Hi All and welcome from Mississauga, Ontario, Canada! I have been a big lurker in this forum, trying to read and prepare as best I can for our beautiful baby girl. My wife and I brought home Nala, a beautiful 8 week and 1 day puppy yesterday morning! Day 1: She was doing great (no accidents on the 1.5 hour way home, no accidents in the house) and seemed to be adjusting very well to her crate. We were also making a conscious effort of rewarding/playing with her after she went pee outside. The first day was going perfectly and we even started "loading" the clicker at her dinner mealtime. At night though, it was a completely different story. I woke her up and let her out at midnight for what I thought was the last walk until my 2:30 am alarm, and she went pee. Piece of kibble for treat and then back to her crate. Having read the Happy Puppy (only available on Kindle and not hardcopy from Amazon.ca) I read to ignore the puppy while crying and not to reward this behaviour. 10 minutes later she had pooed in her crate and I felt TERRIBLE. Our last meal was at 6p.m. and we figured that she might not need to go as I was reading that puppies typically go 15-30 minutes after their meal. We cleaned her up, washed her crate, put a new bed but her blankie from the breeder had poo on it and I had to wash it as well. From then on she slept until we woke her at 3 where she went pee but refused to settle and sleep in the crate so we stroked her and sat close to her for 15-20 minutes until she fell back asleep. 5:30 was the last time she needed to pee that night. Question: Do you recommend ignoring the "ignore the puppy while crying rule" for the first little while until the puppy is crate trained a little better? I was so worried and disgusted with myself for the rest of the night for making her "ruin" her den instincts . Day 2: After a long and tiring night, Nala breakfast in the morning and promptly went to poo outside 15 minutes later. She has been going outside every 30-45 minutes today, but we find that she is not needing to use the washroom that often. She also seems to have picked up the habit of eating leaves and grass which we grab from her mouth as best we can. I tried bringing a chew toy out with us to replace when she starts to chew, but she then thinks it's play time and gets too excited which I don't want to encourage before she pees. Visited the vet today as well: ~12lbs, good health and front adult teeth are coming in (which helps to explain some of the biting). Next set of boosters will be 2 weeks. The vet mentioned a pheromone smell that I can spray on the bedding to help sooth the puppy, has anyone used one before? We will also try their suggestion of having a warm water bottle in her crate. -Any recommendations to get her to focus on using the potty rather than leaves, twigs, etc.? -Should I limit Nala from napping during the day (maybe after dinner time) and really try to tire her out before bed? -She is very attached to us. How much pen time with lots of toys is appropriate for her age? We have found frozen kongs with her kibble to be helpful and we have been using the clicker for silence periods, but she does whine when we are not paying attention to her. Sorry for the super long post with all the questions, just trying to do the best for my little Nala! I am sure there will be more posts with more questions. Here are some pics to end it off, and some belated "xmas" photos from when we visited the breeder 3 weeks ago. I hope they work, because they don't seem to be showing up in the preview.
Hi and welcome to you and Nala from me and my boy Bailey (an 11 month old fox red nutter). Nala is absolutely beautiful such a sweet looking little girl. Those more experienced than me can give you a lot of good advice. We had Bailey's crate by our bed but from day one he slept through, although we had to get him outside first thing in the morning. He didn't cry in his crate at all and we had a pee pad in there together with his bed (looks tiny now!). He didn't have any accidents in his crate - I think we just got very very lucky with him. Eating grass and leaves was one of Bailey's favourite pastimes. Is your garden large enough to put a small pen outside so that Nala goes in there just to wee and poo and then can have playtime? Bailey did seem to have one area that he went each day to do his business, then we treated and had a play before coming back inside. He also seemed to poo a lot when he was smaller, no rhyme or reason - also he didn't want to go directly after eating, it was more like and hour or so after eating that he needed to go, then it was twice each time. Now he's older his routine is more predictable but he now refuses to toilet in the back garden, luckily there is a grass area at the bottom of our road where we walk him first thing. Good luck and keep taking lots of pictures as they are only small for such a short time
You havent 'ruined' not messing in the den. Ours went from whimpering to outright wailing in the crate and on checking she'd done the same BUT we had enough room in her crate for a puppy pad in one corner which she had used. So took her outside (that was the second time that night) and then cleaned it up. She never did it again - that was the first night with us. Use to go out twice a night to start with then once then all the way through. She only whimpered I think the first two or three nights then it was only when she wanted to go outside. Take her outside to the 'spot' on a lead and then when she goes lots of praise and back inside - ours has a thing for playing at times but we tap the door frame or tell her be quick come inside there's food and she comes running (and there is always a small handful of food - bribing at 2am is better than waiting or goingout there!). Dont worry about keeping her awake - small puppies dont take long to crash and they will learn routine eventually that in crate in dark it sleeping time (or keeping entertained with quiet chew toys then sleeping).
What a stunning little girl! I think for the first couple of nights it's actually worth sleeping in the same room as the puppy - either have the crate or a box next to your bed, or else sleep on the couch. My pup more or less slept through the night from the word go - but we had an older Labrador who slept next to her crate, which made her feel more secure, I think.
Every puppy is different, so you really just need to get into the "rhythm" of yours. Mine, at nearly 13 weeks, still needs to wee at all the normal times - after play, eating, drinking, on waking. I have a pen in the garden I pop her in. If she needs to go, she'll start sniffing. If she doesn't need to go, she'll either sit down or stand up against the side. The first night, she pooed at least six times and maybe more (I lost count). I went for the crate in pen arrangement, but it didn't work for us, so I've gone back to a crate and alarm, which I prefer. Luna is in the bedroom with me for convenience, as the bedroom is where the garden door is - it's an upside-down house. Until you understand her a bit better, I'd be tempted to take her out every time she cries. Just don't talk to her or interact with her any more than you have to. Pick her up, carry her to her spot and, once she's done, give her a treat and carry her back to bed. If she learns you're boring at night, she should stop crying for attention, because she doesn't get it.
She is so cute. It appears you are a day ahead of me. I got home with Maddie yesterday. She didn't sleep the whole night either. I ignored the whining but when she got real fidgety and chewing the bed pad and the crate I took her out and seemed like that was her sign to poo. The rest of the time if she whined for longer then a few minutes in there after I put my hand in I would take her out and she would usually wee. I have a small car crate in my room with me that I will use for the next night or two while I get her used to the crate. Good luck and it seems like we are on a similar path with our pups. -Josh
