How to Train a Great Dane to Not Chew

Hello, She absolutely needs to sleep in a crate at night; this doesn't have to be permanent, but while you are sleeping you won't be able to consistently teach pup not to chew those things. The longer pup is allowed to chew them without your intervention, the greater the risk of that chewing behavior turning into a long term habit, which would mean pup having to be crated while you are away potentially for years. Crating pup temporarily, while also practicing commands that help with the chewing while awake during this age, can give pup a lot more freedom in the long term by preventing long term bad habits from forming. The age pup is at is a common destructive chewing age. I generally recommend crating at night and while away until pup is 18 months old (some dogs are ready a little sooner) AND pup hasn't destroyed anything they should leave alone for at least 3 months. Check out this article on chewing for somethings you can practice during the day. https://www.petful.com/behaviors/train-dog-not-to-chew/ Best of luck training, Caitlin Crittenden

Nov. 11, 2021

Hello Kyle, Check out the chewing article I have linked below. Know that the chewing at this age is normal. It still needs training but almost every puppy owner deals with it during teething. https://www.petful.com/behaviors/train-dog-not-to-chew/ At this age puppies generally need 1-2 potty trips at night to avoid an accident. Most puppies will cry to be let out if the crate is set up to encourage pup not to go potty in there. The occasional puppy won't wake you to go - when pup won't wake you, you need to set an alarm. I would set an alarm to take pup every 3-4 hours at night. You can add one hour to that time every month pup gets older. Most puppies can be expected to hold it all night (8-10 hours) between 5-6 months of age (You may have to experiment to see when your pup is ready. The rare pup can do it at 4 months, but not always consistently). I would start by looking at your crate set up before trying the alarm. The crate should not have anything absorbent in it, like a soft bed or towel or t-shirt. Most puppy owners will give a soft bed, so that's a common thing that leads to accidents. You can use something like www.primopads.com or k9ballistics crate mats. The key is non-absorbent, until pup is older and fully potty trained. The crate also needs to be only big enough for pup to stand up, lie down, and turn around. If it's so big that pup can go potty in one end and try to stand in the opposite end to avoid the accident, pup probably also won't be motivated to hold it. Finally, you need to ensure you can hear pup when they cry to go out at night. If pup sleeps in another room, use an audio baby monitor to listen out for pup. If pup isn't barking to ask to go out despite a correct crate set up now or once you adjust the crate, after a couple of days with the new set up, then I would set an alarm and you take pup out at night. Pup will need to go potty as soon as they wake, so in the morning, that's probably why pup is having an accident - pup has held it all night, is waking up before you, not barking, then having an accident before anyone is there to take them outside. Because of this, I would either try to wake up before pup, or have one of the middle of the night potty trips happen 2-3 hours before it's time to wake up for the day, so pup isn't as desperate to go potty when they wake in the morning. . Keep night and morning potty trips calm and boring - no treats, no play, little talking, no early breakfast. Take pup on leash to help them stay focused on going and not play. Walk pup around slowly to sniff while on leash. As soon as pup goes potty, go back inside and return pup to the crate until it's time to wake up for the morning. Ignore pup's barking when you return them to the crate. Pups will usually bark in protest of having to go back to bed for a bit for 1-2 weeks, until they get into the routine. You might have the exception who is quiet hopefully. You can practice the Surprise method during the day to help pup learn to be quiet when crated sooner, if needed. Only give treats during daytime practice though, not at night. Surprise method: https://wagwalking.com/training/like-a-crate Best of luck training, Caitlin Crittenden

Sept. 23, 2021