill.


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## TK9NY (Jan 6, 2017)

Both dogs have crates, yes. And i have an old pen that Kiley used instead of a crate that i could set up either in the kitchen or living room for puppy. I can make it small four sided or big eight sided (or anything in between). The crates are in my bedroom, though, and too big to move around so if i did a pen with the pup it would be just the pen. Maybe i could get a smaller temporary soft sided crate to put in it if needed? Or just a soft bed. 

Even though it's a three bedroom house, thankfully it's only a one story and the main area is an open floor plan. I can see where puppy is at all times from anywhere (except if either of us is in the kitchen because the center island is in the way lol). Alternately i could also put gates at either end of the kitchen and just use that instead of a pen, as puppy gets bigger.

Right now he's peeing every 20-30 minutes. And i don't know that he's emptying all the way. It doesn't seem like he is, other than when we get up in the morning and/or during night potty time (he goes much longer and leaves a bigger puddle then). And he's on a pretty consistent poop schedule. He goes first thing in the morning, right before bed, and usually within the hour after eating (he eats at 7 or 8, 12 or 1, 3 or 4, and again 6 or 7 depending on my work schedule). The only poo accidents have been 100% human error lol. Not watching him close enough or mis timing potty breaks. Couple pee accidents a day mostly because he's so quick to squat and can go from play to pee in less than a second. We're still learning his tells.

I'm not a big fan of pee pads either. They can work for some people, but i would rather avoid them myself. I know people who pad trained large dogs as puppies and the large dogs still have accidents inside. BUT if there's a way to utilize them i'm open to hearing about it. The only other problem with pads (or papers) is i think Dublin would be the one to play with them lol. What about the fake grass doggy potties, for inside the x-pen? Can't mistake fake grass for carpet. 

Anyway, he's only been here a week. I'm not too worried, it's just been almost five years since puppy Dublin and even longer since puppy Kiley. 

Should x-pen be sleep/nap/relax only or should i put toys in there? What about meals? They're on different food and puppy is now very interested in Dublin's food (and Dublin in his) so it's starting to get difficult to keep them eating their own meals lol.


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## Starla (Nov 5, 2020)

Phoebe has a couple ex-pens and both have toys, chews, food, and water. They’re her safe place to be. She just doesn’t get that she can’t jump on my elderly dog, and I’m terrified she’s going to make him fall. She also likes to bother the cat. I do like the downstairs pen better because it’s twice the size, and she has more room to play.


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## cowpony (Dec 30, 2009)

I put toys, food, and water in the x-pen. I also included a large litter pan lined with grass (weeded from my garden.) Every other day I would empty the pan into my compost pile and add more weeds. The litter pan worked well with Pogo, although he had a bit of a tendency to play with the grass. It did not work well with Galen, as Galen was a winter puppy. The grass simply wasn't mature enough. I got more root ball than grass, with the result that I soon had mud all over the x-pen. It didn't help that Galen was a very active mischievous puppy. Oops! I didn't use a litter pan with Ritter as it was pretty clear Ritter was a digger.


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## Piper 2020 (Aug 16, 2020)

I thoroughly cleaned Bode's favorite spot near the back door and then placed a large (approx. 4x3) outside dog bed with a waterproof and washable cover over the spot. That did it. He loves to lay on the bed and, while he may sniff, he does not go back and use that spot. The loss of that spot ended his piddling in the house.


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## I_love_dogs (May 30, 2021)

I have a 3 year old cockapoo Rosy and 15 week old spoo Loki. Rosy sleeps with my daughter. Loki is currently in a crate in my room which is upstairs. We have a playpen downstairs. We us is for calming the puppy down, unsupervised naptime, and meals. Rosy likes to steal puppy food. Loki likes to steal her food. 
We are having the same issue with him not emptying his bladder. We are going to the vet on Monday for shots so I am going to get him checked for UTI. I have been using reusable pee pads upstairs for nighttime and early morning. I have seen him pee three times in less than hour. 
We have one by the back door. He doesn't always use it, but he pretty good about using it. He was already peeing on any soft object he found, so it is just protecting other objects. You are going to be doing a lot of laundry because they smell horrible. 
The plastic grass is supposed to smell and not clean all that well. We tried the real grass pads that get delivered to your house. After a couple of uses, they smell bad and he wouldn't use them.


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## Rose n Poos (Sep 22, 2017)

TK9NY said:


> And i don't know that he's emptying all the way. It doesn't seem like he is, other than when we get up in the morning


I can't find the thread to properly credit the member who suggested this but the idea is to count how long it takes Limerick to empty in the morning, and maybe the late night pee too. For the rest of his outings, if he doesn't come close to matching that time, he's not empty. 

When taking him out, is it on leash or letting him ramble, and are you training to a specific area and to potty on command? 

If you're moving him quickly to the spot, that movement will sort of jog things out of him. The last two can be accomplished at the same time, if that's something you'd prefer. 


PeggyThe Parti described her expen set up for Peggy as a Puppy Wonderland . As mentioned above, all the things a puppy might dream of to entertain themselves or rest, as needed.


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## TK9NY (Jan 6, 2017)

Potty area is our deck, for a variety of reasons revolving around it being easier/faster than getting to grass/yard. I don't walk him there from crate because crate is too far away, he'll get distracted on the way lol. He's pretty consistent about peeing within 30 seconds of me bringing him out from the crate, and if he has to poop usually does so within 5-10 minutes of peeing. See, we're learning!

Because the deck is small and we still get distracted by leash, he potties off leash. I do make a point NOT to have Dublin out with him or they distract one another. Anything "interesting" is also blocked off, so.... once he goes he gets a treat, praise, and play time. Less of the latter at 2am lol. He's fine going back to bed after middle of the night potty breaks and doesn't actually wake me up to "go"... i'm the one that wakes up to use the bathroom and he wakes up because of that.

I think i found a schedule that works for us, though. On my work days we get up, potty, eat, play for about an hour, then it's back to bed for the dogs while i go to work. I have my parents come let them out twice during the day under the same routine. When i work 9:30-6 they come at 12:30 and 3:30 (give or take) and do the same. Potty, food, play, back to bed. I get home at 6. Potty, play, dinner at 6:30/7. Potty again, play some more, bed around 9/9:30. On my off days i think i'll stick to a similar schedule only with slightly extended play/walk/training times and less crate time. It seems to work well for poop, and we have more pee breaks during the day as needed. As he gets older and doesn't need multiple day feedings/poops we'll just do one slightly longer visit mid day while i'm at work.


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## Pasion (Jul 31, 2021)

If you are having some of the issues I did with my pup, I want to recommend this book, The Power of Positive Dog Training. It's been amazing. Happy Training!

[_Link removed by moderator. -PTP_]


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