please tell me I am not alone. Potty training...ACK!

[NewfoundlandNic]

Hey guys, little Georgia has totally wrapped us around her fuzzy little pants. What a sweetheart of a dog and very, very smart. She is 10 weeks old and we have had her for 10 days, she already knows sit and sits before being fed and before we open the door. She is a delightful doodle.

 

BUT...despite the crate being changed to the perfect size, being super sanitized each time and having the opportunity to go outside just prior to being crated, she is still peeing in the crate!!! Twice a day usually, and not often at night. I am home with her most of the time, so she is not being overly crated at all. I take her out about every 45 minutes and watch her like a hawk - I swear every time she tries to sit I am bringing her outside and driving her crazy. It feels like I am torturing her, I bring her outside so much. She just tries to lie on my shoes in the front porch and looks at me like, "Really, outside again? Please let me sleep." Her accidents in the house are much less frequent and she is really getting the idea that outside = pees and poops. I have her tethered to me most of the time when she is loose in the house, or if she is completely exhausted and I am in the kitchen, I'll tether her to a cupboard door so she can stay in one spot.

 

Her day usually goes like this:

6:00 am - out of crate and outside. Back inside for quiet time with me until rest of family wakes up.

7:00 am - breakfast

7:20 - outside poop and pee, ten minute walk

8:20 back outside

9:00 back outside, then crated for 90 minutes (while I am putting baby to sleep and cleaning up kitchen)

10:30 outside, ten minute walk

11:30 outside

12:15 outside

1:30 outside, then crate for 90 minutes

3:00 outside

4:00 outside

4:30 outside, then crate for half an hour

5:15 outside, then dinner

5:30 outside

6:00 outside

6:30 outside

7:00 outside, then crate for 45 minutes (while we get kids to bed)

8:00 outside, ten minute walk. Water taken up.

9:00 outside

10:00 outside

11:00 outside, then crate

 

It is exhausting bathing a dog twice a day and sanitizing a crate twice a day. I know it'll get better, but I just don't get it!

 

Sorry, had to vent. We do love her, it is just frustraing. My previous dog maybe peed in her crate once the entire time we trained her...oh well.

 

 UPDATE: What a difference a week makes, and some hope for those reading this looking for assurance in the future.

 

So, a few things that I have done differently. Georgia's crate was clearly stressing her out, so for two days I kept her out of the crate during the day. She spent a lot of time outside. I removed the barriers from the crate and began feeding her meals in there, with the door open. I make it a challenge for her to get to her treats/food in there. She sees me laying it in the crate, but I hold her back, saying, "Wow, your house is pretty cool now, isn't it? Look at all those great/yummy things in there. Bet you'd love to get in..." etc. By this time, she is pushing and squirming in my arms, trying to get IN her crate. For two nights I let her sleep in her undivided crate with no blanket, just the hard floor, then I laid her favourite blanket in there. Now it is a place of food and delightful comfort. She goes in there at night with no arguments and settles right down and hasn't had an accident in there since I removed the dividers. She does not like small spaces at all, I think it stresses her out. I know this goes against conventional wisdom, but it seems to be working. I'll take it! Whatever eliminates the need for me sanitizing that crate and scrubbing my poor pup, I will do.

 

Her age is obviously working for her too, because she can go longer periods of time without a need to pee/poop. She has had two pee accidents in the house since Wednesday, so I think we are doing well. She is sleeping through the night, from 11:00 until 6:00ish, but we still have to pick her up when she greets us in the morning and hustle outside, otherwise she will widdle a little as soon as exiting the crate.

 

I will test her this week with crating during the day, but she passed with flying colors when we crated her Thursday evening for two and a half hours when we went out to dinner.

 

Thanks for all your tips/advice. If nothing else, I have learnt that every dog is different. We love our little Georgia girl very much, and her days of being a poopy pants seem to be numbered, Yay!

 

 

 

 

[Ann ~Oliver & Rosie]

Congratulations on your new puppy, The housebreaking is the worst part. I also had issues with our second doodle  As someone else suggested you might want to check for a UTI. This was the case in our newest doodle Rosie, sometimes hard to clear up,(we needed two rounds of antibiotics) but when it cleared... the house training was a breeze!

I left getting a pee sample to my husband, but we cut a soda bottle into a scoop shape attached it to a yard stick and voila! a pee catcher! good luck!

[Allyson, Peri & Taquito]

You need to patent that. LOL

[Barbara B., Sasha & Oliver]

Your puppy is still very very young yet, I was very lucky that both of my doodles never pee'd or pooped in their crate.  My Oliver is 8 1/2 months old and he still has a accident every now and then around the house.  When I first got him at 10 wks old he would hold his pee all night long without a drop in the crate, I was sooooo proud of him.   My only advise is control/limit water intake..... what goes in .... must come out.  My Doodles always have fresh water but in controled limits until they are trained.  With both of my dogs I can say that they were potty trained by 6-7 months.  You have a while to go yet with your baby....... puppies cannot control their bowel movements or pee as wells as older dogs... it all comes in time.   Keep doing what you are doing and cotrol the water . ..  only my opinon and what worked for my and my babies :)  Good luck and keep us posted. 

[Jennifer Tramell]

You have to tailor your puppy training to what fits for your family.  We didn't do the typical crate training - I was home most of the day and I kept the pup close by.  If I was working in the kitchen, I had baby gates to keep her in the kitchen.  She would sleep a lot and as soon as she started to get up, I'd scoop her up and take her outside.  I tried to keep her on a surface that was easy to clean. When we were in the livingroom as a family, we would spread an old plastic tablecloth for the pup to be on.  Our pups were rarely in crates unless I was not at home, it was night time, or I had something to do and I couldn't keep an eye on the pup.

 

Georgia is a young pup and it will take a while for her to NOT go whenever she feels like it.  When she is in the crate, I would have it where I could hear when she woke up, then I'd take her outside.  I would closely monitor her water intake and output :-)  If the crate cleaning is stressing you (I know it would me!), then maybe you want to try something besides the crate.  In order to enjoy your puppy and family, you have to find what works for you and it's not the same for every dog and every family.  I've raised 4 pups to family dogs (fostered lots more) and each dog used a little different technique so don't worry about doing it differently if that's what works for you now.  (Of course, it's SO easy to give advice now that my pup is 9 months old and I'm not dealing with it anymore :-) )

[NewfoundlandNic]

Thanks for posting Jennifer. I know it will get better...just time and patience and consistency. I will watch the water intake and maybe control it a little. One thing we are struggling with is she has a poop around 4:00 am each morning - outside 99% of the time because we get her from the crate and scoop her up to the door to get her on the lead and outside. I am hoping to push those visits to 6:00 a.m. soon. It is very tiring getting up at 4:00. I gave her dinner last night at 4:00 instead of 5:00 last night, but still had the 4:00 a.m. poop. Her pooping times aren't consistent yet, which makes it challenging.

[Pam & Trixie]

Sorry the potty training is going slow.  With a Baby too- You must be exhausted!

We have had Trixie 4 weeks now.  We are both still very tired.  Potty training went slow for us...But I can say things are going better at this point (she is 12 weeks)

Trixie does have Vaginitis & I do think that was part of her problem...She still has it.

Could Georgia have that?

 

Initially we set the alarm during the night for every 2 hrs.   Then 3 hrs & now once during the night.  Trixie often poops once during the night too when we let her out.

 

During the day I let her out the minute she wakes up...If she was sleeping a long time- Id wake her up & bring her outside. I just stopped carrying her outside last week.  Part of that was because we have stairs to get her outside & I was letting her develope more before she did the stairs alot.

 

I hope things go better for you soon.  I know it is very frustrating.

[NewfoundlandNic]

I posted an update on the original post on Georgia so those looking for advice in the future could get the full story. Speaking from experience, it is very reassuring to know you can make it through the housetraining phase! We aren't there yet, we still have to take her out regularly because she isn't giving overt demands to go out, but we are on the road at least. Thanks for all the tips!

[Pam & Trixie]

That is great to hear she is phasing out her 'Poopy Pant days'  Fun term.

 

Way to go  Georgia!

 

[Jennifer Tramell]

Yeah, Georgia - Way to go! (pun intended :-) )   I'm glad you are getting more sleep, for me the first couple weeks with puppies are always tiring.  I am the one who wakes up, takes them outside, then reassures them that it is okay to go back to sleep.  The nice thing is that I think it builds a bond that is different then any other relationship.  Webster and Charlotte love everyone in our family but they are undeniably devoted to me. 

Just a heads up, seems that my dogs would have a relapse anywhere from 6-9 months old where they would "need" to go outside in the middle of the night.  At least 3 of my 4 dogs went through this and it always ends up that they are just bored and lonely.  Charlotte has just gone through that and for her it was solved by letting her come upstairs and sleep outside our bedroom.  Now, why she isn't happy sleeping downstairs (main floor) with Webster?  Who knows but at least we are sleeping the nights again :-)  Different dogs, different solutions.......