We have just collected an 8 week old bitch puppy from her breeder, who runs a good quality commercial shoot in Devon, England. She is very affectionate but quite 'independent' with the usual range of puppy interests, notably picking at any loose or dangling items in the room in preference to authorised toys. so, unless we are able to keep a close eye on her, we have to keep her in her crate. She made a promising start with toilet training. We followed advice in The Happy Puppy Handbook and so long as we were at our country home which has a large garden this seemed to work. When we come to town however, the restricted space in our mini garden causes problems. She seems incapable of focussing on performing her 'duties'. In an effort to concentrate her mind we have, on advice of friends, put her on a lead but this hasn't helped much. She simply plays with the lead. She frequently has to be returned to her crate with no play period It is now 5.15pm London time but she has only 'peed' and pooped once today. Any advice?
Just to clarify, how long have you had her? How old is she now? I bought a small pen, like you would have for guinea pigs, for focussing the mind of my puppy on going to the loo. It worked very well.
We have had her We have had her 5 days. she is 8 weeks 5 days old. She is kept in a pen used for our last lab when she was a puppy
It sounds as if the new sights, sounds and smells are more interesting to a young pup having been introduced to a new environment so soon. I've tried the pen set up for toilet training outside but it's not worked for my pups so far. I would be rather concerned about a puppy that hasn't pee'd and poo'd all day. Has she been eating her meals and drinking water?
OK, so you've had her five days? I'd say, chill out The way you write, sounds like you've moved her between your country house and London house more than once (correct me if I'm wrong). Even doing that once in five days - that's a lot for a brand new puppy to digest. You're asking a hell of a lot from a tiny puppy to be able to concentrate on toileting in even one environment in that time, let alone two. Then you talk about introducing the lead. Has your tiny puppy had enough time to get to understand a collar and lad? No chance. Not in that small amount of time. No wonder she's more interested i chewing it - it's a weird new thing she's not had to deal with before. I think you're asking too much. Give her time to get used to her environment. Give her time to get used to every new thing you're throwing at her. It's a bit boring, granted, but that's what puppies are - tedious, biting, pooing and weeing machines. It's a good job they're cute, because the rest of it is pretty dull! This... well, I'd say two things. If you only have one puppy, no, you don't need to keep her in her crate. You need to puppy-proof the area she's allowed out in. That's easy; remove everything that's not bolted down. Maybe consider getting a puppy pen instead, so she has room to play without harming herself or your materials. But, to be honest, the first couple of weeks, you should be committing to your puppy, so you watch her pretty much the whole time, except when she's sleeping. It's exhausting, but part of the puppy parcel
