PLEASE Help! What am I doing wrong!

[JPsMOM]

I love this puppy so very much...I am frustrated SO badly with night time and potty issues. I KNOW it's rough at first, I have read it is. So rather than lay out my whole long past 3 day story, let me ask some questions.

1) Free access to water or no? I have read both ways, but it seems counterproductive with potty training. He went from taking himself to the potty pads with no problem, to peeing wherever whenever...unless he wanted a treat. I have seen him very knowingly pee a tiny bit on the pad just so he could run to me and get a treat. Smart-butt. Trying not to use treats at all resulted in a complete potty pad strike. There is NO rhyme, reason, or timing to his pottying that I can see, and I feel like taking him out and him not going potty reinforces that he doesn't HAVE to do anything out there if he doesn't want to. I also can't stand out in the cold for an hour every 20 minutes or so. But again, his potty pad usage went from solid to hit-and-miss. I use Nature's Miracle but still feel like my (rented) house reeks! So. There's that.

2) SLEEEEPPPP!! He WILL soil his crate. Learned that. He CANT sleep in our bed- tries to jump off. Baby gating him into the bathroom with his (open) crate and some puppy pads is a logical answer in theory. I hate putting him in there because I feel like I am abandoning him. He has cried non-stop (I think..I passed out from exhaustion on several occassions)all night. We have had to sleep on the floor in the living room to escape the noise a bit because while I am off for spring break, my partner does have to work during the day. I am just to stick out the crying? I HATE it but is it the right thing to do for all of us? He wants to nap most of the day too, and I know he is little but I feel like the more he sleeps during the day, the less he will sleep at night. BUT I cant keep him from peeing everywhere when he is awake.

In summary....AAAAAHHHHHH!!!!! lol
Help me wise ones!!!

 

[Inkeri]

In my opinion, dogs have to have free access to water. Always. Unless they have a problem with water, like our rescue dog. He'd drink the whole bowl empty as soon as we filled it. We had to give him water in small portions and soon he learnt that this is not the last water in the world.

As for the crying at night... Can you have the baby gate-thing in your bedroom? With the crate and pads? I've slept few nights on the bedroom floor with the puppy at first. Our dogs don't sleep on our bed, so that hasn't been an option for me. I've usually had the safe-place (bed or a crate) in the bedroom beside my bed and some pads on the floor (esp. under the bed...). They usually calm down quickly when you're near and they have their safe-place. Just ignore the crying.

 

[JPsMOM]

Thank you for the response! We tried him beside the bed in his crate that first night, and tried waiting out his crying a few hours before trying the bathroom thing. This particular bathroom is actually attached to our bedroom, so he can see us through the gate, and a few hours in he was still crying. Thats why we had to head to the living room floor lol. I would love to have him free in the bedroom with crate and pads, but he is not consistantly using the pads so the result would likely be waking up to potty on the floor, and wouldn't that further create the habit of pottying on the floor? I can't see any pattern to his pottying so I don't know when to take him outside, resulting in a lot of random fruitless freezing trips outside.

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[CaseyKC]

When you clean up poo in your house, take the waste out doors to an approved (by you) potty place. You could also put used pee pads in the same place. Always take your baby to the potty place each time you take him out and let him smell the waste products there. Tell him this is a goo-oo-d place to do business. Give him about 15 minutes to perform. If he does go, praise him as if he had won an Olympic gold medal. If no results in that time, go back inside and try again in a half hour. Good times to take him out are 15 minutes after a meal, before and after play time, when he wakes up from a nap or in the morning, before bedtime, and any other time he appears anxious or starts sniffing around in the house. If he wakes you up during the night, this might be a good time for a trip to the potty place.

 

[JPsMOM]

The sniffing thing is one of the problems! If he is not playing, sleeping, or eating, he is sniffing around!! Lol That's how I spent the first day outside so much, outside.. No potty... Inside... Sniffing around... Back outside.... No potty.. Inside... Sniffing around... Take my eyes off for a second.. Puddle!! Lol
I could try taking the potty pad outside though. He WILL go outside, just not every time.
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[JPsMOM]

Update- Progress...

I figured out why he suddenly went downhill on the potty pads. They were in the laundry room, and I did laundry. He doesn't like the sound of the machines I guess.


Sleep.... Set him up in our room with the baby gate up, pads down, and us on the bed. Puppy dog eyes and desperate need for sleep on our part won him another try for a place in bed. With the gate up and pads down if he got wiggly we could set him down. He passed out happily for the night. Thrilled.

 

[Barron]

Housebreaking issues

I love this puppy so very much...I am frustrated SO badly with night time and potty issues. I KNOW it's rough at first, I have read it is. So rather than lay out my whole long past 3 day story, let me ask some questions.

1) Free access to water or no? I have read both ways, but it seems counterproductive with potty training. He went from taking himself to the potty pads with no problem, to peeing wherever whenever...unless he wanted a treat. I have seen him very knowingly pee a tiny bit on the pad just so he could run to me and get a treat. Smart-butt. Trying not to use treats at all resulted in a complete potty pad strike. There is NO rhyme, reason, or timing to his pottying that I can see, and I feel like taking him out and him not going potty reinforces that he doesn't HAVE to do anything out there if he doesn't want to. I also can't stand out in the cold for an hour every 20 minutes or so. But again, his potty pad usage went from solid to hit-and-miss. I use Nature's Miracle but still feel like my (rented) house reeks! So. There's that.

Barron always has access to water, his crate, and his Piddle Place. He feels like this is his home, so he is very comfortable with his environment Yes, we tried several differ puppy products, and read hundreds of reviews. You will see from my photo of Barron, we now use the Piddle Place. Order free, no touching pet waste, simple to clean once a week, and the mat drains instantly, so now wet paws. No reeking or pads in the landfill.

I might suggest that you be consistent. In the AM when you dogs wakes up, immediately take him to his potty place and say "go potty". When his goes, immediately give him a treat. There are great training tips at Dog Toilet Training | Teaching your best friend new life skills.
I found that being consistent, showing your pooch what is expected, and I promise your dog wants to p,ease you. Our dogs are naturally clean, they may not want to pee in an area that reeks. Also, perhaps your pup has too much access right now if he is peeing whenever, wherever. Have you thought about a confined area for him? When I started training I bought a play area fence from babys-r-us. I set his crate at one end (door always open). Water and chew toys, and a piddle place. There was really no other obvious area to "go" so he learned to use this quite quickly. As we increased his freedom, he always remembered to come back to his piddle place when he had to go. Arron goes outside when I get home, but uses his indoor dog toilet when I am at work

Be consistent
Offer rewards...and praise
Your little guy will get the idea. Our breed is quite intelligent...and stubborn


2) SLEEEEPPPP!! He WILL soil his crate. Learned that. He CANT sleep in our bed- tries to jump off. Baby gating him into the bathroom with his (open) crate and some puppy pads is a logical answer in theory. I hate putting him in there because I feel like I am abandoning him. He has cried non-stop (I think..I passed out from exhaustion on several occassions)all night. We have had to sleep on the floor in the living room to escape the noise a bit because while I am off for spring break, my partner does have to work during the day. I am just to stick out the crying? I HATE it but is it the right thing to do for all of us? He wants to nap most of the day too, and I know he is little but I feel like the more he sleeps during the day, the less he will sleep at night. BUT I cant keep him from peeing everywhere when he is awake.


LOL. Poor baby...you, not the dog! I know how this feels. Maybe more fun and play during the day will help him sleep at night. Once again, I recommend his own little nest area...his home space. Just remember to make it fun for him so he doesn't see this as punishment Leave toys, chew things, have you seen the "kong". You stick a treat inside and it keeps them busy for an hour

Let me know what happens

In summary....AAAAAHHHHHH!!!!! lol
Help me wise ones!!!

All the best my friend

 

[Inkeri]

Update- Progress...

I figured out why he suddenly went downhill on the potty pads. They were in the laundry room, and I did laundry. He doesn't like the sound of the machines I guess.


Sleep.... Set him up in our room with the baby gate up, pads down, and us on the bed. Puppy dog eyes and desperate need for sleep on our part won him another try for a place in bed. With the gate up and pads down if he got wiggly we could set him down. He passed out happily for the night. Thrilled.

Congrats! Keep up the good work. Usually it is a small thing (like the sound of a machine) that solves the problem.

 

[JPsMOM]

I'm so glad =) now if I can get the rotten little buggar to quit eating the carpet!! Lol tons of chew toys and the carpet is THE BEST!

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[Inkeri]

Haha! Our youngest is a sock-thief. If he sees a sock, he has to steal it (he's even stolen one from my suitcase). He's chewed a few!

 

[Nell]

Bless you! your little fella is certainly having an impact! Just a couple of ideas that might help. Most puppies find it hard to settle at night because they are missing the warmth and comfort of their siblings, a good replacement is a warm hot water bottle wrapped in a blanket for them to snuggle up to. I start my puppies off in an open top crate beside my bed that way I can put my hand down to them to help settle them if they need it. It also means they wake me crying when they need to go out.

Sorry to say this but consistency really is the key to potty training, oh and its also a 24 hour job in the beginning lol! you have to watch them like a hawk...ALL the time. It's all about habit, the longer they wee and poop in doors the harder the habit is to break, the more they wee and poop outside the more it develops the habit of being clean. I do know how frustrating this is but with a new puppy I am usually up at least four times during the night! But it is sooo worth it, its surprising how soon they cotton on and usually can go all through the night within about two to three weeks!! better than any baby can do lol!

Do hang in there, it WILL get better and your little man will pay you back for many years to come!

 

[JPsMOM]

@Inkeri lol! Yeah my guy "helped" me do laundry just today... Mostly the socks actually. He also "helped" me scrub up a few dirt spots by playing tug-o-war with my wet rag as I scrubbed =)

@Nell Thank you for the words of encouragement =)

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[JPsMOM]

So I did some thinking last night after reading Nell's post, and realized I am relying too much on the puppy pads since that is where he wants to go. I started off this morning by taking him out first thing, and after awhile he did wee outside, but then started throwing himself around, sniffing around, eating leavs... Etc so I thought ok he is done. Came back in, and a few bites into his breakfast he ran over and had a bm on the pad before I could even get my shoes on. Not long after he wet right beside the puppy pad. Took him out awhile later, and he did everything but potty. Thought he was going to break his neck tossing himself Around. Finally came back in, squatted on the floor in front of my chair! Waited awhile and took him out, same reaction as before. Came back in, caught him squatting beside the pad. I have read about crating them, taking them out and only allowing them to stay out and play awhile if they potty outside, but he has no problem pottying and laying in it... I have caught him laying down on a wet potty pad. I need to get this right! I'm sorry for all the posting, but I want to get this fixed and done right. I don't want to feel like my baby was a mistake because *I* messed up on potty training! =( that's not his fault.

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[JPsMOM]

Thought I would post something happy again after all my mini panic attacks... Potty progress at least for today! Got the potty pads put away, made sure he was either on a leash, (which helped with leash training), napping in his crate... On a lap... Playing with me... Very conscious of where he was at every single moment. Took a soiled puppy pad outside, and he finally got the idea. Even though it was cold and drizzly, he did wonderful!! Thank you for all your encouragement and advice!

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