At the moment our wee ( Velociraptor ) Labrapup is 10 weeks and doing well as long as we take him out. He was lasting longer than half hour but we hit a set back a few days ago and have gone back to the every half hour rule when he's awake. So, here's the question and problem. Our back garden is 3 foot higher than the back door so there's 4 steps up to it. We fenced the back area off as it's clearly puppy suicide. Our last Lab was 16 months when he arrived in our home so stairs and leaping on and off walls wasn't an issue. I do wonder though that because we can't leave our back door open as it also has 2 small steps down that perhaps the connection between toileting outside and 'the need to go' just won't click as he never walks to his toilet area. He's got his 'cue word' for going.. but can't use that in the house ;-) At the moment the best I can do is say .. need outside? .. pick him up , carry him out and then say .. outside .. for .. Just try build connections in his Brain . At 10 weeks it's a while till he'll be able to go up and down those steps although at 10 weeks he's 8.7KG so it won't be long until carrying him will be difficult! Any ideas , thoughts advice.. what have other people done regards similar situations with stairs?
I have the same - two steps which are too high for Twiglet (9 weeks old) to manage. I have hung some bells by the door and I am training her to ring them when she wants out. I let her play with them too as I think she'd be confused if she was allowed to touch them some times and not others. I ring them every time we go out, and I have started to touch her nose to them as we go out too - depending on how urgent it is! Yesterday she rang the bells twice to be let out! Just once today, but it's early days yet .
She hasn't tried to rip them off the chain ? .. I'm just visualising our destructapup managing to learn to ring them not eat them! If I can get hold of bells that aren't easy broken or destroyed this sounds like a god idea as I could ring them when we go out and when he wees and see if he starts to connect the two..but those bells are gonna have to be on a strong chain and not able to be broken off and swallowed by our lad who is not small !
She's played with them and pulled at them, but they have held up fine (so far!) They all find their own way to ask in the end. My Tatze says 'huff' at the door, which is ideal. But Gypsy used to whine to go out, but also whine for attention - so I never knew when to ignore her (attention) or take her out (busys) so we both got a little confused. It took me ages to teach her not to whine for attention! So, this time, I am trying the bells!
When Juno wants to go out in the evening she goes to the front door. If we haven't noticed she comes and sticks her head round the door in to the living room and just looks at us until we get up, but it's quite rare for her to ask in the evening or any other time of the day. Her normal routine is up in the morning and outside before breakfast, a short walk or training session around 12:00 afternoon walk anytime from 15:00 to 18:00 depending on weather and the walk itself, a walk around the garden and play after dinner around 19:30 and then bedtime around 23:00
Murphy just does a desperate, quick, run to the kitchen where the back door is and thats his 'sign' - Id love him to be able to stand at the door and bark or something, but at the moment he only ever barks in the car (which is a blessing I guess). I thought about using a bell too, but I wouldnt have been able to hear it from upstairs, and with two children they would have been jingling it away all the time! I guess they all get there! Murphy is 14 weeks today, clean overnight and weeing between 1-2 hours in the day (or after waking/meals) - massively different to 10 weeks so he will get there!
Perseverance then , he's been awake and on the go for most of the day .. don't know where puppy naps went today. So, anytime he either went to the back door or the kitchen babygate if that was closed I took him out and the odd time in between. So far we've been fine overnight but he's not really left more than 5 hours as Hubby up at 3.30 as he starts work very early and I'm up at 6.30 .. beginning to drag it closer to 7 as I'm the sort that hits snooze a few times normally so beginning the 'snooze hitting' practice runs now aiming for Pupster not expecting me to rapidly appear when the alarm sounds...
