Housebreaking Schedule? Please help!!!

[Vanessa and Monty]

My 8 week old puppy, Monty, is doing great with housbreaking....except in the mornings! We have him sleep in his bed instead of crating him. Every morning we wake up we find poop and pee on the floor. And i woke up at 5:30 am to take him out but it was too late. He already pooped and peed on our bedroom floor. At night, the last time we take him out is at 11. We are definitely going to crate him now 

What can we do? During the day he hasn't had an accident since a few days ago, other then the morning accidents. Help please!!! What was your schedule for an 8-11 week old puppy?

I just got my puppy last Friday and he settled in just fine. He is a bundle of joy and love. Any tips and advice would also be appreciative :)

[Allyson, Peri & Taquito]

I would DEFINITELY still be crating him at night.  I think we crated Peri until she was about 5 months old - then she slept on her bed in our room.  This is normal - your puppy is so little, it's hard for them to hold it so long. And I think at 9 weeks, when we brought Peri home, we still took her out once a night (around 2-3am) for the first week or two.  She would whine in her crate - they do not like to pee/poop where they have to sleep.  It's better for them to be in a confined area right now.

[Ginny Nightingale]

OMD!! Of course, you must crate him!!! Yes, yes, yes! And he may have to go out at 2 or 3 am for a week or so and then will start making it until 5 or 6 am. You do not want him to get into the habit of going potty on the floor during the night--you must change that right away. He could also get into big trouble while you are asleep--he is WAY too young to be trusted at night. Most people have their pups in a crate until a year old or even older. (Some dogs sleep in the crate at night for their whole lives.) Dogs will not go potty in their sleeping place, so this it the way to teach him not to go at night until you take him out. If the crate is very large, divide it off so that he just has enough room to sleep, or he will turn the other section into his "potty area".

He should not have any food or water after 6 pm, and he should be taken out every 45 minutes to an hour for a potty break. If you are not watching him he should be in his crate--these are the rough weeks--you need to get him used to the crate or he will start howling when he goes in there--try short periods, then longer and longer until he can rest in his crate for naps and when you are showering, etc.Feed him in the crate and give him new toys in there so that he thinks of it as a happy place. My advice is to put the crate in different places in the house not always right near you, so that he gets used to sleeping away from you--this helps if you ever have to board him or have him sleep in a new place. 

Are you home with him during the day? Puppies that age can not go too long without time to go out, lunch at noon, exercise, etc. Join the "puppy madness" group on this site and you can get lots of information on training a small pup. There is a lot to learn and there are tons of articles about crate training online too. It is very important to do it right the first month or so--these are the weeks that the pup will form good habits.....or bad ones....start right away!!

[Vanessa and Monty]

I'm home with him during the day. So for the first week we will have to get up at 2-3 am? Won't he get used to waking up early and keep waking up around that time?

[Ginny Nightingale]

No, he will gradually go longer and longer --dogs like to sleep at night as much as we do! As Allyson said, the pup will whine when he has to go and won't want to go in his crate, so if he does not whine until 4 am, then you let him sleep until then! But he may not make it that long just yet. When my last batch of pups left to go to their new homes, (I raise them for a breeder), they were sleeping until 5:30 by the second week at their new house. 

[Allyson, Peri & Taquito]

Peri only woke up once a night for the first week to two MAX.  They end up sleeping on through.  No big deal!  I agree with taking water up around 6 or 7, especially if you are home during the day and he has access to it more often.

[Lynda Kamrath]

You are equating a puppy to a human baby.  Even a little guy has a pretty good bladder and he hops out of his bed and goes pee and poop out of boredom.  That is why you want him restricted to his bed and they will seldom go potty in their bed.  If he is in his crate or playpen, he will fuss a little when he wants to go out but not when he is free in his bed in the house.  Usually about 5-6 months before they know that outdoors is the place to eliminate.

[Rachel and Ollie]

Ollie did great from day one with sleeping through the night with his crate...which was really great because I like sleep...he would wake me up at 6 or 7, but still that rocked for puppy days :) 

[Ginny Nightingale]

PS--Monty is adorable!!

[Pam & Trixie]

He still needs to be crated during the night...Especially if he is havign accidents.

We set an alarm to get up once a night & soon she was sleeping through just fine...They outgrow that middle of the night thing pretty quick.  I think it was 3 weeks total for getting up to let her out.  No playing during the night with them...Its just time to go out & do their business.

 

Good Luck- He is a Cutie

[GBK]

They are always so sweet when they are asleep :)  For the potty training, I agree, the crate is a must.  Both of my dogs would wake me up when they had to go from in the crate.  If I missed a sign in the morning when I was getting ready, I would look at the time and make a note to let them out 10 - 15 minutes before the next day until we had a pretty good schedule.  I also left the sliding door open to encourage them to head outside when they felt the need to go potty.  These will be the hardest couple of months, I remember the early mornings one of mine enjoyed, and the comfort at night my other one needed to get used to the crate.  Good luck, and enjoy his learining.  I remember it being hard, but it was a part of our bonding too.  It will be fun to watch Monty grow! 

[Lynda Kamrath]

It is just too long for him from nighttime until morning.  My puppies were never allowed to be alone in the house until they were house trained.  I am one of those wierd people who do not like or use crates.  I have a crate in the back of the car to restrict a puppy, but not in the house.  When I get a new puppy, I get a baby playpen and that is where they sleep and spend all their time when they are not outside or closely supervised in the house.  We are lucky because we have a great dog run off our deck and in the morning when I pick the puppy up out of his playpen I would take him outside and put him down where I want him to eliminate.  Afterwards, we play and cuddle a little before we go into the house.  Back in the playpen stocked with plenty of toys and bunkies.  Works for me.  Check out my photos of playpen and dog run.

[Kaytlin and Cooper]

cooper only needed to go out during the night once - actually i took her out even though she didnt cry, I dont think she did anything. But she came to us at 9 1/2 weeks and the breeder had started potty training. A crate is a big must, not just for potty training but for a puppys safety.