So I need some help please. Our puppy is now 8 weeks old and has been with us for a week. Think we have cracked the sleeping at night and are slowly falling into a routine but something has happened tonight which I just can't understand. It is 12.30 am over in the UK, so for those in other parts of the world it may make better sense. So I have worked from home today and decided to work downstairs rather than in my office so I could sit with our puppy. It's not been too cold today so we sat outside me on the step on my lap top and Daisy, our puppy, in the back garden where we had our dinner a bit of playing and she had a sleep. She went to the toilet several time and was praised eveytime. About 3pm I was needed to get ready to walk up and pick my daughter up from school so put my coffee mug in the sink. I had no sooner put my mug in the sink than Daisy ran in, peed on the kitchen floor ran out and carried on playing outside, so say I was disappointed and confused was an understatement.... Then tonight I sat outside with her for about 30 minutes when she went to the toilet and played, she then came in and again went to the toilet and ran out.... Then to top it off tonight at 11pm I got a hot drink, stood outside in the garden with her while she did her business and put her to bed in her crate. Literally no more than 10 minutes later she started whining which normally indicates she's needs a number 2, so I went into the kitchen to find she had gone twice in her crate and peed again, to say I was upset is an understatement. Can anyone please explain to me why she all of a sudden won't go outside but comes in to go to the toilet as we have a couple of good days and this has left me totally confused as what I'm doing wrong, help would be appreciated .. Thanks
Hello Nickrv, 8 weeks is very, very young. Much too young to expect full bladder and bowel control.... They're like little babies I think your puppy sounds perfectly normal! It is certainly not abnormal for a puppy to go outside, come inside, and go on the floor soon after! It took weeks and weeks before my now 5 month old puppy was fully potty trained, and I'm certain that if I didn't stay on top of things he could have an accident even now. Keep being consistent with potty training and rewarding for going outside. What size crate is she using? She should be able to get up, turn around, and lay down comfortably, but no bigger than that. Just FYI, there are Lots and lots of good resources on this site from potty training to other behaviors that you may come across.
Well, first of all, it's early days yet. You've only had her for a week, so don't expect that she will have completely been toilet trained at this point. Puppies thrive on a schedule, so if you keep taking her out at regular times (not too long apart, as she is so little) and keep praising her when she goes outside (giving a treat helps too) she will be getting the idea that outside is the toilet place and not inside. It also sounds like you keep the door open? That can muddle things up for the pup, too. She doesn't have a real conception of inside and outside if you don't have a closed door in between. I do wonder about the peeing in the crate, though. It is possible that she migh have a bladder infection, which will cause her to pee without having much control over it (and she doesn't have much, at this point, anyway, but still). Dogs don't normally soil their sleeping spaces unless the space is bigger than what is needed for sleeping. If she continues to pee more than usual, and especially in her crate, I would have the vet check her over.
Your not doing anything wrong. Jake's only 13 weeks, so I've been through this very recently, and it does get better don't worry The first few days we thought we'd cracked his timing, out every 30 minutes, 3 treats for doing his business outside (counted out as 1,2,3, thanks Julie T), and lots of praise. Come the second weeks, we were having accidents galore in the house, we ended up having him out every 15 minutes. We did find Jake drank lots, and lots of water in those first two weeks, but our vet wasn't worried, he said that some puppies do drink a lot, plus house temperatures vary, so our could be hotter than the breeders etc. We found by 12 weeks he's lasting longer, and as long as we're on top of taking him out and not letting him wander himself he's much, much better. He pee'd and poo'd in his crate a few times in the night too, but again at 8 weeks, if they need to go, they need to go, no holding. I agree with Lisa about the door, no unsupervised access to outside, eyes on at all times, otherwise you don't know if she's been or not. I think we spent more time standing outside waiting on Jake to do his business in the first 3 weeks than we did in the house, or it felt like it anyway
Oh yep, I'm with you there! I think Ella's baller control was at its best when we were outside waiting for her to 'go'! Like others have said, don't get too disheartened, it is a slow process but one day not long from now you'll suddenly realise that you can't remember the last time Daisy had an accident inside. I think the thing that helped me was to stop thinking like an accident had put us back to square one. Instead I started to reflect on how much she had improved. Good luck! ☺☺
At 8 weeks old your puppy is very much a baby and the lack of accidents in the first days probably more luck than bladder control. You job is now to teach your puppy the correct place to toilet by frequent trips outside and they soon get to know although having free access does seem to prolong the training by confusing the pup as to where the right place is. I view any accidents indoors as my mistake not the puppy. It was me that failed to either take him/her out frequently enough or failed to pick up the signals. A puppy is like a human baby - it knows no better but gradually learns control.
I have to agree with the girls, you are expecting way too much from your puppy. At eight weeks they simply do not have the ability to control their bladder and bowels. Frequent trips to the garden is the key. The more often you are in the garden when they "go" and the lavish the praise (and treats) you heap on them, the sooner they will get the idea. Make sure you clean up any indoor accidents with a proper enzyme cleaner, otherwise it will leave a whiff, undetectable to humans, that will say "this is the place to pee"to the dog. I trained Molly at this time of year. Standing in the garden with a torch was not my idea of fun, but necessary. I would say that she had the idea of what was needed by about 10 to 12 weeks, though it was a little longer before she was reliable. I always regarded her accidents as my failing, not hers, she was never chastised for it. I always find it strange that dogs, with their lower I.Q.s are so much easier to toilet train than humans. I would say accidents were rare after 14 weeks and unheard of by the time she was six months, but you are very lucky if you can get a human to have control before they are two years old
