They all get there - I used to just tell myself I didn't know anyone with a dog that peed in the house so he would get there. And of course he did, by about 15/16 weeks we had no more accidents and by about 18 weeks he slept through the night. Those 9 weeks felt like forever at the time, so I completely get how you're feeling but it's very early days and your little man is just getting used to you and you him
It’s good that your husband is happy to take his turn with nighttime’s. Pups do learn very quickly. Make sure you use an enzyme cleaner for accidents inside as most cleaners have ammonia in them and pups will think that’s where they have to go.
I thought about you last night, glad to hear you survived the night, even if it was a bit rocky. Human babies are sooooo much easier, slap a diaper on their butt and a nipple in their mouth and they're good go anywhere. I don't know about about you, but not once did I have to stand outside in the cold at 2am saying "go potty" over and over with a newborn human baby.
Bless your husband The first few nights always have me on ‘high alert’ for every sound! But you soon settle and realise that if he really needs you he’ll raise the roof, then you can sleep. I always leave all the doors open for the first few nights and hear every snuffle, then I realise the pup is fine and shut the doors. I don’t do potty runs at night unless the pup shouts - I find they sleep through quicker that way. But, if they do shout, I make the potty run very boring indeed. .
I know I was very busy with carrying Finn outside into the garden. After playing, sleeping, eating, drinking, etc. I think it was every quarter of an hour, maybe ten minutes....The very first week. Then you start to see when it is necessary he must or wants to go out. You learn to read the pup.
No, Loki got his timings in a muddle! He'll get there, but it might take a while. Looking back (with my rose-coloured spectacles on!) I don't think it took mine long at all to get the hang of night-time, but it's so easy to forget. Use the daytime to take him in the garden, train a cue word to get him to wee/poo, treat (and lots of 'good boy!', then take indoors. Eventually at night he'll associate being taken outside, given the cue word, treat - and straight back to bed!
Take a few deep breaths, what you're describing is very normal and common! I'm assuming Loki is very young (around 8-10 weeks?) and puppies really are not able to hold their bladder and bowels until 12-16 weeks. Until then, it's practicing and trying for the right timing. He will learn to potty outside and like stated above, you will probably have a decent amount of accidents in the house. Make sure his kennel isn't too large, you really only want it big enough for him to be able to comfortably turn around and lay in (they are less likely to potty in their kennel if they can't get away from it). Tears and frustrations are very normal when bringing home a puppy, this is a big change for all involved! Soon time will be flying by and you will be wondering where the time went when he was an itty bitty baby.
This is what I would like to do. If he stirs and makes noise during the night, go to take him out rather than wake him from his sleep. But nothing I've read said to do that so guessed it wasn't a good idea. Is he likely to stir and cry from his crate when he needs to wee?
I think this is what's thrown me because he seems to go about an hour to 2 hours during the day between wees, unless he's eaten/drank. Therefore I think he will go longer at night? Think I'll find out soon enough lol
It's only recommended to do this if they have a pen rather than a crate so they can pee away from their "den". It works for some puppies. Not so much for others *cough* squidge! @snowbunny My Stanley always shouted if he needed to go so I didn't have to set alarms to get up and take him. He just barked and we went out the straight back to bed. He took a little while to sleep through though, he was about 18 weeks x
Yes, most pups do. But I had one who only shouted after she’d weed . So I just had plenty of fresh bedding to quickly change it. This phase doesn’t last long at all. Keir didn’t shout at all, he just slept through .
Yeah, I went for the crate-in-pen option with Squidge, thinking it would be a great option for us. Not so much. She would just wee or poo wherever she felt like it, then roll in it and shout. I was getting up more in the night than I ever had with my other two and having to clean her and the pen several times a night. It was tiresome, to say the least! Eventually, I decided to just use the crate and set an alarm like I had done with my previous pups. That is absolutely not to say that I think the crate-in-pen arrangement is inferior to the crate-and-alarm arrangement. It depends on your puppy. Squidge took a bloomin' age to manage to go through the night. She still sometimes even can't now - and she's 17 months!
I thanked Swiffer WetJet everyday for awhile...I took up my rugs and just have the hardwood floors so if there's an oops I can clean it fast and easy. I count my lucky stars that Moose slept thru the night from day 1. I've only had maybe 3 nights where I had to get up because his tummy wouldn't settle for some reason, and he barked and whined so I'd let him out. With the milder weather coming maybe you can leave her out (yard?) for a longer period of time...and I still always rush Moose out the door every time he takes a big drink.
I haven’t got up to take a puppy outside in the night (I’ve had three puppies). I’ve had them in a dog bed ( not crate) in my bedroom with the floor covered with newspaper and anything dangerous/ precious blocked off or out of reach. Getting a proper night’s sleep meant I was fresh and good-tempered with the pup the next day. (I did get up early -any cry after 5.30 I was willing to call morning.) If the pup cried in the night I just made ‘there-there’ noises without getting up. They all slept through and stopped weeing overnight within a few days. And they all gradually slept longer in the mornings. It didn’t seem to make any difference to day-time toilet training.
