Hi My labrador puppy (Poppy) turned 8 weeks on Monday. We are following Pippa's guide to toilet/crate training (let the puppy out every set time interval and if she doesn't do a pee then pop her in the crate for 10 minutes, then repeat). However Poppy seems to be able to last for a couple of hours rather than the 30 minutes expected in the book. If I follow the guide to the letter then she'll end up spending lots of time in her crate. Has anyone else come across this? Should I extend the time interval? Thanks for any thoughts in advance!
I don't think you need to put Poppy in the crate for toilet training. I just popped my puppy out every hour or so, after eating and immediately after waking up. Just be vigilant and look for the signs! Of course there will be times to put Poppy in her crate, when you need to go out and leave her in a safe place, or doing housework when you can't keep your eye on her etc.
The guidelines are just that - guidelines. You have to adjust them to the individual puppy. The crate is simply a tool to be used if you think your puppy is nearly ready to go; pups that get distracted from the job in hand whilst in the garden, for example, you would bring back in, pop into the crate and try again after a few minutes, when the urge to wee is stronger again. It absolutely doesn't mean that your puppy needs to be in the crate all the time she's not out for toileting.
Thank you. Don't worry she hasn't been in her crate all the time whilst not out for toileting! I've been watching her like a hawk instead. I'm going to try just taking her out after she's either woken up, eaten, drunk or played a lot rather than a precise time interval (probably amounts to at least once an hour anyway). Then if she doesn't I'll do what you suggest - crate and try again after a few minutes.
Hi @HannahandPoppy if you take Poppy out after every sleep, play, feed and/or every 30 minutes or so you won't go far wrong. If Poppy doesn't toilet when taken out I often introduce a few minutes of training - a great opportunity for puppy to stay close to you and work against distractions. If there still isn't a successful wee I take pup back indoors and watch like a hawk and try again around 15 minutes later. You soon start learning your pups indicators that they need to toilet
Hi @HannahandPoppy Bailey was exactly the same - we started off taking him out immediately after waking, eating, playing - and while he enjoyed this time outside investigating, it could take a good hour or more before he needed to produce anything! After eating there was no poo for nearly two hours - in fact now he eats and within half an hour wants to go out. He also refuses to do anything in the back garden now - I think once he realised there was a great big outside he would rather be out of the garden to get busy as there maybe a chance he will meet a playmate!
I definitely needed to read this. I was getting a bit down because in Pippa's book it says from 9 weeks you can move on to stage 2 where they've not had any accidents for a few days, but we've only managed one or two days so far! Fairly sure I was still having accidents at 10 weeks old though ha! So thanks
All of our dogs have been different. I think the best advice is to find a toilet routine that suits your dog.
