Someone tell me I can do it.......

[Pixie]

The thing that was really nice when we got Toby, my rescue dog. He was housebroke, leash trained and just an all around good dog.

Now I have this new little 8 wk old puppy and I'm not sure I can handle it. The first night I was up half the night with her because she didn't want to be in a crate. Hubby was very good about the fact that I put the pup on the bed and he would take her out when she needed to go potty.

I take her outside after she wakes up from a nap but do you think she will potty outside?!!! NO!!!! She likes to do it on the carpet right after I bring her back in. Don't get me wrong there have been times that she has actually done it outside, it isn't always on the carpet.

I'm just finding it hard having a puppy around again. It has been a long time (4 yr) since I have had a puppy.

I guess I just have to keep tell myself "This too will pass"

[Helly]

I feel your pain. Whizzy is my first baby puppy in about 20 years. If it weren't for Oli, I don't think I would have gotten any sleep the first few nights. In fact, if it weren't for Oli taking him in hand (paw?) I know a lot of things would have been more difficult.

Every time I think I have the house puppy proof, Whizzy shows me that I don't. Potty training has been a limited success. We'll get there, but dachshunds are notoriously difficult to house train, and we've had to battle a UTI, too. The poor little guy was peeing every 5 minutes for a while. And he was really good about fooling around outside, then peeing on the carpet as soon as he came back in, too.

Besides telling yourself "This too shall pass", it helps a lot to establish a routine and stick with it. Their little bodies do become accustomed to eating, sleeping and eliminating at the same time every day, eventually.

It does help to tell her "Go potty" every time she squats, then praise the dickens out of her when she does it in the right place. And as loath as you might be to tell your puppy "Go potty" when she's about to do it in the house, do it anyway. Get some potty pads for now, or better yet, a scrap of artificial turf that you can put over a potty pad. What you want to accomplish is a conditioned response, so when she hears "Go potty", she does. Then, when you take her outside and tell her to go, it's automatic, and you can praise her for doing it. The artificial turf will help make the transition from inside to outside easier. Puppies like to potty on the same type of surface, and turf will feel more like grass to her little paws.

Give her a couple more days of sleeping on the bed, then get firm about sleeping in the crate. Give her a towel that you've rubbed over yourself, so it smells like you, and don't give in when the wailing and howling starts. Put the crate next to your bed, so she can hear you and smell you, and just gut it out. It's hard, I know. Especially when you don't have an Oli to help.

And just think...in a couple of weeks the teething starts in earnest. Ain't that a lovely thought? LOL.

[redbird]

to easy

You sound like a tender hearted person, but you are making this way to hard.

Put her in her crate and leave her there once she has gone late at night before bedtime. If you have to put the crate in another room, where you
can hear her but not so clearly, do so.

By letting her out cause she is crying, you will create a situation where she is calling the shots, not you.
You can bring them to bed if you want, but I usualy wait til they are house broken to do it, or they will sneak off at night when they are big enough and go in your room.
Tough love, tough love.
My pups cry like one night, and then give it up. They know it does no good.
You need your sleep.

[Helly]

I forgot one other thing. Tired puppies with a full belly get used to sleeping on their own faster than puppies who are hungry and not tired. Give her plenty of play and exercise in the evening, feed her, potty her, and put her to bed.

[RoosMom]

I see.......

She's busy training YOU! ;-) First, what someone else said about sticking to a schedule as much as possible, that's true. Second, leave her crate within arm's reach at night, right next to the bed. If she has just been out to do her business, give her an 'earthquake' when she starts her racket. Rock that crate back and forth- not enough to give her a concussion, just enough to make it unpleasant.

On the house breaking- when you take her outside to go, you HAVE to be prepared to wait her out. Don't give her alot of options out there to mess around, either. If you need to put her on a leash and just stand in one spot until she gets bored and thinks, "Hey, I gotta pee!", that's what you do. Then you give her lots of praise, while she is going. I have to tell you I've waited for as much as 30 minutes for a dog to go! That's a rarity, though, I'm sure she'll catch on faster. :-)

[hairdevil]

my baby doxie was housebroken in less than 6 weeks! we took him out at night about every 3 hours..he slept in a crate beside my bed. he would cry to go outside. he did not come in until he used the bathroom outside, no matter how long i had to wait..it was a rule. he was hb in no time and at 11 months old, has not had but 1 accident, and that was on purpose 'cause it was raining out and he didn't want to get wet! lol

[Dogstar]

Hang in there, you can do it!

First, if she's pottying when you come back in, you're just not staying out long enough. (I'm sure you know that, but sometimes when you're in that sleep-deprived, puppy-induced exhaustion, it's hard to remember. :P) With new babies, I take them out, on leash, ignore them till they potty, and then praise like mad. If it's freezing and I just can't stay out any longer, I bring them in and HOLD THEM- if they start to squirm and want down, we go back out- it prevents accidents on the carpet. :P If I'm particularly awake, I'll just keep them onleash indoors and as soon as they start circling and sniffing, we go back out.

Housebreaking is my LEAST favorite part of puppy training- hopefully it'll go more smoothly for you in the next few days. :P


Cait (who is not really looking forward to doing it again soon, ack!)

[Raggs]

I feel for you Diane. That is why I don't get puppies. That is why I get dogs were are adults. Sure sometimes they aren't house broken, but at least they don't have tiny bladders.

You can do it..

[DogChic]

i agree with everyone that this pup is training his mom! with all of my puppies, and rescues that i've had, however, i potty train just a little different.

i do crate train, and at night, they stay in the crate. there is no waking up to take out in the middle of the night. i don't give food or water past about 7 at night, & then the last potty break is at about 10 pm. i don't feel that there's any need then for puppy to be walked during the night, since all food and water should be out of their system.

also, i don't wait outside for more than 15 minutes with a dog for them to do their business while potty training.

for example .... am routine. pup goes out first thing in the morning - they've been in a crate for the whole night, so they WILL go potty quickly. then breakfast in the crate. stay in crate for about an hour .... again, pup WILL most likely now have to go potty. Out for 15 minutes at most - if they go- GREAT! if not, back in the crate for another 30 minutes maybe - then out again for 15 minutes MAX. this way you are pretty much guaranteed they are successful at going potty quickly outside, and there are also no accidents in the house.

i just feel that if you wait outside for longer than this the dog will really not make the connection that "when i have to go potty NOW, i need to go outside." if they're just hanging out outside the connection is not very clear ... are we out here to play? or to potty? b/c mom will just keep me out here anyway, even if i don't REALLY have to go potty for 1/2 hour.

-sheila

[rapuzzled]

I feel your pain. Whizzy is my first baby puppy in about 20 years. If it weren't for Oli, I don't think I would have gotten any sleep the first few nights. In fact, if it weren't for Oli taking him in hand (paw?) I know a lot of things would have been more difficult.

Every time I think I have the house puppy proof, Whizzy shows me that I don't. Potty training has been a limited success. We'll get there, but dachshunds are notoriously difficult to house train, and we've had to battle a UTI, too. The poor little guy was peeing every 5 minutes for a while. And he was really good about fooling around outside, then peeing on the carpet as soon as he came back in, too.

Besides telling yourself "This too shall pass", it helps a lot to establish a routine and stick with it. Their little bodies do become accustomed to eating, sleeping and eliminating at the same time every day, eventually.

It does help to tell her "Go potty" every time she squats, then praise the dickens out of her when she does it in the right place. And as loath as you might be to tell your puppy "Go potty" when she's about to do it in the house, do it anyway. Get some potty pads for now, or better yet, a scrap of artificial turf that you can put over a potty pad. What you want to accomplish is a conditioned response, so when she hears "Go potty", she does. Then, when you take her outside and tell her to go, it's automatic, and you can praise her for doing it. The artificial turf will help make the transition from inside to outside easier. Puppies like to potty on the same type of surface, and turf will feel more like grass to her little paws.

Give her a couple more days of sleeping on the bed, then get firm about sleeping in the crate. Give her a towel that you've rubbed over yourself, so it smells like you, and don't give in when the wailing and howling starts. Put the crate next to your bed, so she can hear you and smell you, and just gut it out. It's hard, I know. Especially when you don't have an Oli to help.

And just think...in a couple of weeks the teething starts in earnest. Ain't that a lovely thought? LOL.

I second Hellys suggestion of telling him to "go potty" We did that with our first beagle (14 years ago almost) and not we can still get her to go right away if we say "go potty" ( sometimes she will even squat and pretend to go, lol if we are waiting for her to go!)
Our second beagle came to us at three years old and she still had the mentalitly of a puppy. She was bred continually, taught no manners, etc. etc. But the "go potty" thing worked! And she was older so it was a little more difficult to teach her than I think a pup would.
Anyway! good luck you can do it and it will be worth it in the long run!

[Wisconsin]

You Can Do It Pixie!!

I sooooo agree with telling him "go potty" and waiting it out. Don't give in, although it's easier said than done, especially when you're tired.

My dogs pee and poop on command, not 100% of the time, but majority of the time. My friends and neighbors think it is hysterical but I tell ya, it works! Now that they're senior girls they try to fake a poop if they don't really have to...now that is hysterical. My dogs are so praise crazy and super motivated by positive reinforcement.

Chin up, this will pass and your little pup will be a senior before you know it! Hey, where did you find the husband that actually helps you out with this in the middle of the night? I gotta get me one of those. Oh yeah, already have one....sigh.

[Helly]

I'm going to throw something in here, because you hear people use the term "positive reinforcement" a lot. And it doesn't mean what most people think it means.

Put simply, positive reinforcement means adding a stimulus, as opposed to negative reinforcement, which means removing a stimulus.

Positive reinforcement can be praise or a treat. It can also be clapping your hands, stomping your foot, or a smack on the behind. A rat in a Skinner box can be taught to press a lever to get a piece of food. All of those are adding a stimulus; positive reinforcement.

Negative reinforcement would be taking an inappropriate item away, taking the food bowl up if they don't eat, turning off the lights at bed time, or shunning a puppy that's playing too rough. A rat in a Skinner box can be taught to press a lever to turn off an annoying sound. Those are examples of negative reinforcement; removing a stimulus.

Both positive and negative reinforcements can be useful tools in training. You just have to use the right one, and use them appropriately.

[KarlaSnyder]

Of course you can do it! Lots of good suggestions here for you. Just my thoughts on the bed thing-all of mine sleep in a wire crate beside the bed til they 'graduate'. By that, they are pretty trustworthy in the house as far as potty and chewing, and, most importantly, they can get up on the bed by themselves. Usually by about 5mos, they have earned their spot on the bed with the rest of us. I don't want a little puppy on the bed who may fall or jump off and injure himself. Can't afford a broken leg that could've been prevented.

Enjoy your baby-they grow up sooo fast.

[Pixie]

Thanks for all the advice. It is most helpful.
The main reason she has been sleeping on the bed, I have a son who goes to work at 3:00 am and I just felt really bad thinking this little girl was being sooooooo noisy and keeping him awake. Also she sleeps between hubby and me and hubby can tell when she is moving and will take her out to go potty. He can't hear her cry and make noise all night because he wears hearing aids and takes them out at night and can't hear ANYTHING, lucky him.
I will try some of the suggestions and let you know how things are working out.
I've done this before I should be able to do it again. I hope.

When we took her to the vet yesterday she was in a crate and cried all the way there, 20 min. drive and again all the way home. She never let up. But I will do it again and see how she does.

[Pixie]

I forgot to mention. When she is in the crate, she is very very very LOUD!!!!! And it seems like she is in an echo chamber.