Puppy Schedules Please!

[Discussing Labradoodles & Goldendoodles]

Hi, i'm a tired mama of an adorable 8 week old goldendoodle named Abby.  I'm a stay at home mom and taking college courses online.  SO, i'm around and don't have to crate her during the day.  I have tarps over our entire living room floor which leads out to the slider (backyard) for going potty.  Everytime she is about to go potty, I run her outside to the bathroom, which is every 10-15 minutes.  Even watching her like a hawk, she is still having accidents and not getting it.  I understand I have many weeks of this left, SO..... I need help.   I feel bad crating her at all during the day, but I might need to because I need breaks.  I also feed her 3 times a day, but leave the food and water out if she doesn't finish.  So she doesn't really have a good feeding schedule.  I would love to have some help from some of you with experience in forming a puppy schedule.  We wake up at 6:30 am and go to bed at 10 pm.  Can someone help me create a schedule or give me an example of your schedule?  I want to post it on the fridge.  Could be helpful for future mommies too.  I'm interested to see (for those that stay at home) how much you crate your pup during the day to get breaks (if at all).  Schedules please!

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

It's great that you are able to catch her in the act of starting to go indoors and getting her outdoors, that's the single best housebreaking tool, but you must also use a verbal correction and then verbal praise. So, you catch her about to go indoors and immediately give a very loud, very firm "NO!" as you are scooping her up. Don't feel bad about startling her or momentarily frightening her. Then when she goes outside, you verbally praise her to the moon in a very happy, excited high-pitched voice, and immediately give her a small treat (keep some in your pocket for this purpose). This helps her make the connection between "indoors-bad, outdoors,-good".

Also, do not give her access to food and water at all times. If she doesn't finish her food within 15-20 minutes, pick up the dish and wait until her next meal. 

And use an odor neutralizer like Nature's Miracle on the tarps and anywhere else she goes indoors.

[Lindsey & Cocoa]

Great advice.... But if this is the giardia puppy I would hold off on treats until she is clear.

[Elizabeth, Bailey & Bruin]

 I am not a stay at home mom but I work nights so I am home a lot during the day.  With Bailey I would keep her near me all the time, I didn't crate her when I was home but she was not allowed to wonder around unless she just had gone outside to potty.  I only fed her twice a day so it was easier to know when she had to "do her business".  After eating I would wait about 15 minutes or so and bring her outside and tell her to go potty...And especially if she had just gotten excited while being played with.  Excitement can cause potty accidents.  After play..outside to potty.  Also for the first week or so, no matter what, every 30 minutes it was outside for a potty break.

 

I have heard others say that they had a "special" potty place in the yard for them to go.  I didn't try this with Bailey and over time she has chosen her favorite spots.

 

As Karen said, when she is outside and she goes, you have to act like she had just given you the winning Lottery numbers hehe..Praise her for being such a good girl, give her lots of kisses and praise her for doing such a good job..  My neighbors thought I was crazy...but it worked!

 

Also someone mentioned her on the Training page that it is important to use the same terminology for instance...Take Abby out and say go peepee or go potty...pick one and stick with it. It is hard to do but she will learn really quickly that when she is outside and she hears mommy say Abby go pee pee, she will go...and you will cheer ...cheer ....cheer....

 

Be patient it takes a little training on her part and a lot of training on your part...but we have smart puppies and she will catch on...

 

Keep us updated and good luck

[Sue, Murphy and Bella ()*o*()]

I used a schedule that I kept track of for a few weeks to see what my first doodles habits were. Basically the best advice i got was - anytime he played, ate, chewed or slept, take him out right after. So ball chasing In the house for 10 min. - out he went. "Go Potty" and while he was going I'd say "go potty, go potty , Good potty" and jump up and down like he just layed a golden egg! That way he associated the act to my words while doing it. Then a treat every time for awhile.
He ate a meal, out he went a few min after, and we'd stay out till he went potty. Chewed on a nylabones. - out he went. Slept for an hour or so - out he went. I did crate during the day for breaks and he never went potty inhis crate, but I only crated him for naps. Once awake he'd be allowed out. I tethered him to me some days to "catch him "quicker, if I was busy say I the kitchen and needed time. I brought him out every 30-45 min the first week or two. Yes exhausting, but we were traveling in an RV and there was little room for accidents and we didn't want it to seep into the flooring and smell forever.
I started keeping track to see how long I could wait before taking him out and how often he was going poop a day so could allow for enough time. Eventually the time between got longer and longer. He slept thru the night in about a week otherwise i Only got up once for A few nights. He was sleeping on our bed with us by a month old. Never an accident.
Good luck, it is exhausting, but passes quickly. My second was much easier. The first helped train her, she was 10 weeks when I got her and I had a house with mostly tile, so no big deal for accidents and she had several until up to about a yr old. Natures Miracle is a must too. They smell where they've gone before an think that is their potty spot, so the tarps need to be cleaned really well. Good luck.

[Ricki and Tara (doodle)]

I am a stay at home mom and I found that I pretty much had to operate on Tara's schedule. Couldn't get her to follow MINE! LOL!   I had a crate for her and she didn't mind being in there during the day. She slept a LOT and it was her private little cave. I also had an ex-pen for her so I could keep her contained in a smaller area without being crated. She had food, water and toys in her little pen and lots of room to move. I have hardwood floors so I put a sheet of plastic on the floor under the pen and then an old comforter or bedspread that could be switched out if she had an accident.  She didn't have free run unless someone was watching her and ONLY watching her.  Some times I would tether her to me if I was moving about a lot and wanted to keep a close eye on her. Other times I might gate her into a room with me so she couldn't wander off.  I tried to figure out her potty schedule and take her out prior to "her scheduled" potty time and take her to a spot that already had potty smell on it. We restricted her to a fairly small area of the yard at that time so she always had old scent to trigger her desire to pee or poo. I just took her out, gave her the "go potty" command and waited until she went potty which was usually pretty fast. Thank goodness because she was a winter puppy too! That's probably what motivated her! Brr!  Good luck with your new baby! It does get easier!

[Sue and Buddy]

I've got a 11 week old. The first couple of weeks I kept a daily journal of his activities. Nothing fancy just the time and then what he was doing which was eating, playing, sleeping, going potty. The crate is a great tool to help the pup learn he can control his bladder. Pups naturally don't want to soil their den so will try to keep it clean. The trick is to start with a small area she can relate to as her den and then gradually expand that area so she understands the whole house is her den. Most pups are used to their kennels where they can pee when ever and where ever they are. I think it is fine to crate for a couple of hours during the day. Pups sleep 18 to 20 hours anyway. Setting up an x pen or blocking off a small area in the living room can help, too.

I feed my guy 3 times a day. He always finishes his food, but if he didn't I would take it up after 15 minutes. Water is taken up at 7 at night. I soak his kibble in water, so I know he is getting water when he eats. I go to bed at 11. He can go until about 4 before he needs to potty. I feed him at 4 AM--I know that's early, but it works for this household. It would be fine to take him out and put him back in his kennel. The first couple of weeks he had to out out right after eating in the morning. I was amazed he could pee and poo 15 minutes after doing it. Now he waits a couple of hours before going out. He has lunch at 11 AM and supper at 4 PM. I've notice that he poos about 3 to 4 hours after eating, so eating at 4 makes sure he poos before bed time. Getting his food on a set schedule will really help his poo schedule.  During the 3 week I have had him, he is pooing fewer times in the day.

I also use a portion of his daily kibble as training treats and to put in a Kong in his crate. It's hard to keep up with a puppy, but keeping on top of things now, makes it easier as the weeks go by.

[Barbara B., Sasha & Oliver]

I stayed home the first week after I got each doodle so they could adjust and start on a schedule.  I work full time during the day but live close to work so I would run home on lunch and spend my lunch hour with the doodles -- which I still do 95% of the time.

 

I feed each dog at 6 am and 6 pm, I would leave the food down for an hour... if they did not eat (which really never happened), I would pick it up.  I would pick up the water about an hour and a half before I left for work, going out or going to bed.  By having them on a schedule really helped with the peeing and pooping and what goes in must come out !!  I am a firm believer in crate training, I made the crate a happy and secure place for them to be and did not have any problems what so ever.  Dogs are pack and den animals so if you start them as a very young puppy this should not be a problem, you just need to be persistant with it and not let the puppy boss you around - LOL.  Another good reason for a crate ... it keeps the puppy safe from getting into possible dagerous things and chewing on items they should not be chewing on.  And when you do have to leave they will be safe while you are not home.  If you puppy is not crated already I would start with little intervals of crate time, maybe 10-15 minutes severl times a day or even feed your puppy in the crate so they can associate the crate with "good" things.  Never use the crate as a punishment tool.  I also never put any toys or kept their collars on while they were in the crate, I am a worry wart and was always concerned that something would happen if they chewed small pieces off a toy or their collar would get caught on something.

 

Since you are home all day maybe start your puppy off with a good play session, then take her out to poop and pee and then put her in the crate, she will sleep and as soon as you see her wake take her out immediately.

 

Also, when I was training both doodles I would have them on a leash even though my back yard is fenced, every time when they were actually pooping or peeing I would say in a real happy voice "good poopies" or "good peepees"  good girl/boy you went poopies/peepees.  Now that they are 2 and 19 months old and its time to let them out I say "who needs to poop or pee" and they both know what I am talking about.

 

General rule that worked for me is a schedule, constancy, and lots of praise when they did a good job.  Its going to take a while and you are going to have your share of accidents but its all worth the hard work you put into it. 

 

Good luck with your new puppy :)

[Lucy & AnnaBelle's Mom]

Don't want to get off topic, but even though you are home with her all day that doesn't mean that you shouldn't try and get her used to some crate time.  There will be times throughout her life where she might have to be crated.  It is much easier to get her used to it as a little puppy rather than have to introduce it during what might already be a nerve racking time, i.e., groomers, vets, boarding, etc.  Just a thought!

[Lucy & AnnaBelle's Mom]

One other thought, if she is actually going potty every 10-15 mins, has the vet checked her for a UTI?  That seems like a lot to me.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

She does have giardia and coccidia, Julie posted that in another discussion.

[Bonnie and Kona]

I don't think anyone mentioned that you definitely want to join the Puppy Madness group! There are tons of suggestions and help offered there for new owners.

We crated Owen during the day when he napped. When he was awake he was kept in a very small, like 7X7 feet, area whenever he was not in the crate. He only very slowly got the area expanded after showing significant signs of improvement. Once I increased the area too much (10X12) and had to go back to the tiny space because he had an accident in the new space. After that I increased his area size more slowly. I do not remember how long this went on but it was weeks and weeks. We took him outside every 20 minutes and whenever he awoke, ate, drank or played. Owen was completely trustworthy at 5.5 months. Kona was completely trustworthy at 4 months. I am home with the dogs all of the time and watched like a hawk. The puppy was crated every time I had to leave him and continued to be long after potty training was accomplished because Owen is a chewer. I never thought he would be allowed in the house when no one was present to observe him. I was wrong. He has had free run of the house (with the bedroom doors closed) since he was 1 year 3 months old. Kona never chewed and was allowed free range at home at a younger age. Every dog is different. I hope you and your little doodette have happy times together!