11 week old female Labradoodle.... HELP!!!

[Tammy VanKampen]

Our family got a LD a month ago and have been doing everything by the books and according to the advice of a 30 year dog trainer in our area.
My frustration currently (among the many) is the fact that she goes in her crate about 10:30-11 pm and can hold her pee and poo until 6am!! During the day she can't be in her crate for any longer than 2 hours!! I came home today from a doctors appt and she pee'd and pooped in her crate for the 100th time (after pooping twice this morning before I left and peeing 5 times outside! :( I am beyond frustrated and not sure what to do at this point.

Another issue we have is she will occasionally pee in her crate (even if she is in it for an hours time) and she will lick up her own urine! I know she does this because I have caught her in the act and her paws will be soaked and smell horrid!

I can provide more info if needed- I just NEED some other advice from others that have gone through this!

[Nancy, Ned, Clancy, and Charlie]

Tammy, people were not trying to upset you.  Responses were made to your original discussion post. We had no idea if you were a first time dog owner or an experienced one. It would have been helpful if you had posted all of your information first so you could have avoided receiving some of the replies that seemed insulting to you.  We really are not trying to attack you but to educate you. We are telling you of OUR experiences and mistakes. I have a dog from a backyard breeder who has lots of health problems.  I didn't know any better when I got him, and if I had continued to be closed to listening to the inherent problems posed by poor breeding, I would never have learned a darn thing.  Our advice is kind of like throwing out everything we can think of to see what might fit your situation.

You may not know it but a huge number of doodle puppies have UTIs or Giardia when they arrive.  This is so common that people want to make sure you check for those things.  Giardia, especially, is quite hard to detect and clear up. 

Keeping the crate area small is one of the huge solutions and works for most people.

A huge number of people do not know how often puppies need to go potty.  They also think that if they can hold it for hours at night, they should be able to hold it for hours during the day.  A huge number of people think they can housebreak a dog in days - some dogs are amazing and this happens, but not usually. Some dogs have large bladders from the get-go, and some dogs need evening water drinking limited well into adulthood.

Others have gotten their pups around 6 weeks, but it is generally recommended that they are at least 2 weeks older for lots of good reasons. 

Housebreaking puppy, like potty training a child, is very frustrating and messy.  Not my favorite parenting time... :-}  Now that I am a grandparent, I figured I could avoid the whole potty thing, but noooooo here I am taking my granddaughter potty again time after time when she visits to avoid the wet couch and clothing changes.... :-}  Good thing that I love her so much....

[Star and Goldie]

Tammy, this is yet another thing that I can relate to you on! I'm seeing a theme here between us relating!

When I first came to DK, I felt intimidated. I posted a question for help and the responses that I got made me feel a certain way that at first didn't sit well with me. It took me a while to soak in those words and look at the intent. It was so easy to mistake passion as an attack when in reality it was the furthest thing from an attack. The members of this community are very passionate about their doodles and there are some very well educated people here which to me was intimidating because I felt like I was always doing the right thing and it's a tough pill to swallow when I realized that maybe I could have been doing some things better. I decided to look past the words I was seeing in black and white and look to the heart of the intent.

I can tell you with absolute certainty that no one's response was meant to offend you in any way. It is all too easy to read words of a stranger and place our own interpretations on them. I really fell victim to that but once I opened my mind to the plethora of opinions here everything fell into place. To be of the most help one can be they have to ask probing questions and sometimes those probing questions can strike a cord with us and make us feel like we are being accused of doing something wrong. I want you to know that this is a community that will love your little pup as if we are a member of it's extended family. Everyone here has the best interest of everyone's doodles in mind.

Now as for your situation, I would recommend trying to put something in her crate like a bed or blanket. The reason I say this is because if she was in a crate at the breeders then it's possible that she learned the behavior that that is the safe place to pee and poop and if she is just on the crate pan it may feel like an open space that's allowed to be used. If it feels comfy inside to her she may learn that it's her space and not a place to soil in. I bought a water resistant crate pad for Goldie when I decided to take the puppy divider panel out.

I do actually feel that her being brought home at 6 weeks definitely plays into the problem. No one would pass judgment on YOU for this but it does make me question why a breeder would do that. In fact, in some states it's even illegal. The puppy is considered 'underage' at 6 weeks old. Bringing a puppy home to early, even if the puppy appears to be healthy and socialized can lead to behavioral problems and the issue you are having is mentioned in several places as a symptom of being taken away from the momma and litter mates too soon.

My sister got a black lab that was released to her at 6 weeks of age. Unfortunately, Champ ended up having a slew of behavioral problems. He had housebreaking, crate training issues, he is incredibly aggressive and possessive. She was almost to the point of surrendering him when she enrolled him a doggy boot camp!

Now, that doesn't mean that your puppy is subject to always have issues. She definitely has one thing working in her favor... YOU! You have come to the right place and this community will help you through this with open arms... if you'll let us!

Keep us posted!

Here is more info on the laws around a puppy being sold early.

http://www.animallaw.info/articles/ovuspuppysalelaws.htm

Your breeder may be exempt from this, for whatever reason (maybe location or breeding license type, etc) but the fact that this is out there should make any breeder (even BYB's) follow this since it's truly in the puppies best interest.

[BG and Gavin]

Six weeks is very young to be separated from the litter.  It is not only best practice to wait until 8 weeks, it's the law in many states.  The result is she may be "behind" a bit. You may also notice that she has issues with bite inhibition. 

I think the crate anxiety angle that someone else brought  up may be at play.  If you are not already doing so you can leave her in the crate for short periods of time while you are at home or putting her in the crate, leaving for 10 minutes and returning without any fanfare.  I like that you are tethering her to yourself.  This is an great exercise because you can be consistent showing her limits and it is bonding.  Take a deep breath - this too shall pass - and before you know it she will be great.  We trained Gavin with a set of bells hung at the back door.  We rang them each time we went out until he eventually learned how to ring them himself.  Do a search for "potty bells" for discussions on that.

[Nicky, Riley & Boris]

Star is a star and what she writes here is 100% correct. It is easy to mistake passion and questions for judgement.  You have absolutely come to the right place for all the help possible. There are the most wonderful caring doodle parents here who have years of experience based on lots of issues they have worked through.  They will be here for you and stick by you to help you through your problems and most definitely never intentionally upset anyone. If your puppy is a little behind due to leaving her Mum and siblings too early then this potty training may just take a little longer than expected.  You mention that she is licking the urine, I wonder if she is standing in it and licking her paws.  Sitting in urine cant' be a good thing and you may need to check her paw pads for irritation or soreness.  I would put some salve on her pads (lots of us here use Mushers Secret)    Also check her feeding schedule.  If you are free feeding then it is more difficult to time the poops.  If she is on a schedule (which is better) then perhaps write down when she poops and see if there is a pattern.  You may be able to shift the timing of feeds a little to fit in better with yours? Two hours is too long to 'hold it' at her age.  I would say an hour maximum which of course makes it very difficult when you have a busy house to run.  Can you get someone to come in on the days when you will be out for longer? I think having someone to help you with this during the day and during this period may be something to consider if possible.

For potty training mine I used clicker training very successfully, clicking and treating when they went outside and generally doing a happy dance.  Catching them having an accident and whipping them up in my arms and running outside to finish was the best way I found to speed up the training.  For sure, this period is most exhausting.  My five month old  Boris is only now pretty much reliable and hasn't had an accident for over a month.