I will be getting my puppy in the middle of December, here in Canada it can be cold. How would you toilet train outside in the winter? Even if we go for a couple minutes will that be OK or too cold?
Hi there. We live on Ontario and got our pup January of last year, so I totally understand your apprehension. I won’t lie, it was more difficult than spring/summer training. Getting coats and boots on quickly before an accident happens was hectic. For the first week I was up 2 sometimes 3 times per night - standing outside in -20 or more at 2:30 am was a real eye opener!! Lol That being said, I don’t think my pup appreciated being out in it either, so perhaps this helped her train more quickly. I did find the winter a bit long as she was too young to go out for any length of time to play. This year.....look out!! Are you getting a lab? Gender? Do you have a name picked out? Very exciting times coming up!
Hi. Thank you. Yes she will be a nice yellow lab. A few names but have not decided yet. I was just worried in this cold if it was OK for a pup to be outside for a few minutes. But if you did it at -20 as I understand, it seem to have been fine.
Hi, we also got our pup in January in Ontario. Toilet training in the middle of the night was not pleasant, but she was OK for the short time outside. I agree with@jazzmynn that the biggest problem was getting coat and boots on fast enough to avoid accidents! We did not do pee pads and just immediately started training outside.
I'm in Ontario as well. Oban arrived Dec. 8 of one of our coldest, snowiest winters. We had several days with highs of -30. No pee pads, just out onto the paths the OH snow blowed (snow blew?) The paths were necessary, the snow was far, far too deep for a baby puppy to get through. Oban didn't pee or poop on the paths though, he just used them to access fresh spots in new snow to toilet. He LOVED the snow. WEplayed outside a lot in the daytime but never more than about 10 minutes at a time. ON a few of the colder days he did hold his little toesie woesies up a few times but mostly he was just very active. The snow was so deep he couldn't get through it very far and it helped contain him in our yard. For toiletting, if anything, the cold, especially at night, helped. It was cold, he went out, got the job done, and came right back in. WE left big coats and easy to get into quickly boots always at the door and made sure to NOT LOCK ourselves OUT. Oban did need out twice a night at first.
From all the replies the hardest part was the winter clothing. Maybe I will just turn off the heat in the house and sleep with my jacket and boots on. . I sure appreciate all the replies, helping to ensure I know what to expect and what to do.
My OH always does sleep cold and need lots of warm jammies on, as well as socks at night. He tends to sleep more lightly than me too so I found going out at night to be quite bearable, since he did most of it.
I’m Canadian as well but we were over toilet training before winter hit but the strain will be on you. This breed is tough, they swim in sub zero temps happily. Your pup will be fine.... you may not enjoy it. lol.
Welcome to you. I’ve had a UK winter pup - this isn’t so cold, but involves lots and lots and more lots of rain. I had brolly boots and coat all by the door to put on rapidly, fireman style The up-side is that they are toilet trained much quicker than summer pups as the summer ones find it harder to know the difference between outside and inside if the door is always open. .
Well, we may be a bad example...she was not 100% reliable in the house until 6 months (many here on the forum had pups who were solid well before this age). However, by 12 weeks she slept through the night completely. We did last visit out around 10PM and morning around 6:30AM.
We are in UK and have had ours coming up 8 weeks. Poor lad faced with 2 different exits from house into conservatory, then 2 options from there into garden! We did a puppy relay race first few days so we could guide him quickly depending on where he was at the time! On one hilarious trip he got to a door, only to race all the way back round to the other door and dribbled on the step out! Saying that we have 2 puppy pads left in a pack of 30 and that's all we have needed in 8 weeks. Being colder and wetter does seem to help. First cold night I unearthed a pair of old rubber gardening mule shoes which I never used. Godsend. Slept in socks and shoved on at door. Great in frosty grass at 5.30am, which is getting up time in our place! Thankfully he slept thru from day one so I didn't get the 2am howling!
Ariel took a little longer to get through the night as she had a bad case of giardia. Poor thing couldn’t hold her poo more than a couple of hours. We also had a few middle of the night baths as she had messed her crate (not her fault at all. Once on some meds it helped a lot). On a funny note, Ariel only knew about pooing and peeing on snow. Being born mid-November she wouldn’t have remembered the little bit of grass she may have seen as a newborn pup. So, come spring melt, she was always desperately looking for that little bit of snow to do her business. Lol. She also liked to poo on the highest snowbanks, so pickup was a breeze.
Oban did that too. In a way it was a good thing we had a long winter that year so by the time the snow began to disappear he was able to hold on longer. Because he DId hold on, waiting to find a patch of snow for his bathroom. LOL. ON this theme, be ready with the camera for puppy's first ground without snow. We've all seen videos of how they act seeing their first snow, right? Oban was the same with his first patch of bare ground, which was sand. HE barked at it, he jumped at it, he bit it, he ran around and around it in circles. It was hilarious. Oban needed out twice a night, really needed, for about a month and a half. The he needed out once a night for about a month. He was clean overnight by 4.5 months old. Of course the spring puppy, his predecessor Jet, was able to sleep through the night from the first night.
Great. I am a little stressed since we live in the city and in the winter we see wild rabbits in the back yard. I will have a clear path for her to go and will be with her. But not been fully vaccinated (complete cycle) I am worried she may eat wild rabbit poop I do not see at 2 am. I will make sure there is none during the day. Did you have this issue? Of course I will be asking a vet before I let her out.
I carried Quinn at night, put her down to pee/sniff on leash and carried her back into the house. She wasn't really that lively at night and didn't try to eat anything.
I was more worried about deer poo where I live. But with outside lights on and snow on the ground it was fairly easy to see and avoid. We live somewhat in the country with no streetlights so it’s very dark, and no fenced yard. I was more worried about what animals I might encounter that would scare the daylights out of me!
