Play Pan / Play time questions

[runner1980]

Hi,

We have a 13 week old Yorkie male puppy and we set up a play pan (with an extension to make it bigger). Inside the play pan we have food/water, a bed, some toys, and 1 pad.

Amazon.com: Iris CI-604 Indoor/Outdoor Plastic...
So far, the two night's he's been in the house, he has slept no problem without barking/whining while we slept in our bedroom. When we wake up we go to the living room and he gets up as well, we wait until he goes to the bathroom on the pad and then open the door and play with him for about an hour to an hour and a half.

As far as using the pad, when in the play pan he always goes into the pad, but when playing in the living room he sometimes urinates on the floor, however, when he was playing in the living room, he actually went back to the play pan and used the pad for #2.

After we are done playing with him and we put him back into the play pan, he whines a little bit (but we ignore it) and eventually he stop / takes a nap.

How long and how many times a day should we play with him? Does this set up look ok? When should we start socializing him with other dogs (my wife's sister has an adult yorkie)? Any other hints?

[gracielove]

It's a nice pen that several people at YT have used. At his young age you need to keep him near the pen because he really cannot control his urine yet. Keep him close to a pad at all times. As he gets older he will not have to go as often and will be able to get to the potty in time.
Dogs are very social animals so as he gets older he may insist on more time with you. If you keep him near the pad and put him on it when he looks like he needs to go he will learn. Never let him wander alone. Hopefully, you will train the dog to go potty where he should and he will not need the pen as he gets older. Right now he cannot really control his bodily functions so he needs to be confined when you cannot watch him.

The puppy should have all his shots before letting him get around other dogs or any public areas.

[Lil Sis]

I had that pen. I think it is a nice one.

Because I have older dogs they are walked twice a day and let out into the back yard at least three more times a day. When Remy was new to us she followed the same scheduel and we had potty pads by the back door. It works.. she did learn from the others.

I used the pen mostly to keep her safe when we were not home

[MyDearSam]

Originally Posted by runner1980

Hi,

We have a 13 week old Yorkie male puppy and we set up a play pan (with an extension to make it bigger). Inside the play pan we have food/water, a bed, some toys, and 1 pad.

Amazon.com: Iris CI-604 Indoor/Outdoor Plastic Pet Pen, 4 Panels: Pet Supplies

So far, the two night's he's been in the house, he has slept no problem without barking/whining while we slept in our bedroom. When we wake up we go to the living room and he gets up as well, we wait until he goes to the bathroom on the pad and then open the door and play with him for about an hour to an hour and a half.

As far as using the pad, when in the play pan he always goes into the pad, but when playing in the living room he sometimes urinates on the floor, however, when he was playing in the living room, he actually went back to the play pan and used the pad for #2.

After we are done playing with him and we put him back into the play pan, he whines a little bit (but we ignore it) and eventually he stop / takes a nap.

How long and how many times a day should we play with him? Does this set up look ok? When should we start socializing him with other dogs (my wife's sister has an adult yorkie)? Any other hints?

This is exactly what we are doing with Sam. I get up around 6 a.m. and he has usually done his business already. I let him out for about 30 minutes playtime, then take him in the bathroom with me while I get ready. I have a small pee pad there for him. I feed him some wet food mixed with kibble before I leave at 8, and he goes back to his pen. My neighbor comes over and checks on/plays with him between 12 - 1:00. The oldest DD gets home from school at 4:00, so he's not alone for more than 4 hours. He's out of the pen from about 6:00 - 9:00p.m. when we try to play all his energy out. He's done #2 twice in the living room when he snuck behind DH's recliner. 9:00 is bedtime for all the kiddies, even if DH and I are still up watching tv, etc. Sam will fuss for just a couple of minutes, but that's all.

[Yorkiemom1]

Originally Posted by gracielove

It's a nice pen that several people at YT have used. At his young age you need to keep him near the pen because he really cannot control his urine yet. Keep him close to a pad at all times. As he gets older he will not have to go as often and will be able to get to the potty in time.
Dogs are very social animals so as he gets older he may insist on more time with you. If you keep him near the pad and put him on it when he looks like he needs to go he will learn. Never let him wander alone. Hopefully, you will train the dog to go potty where he should and he will not need the pen as he gets older. Right now he cannot really control his bodily functions so he needs to be confined when you cannot watch him.

The puppy should have all his shots before letting him get around other dogs or any public areas.

[Lovetodream88]

Make sure you are praising him when he goes on the pad and giving him a treat and when you catch him going potty on the floor tell him no and put him back in him pen. Sounds like a good set up.

[life4life]

We have the same playpen. We only put jasmin in there when we are not home. We also created our own cover for it since jasmin started jumping out of it. We put water and blanket in it.

[runner1980]

Originally Posted by life4life

We have the same playpen. We only put jasmin in there when we are not home. We also created our own cover for it since jasmin started jumping out of it. We put water and blanket in it.

We take our Puppy out several times a day for a few hours, when he is outside of the play pan he just wants to play and lick us, so he might be tired but he would rather play and I want to make sure that he eats the correct portion of his dry food and supplements to prevent hypoglycemia, and also get's in the required nap time. I think that as he get's older, he will spend less and less time in the play pan and eventually we will discard the playpen.

He already came 90% potty trained from the breeder at 12 weeks (so that helps, now just trying to teach him some basic commands (he is learning the SIT and COME HERE on pretty well).

Thanks for the input.