Hi I am due to pick up my Labrador puppy in February and I have a question about toilet training at night time; I’m going to be at home so able to take my puppy out into the garden throughout the day however if I were to put puppy pads for night time would that confuse him? trying to figure out a way around taking him out throughout the night as I have a toddler who also disturbs my sleep. if not how often does a puppy need taking out? Thanks
I would highly, highly recommend you take your puppy out at night - and set your alarm clock to do so, rather than waiting for the puppy to wake up. (If you respond to noise, you will reinforce it.) Think about it as a choice between getting toilet training over and done with in 2 weeks, by being consistent and getting up at night - versus having a confused puppy and toilet training dragging on for months because you allow toileting indoors for 50% of that time (night time)... Toddlers and puppies together are a handful and not for the faint-hearted - do have a read around the problems others encounter, on this site, so you can avoid them... There is information on how to deal with night times in this crate training article I wrote: https://thehappypuppysite.com/crate-training-a-puppy/ Good luck!
But how do you do it at night from the beginning if they’re not supposed to be on the ground outside before they are fully vaccinated?
Our puppy Juno is almost 11 weeks old and we’ve had to delay her second vaccination due to a course of antibiotics which means she can’t go out for another two weeks. We have a lot of foxes around here so we’ve not taken the chance of even letting her on the patio, and we’ve had to use pads. My husband has been sleeping downstairs with the dog and I’ve been sleeping upstairs with the toddler! We’ve had Juno for two weeks and for the last few days she has toileted last thing before bed, then again first thing in the morning, and nothing in the night which is great. The first week she had diarrhoea and was pooing around the clock. I can’t wait until she can go outside though. I really hope she prefers it to pooing on the kitchen floor! I’m obviously no expert, but I highly recommend getting a pen to put your puppy in when you need to do other stuff. Juno is very happy in hers, particularly when we are in the same room and it means we can eat in peace - she’s not being fed all kinds by the toddler flinging his food on the floor, and I also put her in there when I need to change a nappy as she tries to lick my son’s ears or run off with the changing mat or nappies and wipes! Also be prepared for your toddler and dog to share chew toys!
thank you - I was thinking I could use the crate for those times but maybe a pen might be better at the beginning until he’s more comfortable in the crate.
We just had a crate at first, but the pen is better and during the day we attach the pen to the crate with the crate door open so she has her bed (crate) and her pen with puppy pads at one end and her water bowl at the other. It stops the toddler interfering with her food and water and gives her somewhere quiet to go if she wants as we leave the pen door open for her to come and go. We just shut it when we need to contain her.
Wowsers, of course you should be taking your puppy outside to your own yard before they are vaccinated - and you should be carrying your puppy everywhere in a shoulder bag and getting them down on the ground in safer areas way before vaccinations are finished. Please, please, please ensure you are prioritising socialisation and not obsessing over the tiny risk of catching one of the very few diseases which vaccinations cover. Far more dogs are put to sleep every day due to behavioural problems caused directly by inadequate socialisation, than the miniscule number which catch parvo or distemper. Do have a read of these links: http://www.drjensdogblog.com/socializing-your-puppy-why-later-is-too-late/ https://news.uoguelph.ca/2018/03/pe...UxodOLr9Wy3aOdYVa7nuE3F4xvjADaOcXvz7OplwcxalM http://deesdogs.com/documents/thepuppysruleoftwelve.pdf http://veterinarymedicine.dvm360.com/early-puppy-socialization-classes-weighing-risks-vs-benefits My own puppies are down on the ground absolutely everywhere from 9 weeks old, after just their first vaccination. And they are toileting in my own yard from the day I bring them home at 8 weeks - never encouraged to go inside. The pups I've owned have been toilet trained from 11 weeks...
Ok, taken this all onboard. What are your thoughts on the puppy pens? Should I use one as well as crate, just the crate, or a crate within a puppy pen for the day for short periods? one more question, what is too cold for a dog? I’m thinking of putting crate in kitchen/ conservatory but worried it will get too cold overnight for him. Thanks
We got Toby in January in the UK. He was in a crate in the kitchen which wasn’t heated overnight. I felt it was too cold for the first few weeks so had a small oil filled electric radiator in kitchen near the crate over night. Crate door was shut. I also put a blanket over the top and sides of the crate to make it cosy. I never used a pen but we took the kitchen door off and put a tall stair gate up so he was confined to that area. We still have that 2 years later as I leave him in the kitchen if I go out or someone comes to the door. Exciting times ahead. Enjoy.
It very much depends on how much you'll be leaving the puppy alone. If the pup will only be left for the odd hour or so, then just a crate is perfect. Toilet training will go much faster without a puppy pen for the pup to toilet in. I raise my pups in the kitchen, which is stairgated off from the rest of the house, with a crate under the kitchen table. Pup is only out of the crate when one of us is in there to supervise - so we do spend a lot of time in the kitchen... If you need to go out for longer periods then it's cruel to keep the pup in a crate when they can't hold on, so they will need to be in an open crate placed within a puppy pen. This will mean toilet training is slowed down because the pup gets used to toileting indoors to some extent, but at least they don't get used to toileting in their actual crate. Leaving aside the temperature, puppies will want to be where they feel the 'heart' or centre or core of the family is. They will not want to be shut away in some peripheral room where you don't spend much time. As for the temperature, I'm a bit of a wuss with puppies here so may not be the best source of info! Our pup is 18wks now and I've left the heating on overnight all winter so far, mainly for her... With older dogs I do put a doggie jumper on them if it's really cold at night, but pups will just chew on a jumper so I can't do that - and I just feel they're not used to the temperatures yet.
thank you. do you have any blogs on; Helping a puppy/ dog not get separation anxiety. I don’t plan on leaving him often or for long periods of time, but of course there will be times when I need to for 3-4 hours, especially as he gets older. information on how often a puppy is likely to need to pee based on age. thank you
