hello so I have been posting here loads at the moment. My pup is 9 weeks old and potty training is going well in the day however I am a terribly light sleeper and have 2 kids at home 7 and 2 so really need my sleep. If I continue to train well in the day but don't take him out in the night will that set back my training? Last night I didn't even hear him whine. I slept on the sofa just in case he needed me. He is left in the kitchen with open crate and toys and baby gate so he is safe but when I came in this morning he has pooped twice and done a wee (sorry tmi) and that was 6am. I just don't think I can cope without sleep with the two kids and the puppy. Any advice would be wonderful!
Go to bed and get some sleep! With 2 kids and a puppy you need it. Seriously, if you house train during the day and clear up any overnight accidents thoroughly in the morning, then eventually your puppy will be clean overnight as well.
I find that if you put the pup in a crate they tend not to want to soil it. I went to bed and waited for him to wake me when he wanted to go, first of all this was at about 5am and then in no time at all, when he was about 10 weeks, he was sleeping until we woke at about 8am. It does get better, the first few weeks are the worst. @Joy's advice is so true.
Thank you both so much. I don't want to not put enough effort in but I also don't want to be so sleep deprived I can't function but don't want him to think he can go in the house whenever he pleases!
I have a pup every year - two this year and another coming in October. I can't lose that much sleep, I'm past all that by many years! So, when my pups are little I use a puppy pen and puppy pads at night. When they start to shred the puppy pads (usually after a week or so) they just have the bare floor. It doesn't set back their toilet training one bit. When their bladders are strong enough to hold it in at night they hold it in. Each pup is different in how long the process takes and how quickly their bladders mature. ...
You'll be surprised at how fast they become clean overnight. If you want to avoid accidents then all you have to do is set your alarm and take him out. 12 am and 5 am are common starting points, but it depends on your pup. Then you stretch it out bit by bit. It's easier than getting up with a baby because you're only up for a couple of minutes and can collapse back into bed and fall asleep much easier (at least I found it easier).
I just wanted to say there is no such thing as tmi when it comes to dog poop and wees, it's all we dog owners care about. If it's too hard, too soft etc. so I wanted to welcome you to the club. And it is getting better fast with puppies, when I mentioned to my husband I want a pup he said oh no it will poop, pee and chew everything and it is my responsibility. Guess what.. Within 2 weeks she was fully house trained and never chewed anything she shouldn't unless my 2year old hides her toys, we did bring her home at 12 weeks though.. (She was a leftover due her overbite but my perfect fit). It's so nice now when she's 6months and dropped all those sharp puppy teeth and the memory of when she had an accident in the house is fading and you can barely remember it ever happened.
Molly has a pen rather than a crate and one of the reasons was so I wouldn't have to get up in the night. She had pads at one end and after a few weeks stopped using them. I don't think it detracted from toilet training and meant I got to sleep
My new puppy was in a pen from the start, and never had any accidents overnight. I went to bed late, OH got up early, and she was dry and clean overnight from day one.
Sorry - that sounded a bit smug - and it's not helpful when people just say 'oh, this bit was effortless for me'. I didn't mean it like that, I meant using a pen was fine, and didn't set her house training back one little bit.
Well....it is annoying when someone posts with a problem, and gets a reply 'oh, that wasn't a problem for me at all' - that's just not helpful! Anyway....
I'm hoping to get lucky with my next pup. Kara was a widdle monster and needed watching like a hawk. I'm sure she weed every half hour in the first two weeks! She did just one wee each night at the end of her pen and I think that was because her nights were long (10pm to 7:30am) as my husband was away and we couldn't do late and early shifts. That's the best solution 'tho, if you can do it. With the next pup I'm not giving treats for wees. I think Kara stopped mid wee in hopes of a treat, so wasn't properly empty after each one. ...
I'm having a nightmare with my pup at the moment! Just found out he has a UTI so doesn't help the potty training!!!
Aw poor thing, that might be a cause he do things at night too if he's not feeling well. Hope he recovers fast and that you can get some sleep soon. If he poops at night so much, I'm curious when you feed him last time for the day? I used to feed Millie at 7am, 12, and 5pm then a snack in the evening. Well I still do, silly girl won't go to her bed until she gets her banana.
