Crate & Potty Training Help!?!

[Doc and Ozzie]

Doc is almost 7 weeks. We were told to feed/water him at 6am and 6pm and no water after 7pm. When crated for the night cover crate with a blanket. Take him out ever 30-40 minutes during the day and crate no more than 4 hours at a time without potty break except at night. These were the breeders instructions. And we are following them. Although, I am taking him out more like every 20-30 mins.

Doc has already learned to "ask" for water by standing at the kitchen sink and looking up at it. I am wondering if we should be leaving his water bowl out all day or only at 6/6 feedings? He pees constantly. But at such a young age I feel he is already catching on to going outside pretty well. I have a 9 month old baby and feel like a jack-n-the-box carrying the baby on one hip and Doc in the other arm in and out all day. I understand this is a necessary evil for now =) But wondering if he needs water more frequently or if with holding it at times is ok during housebreaking?

His bedtime wire icrate is upstairs in my 14 year old daughter's room who oversee's him when she is home. She puts him in for the night around 9:30-10 covers it.. he cries starting at about 12:30 she takes him out to potty around 1-1:30 then crates for the rest of the night til 6am. He cries from 1:30- 3 or 4am! We have baby blankets and a stuffed bear that smells like his mom/siblings and a shirt of my daughters in there with him. Is it normal for him to cry so long? Should we take him out more than once per night? The breeder said he would be ok without ANY potty breaks overnight.. but he just seems to young to me to do that? So far he has not peed or pooped in the crate.

He has a "daytime" soft crate downstairs in our living room that he naps in and takes breaks in when I can't supervise him and the baby closely. I also have babygated the kitchen for safe playtimes. He is only upstairs at night at bedtime. Wondering if that could be why he is crying so much? It would be difficult for him to sleep downstairs though.. with me getting up twice per night already to nurse my daughter I am sure he would disturbed by that and my daughter would stay awake even longer. 

Ok, sorry, now that I have written a book.. I can only hope someone will take the time to read it =) If you have, thank you! Any tips or advice is welcome on the above issues or anyhting else you can offer me! 

Blessings, Stephanie "Roo" B.

[Sherri, Sophie, Winston, & Kitty]

By now I imagine you have the picture with the feeding three times a day and water a lot more than twice/day. As for sleeping, when I first brought home sophie I slept on the couch for two weeks because it was lower to the ground and I cuold have my face right next to the crate and I put my fingers inside. This comforted her quite a bit and she slept through the night. Good luck with your new puppy and I do hope you stay on this site. It is filled with all kinds of wonderful advice and I don't know how i survived without it.

[Doc and Ozzie]

I am still trying to figure the site out. I wish there were a reply to all button =) I have limited time, so hopefully you will all read my many sincere THANKS and a few CLARIFICATIONS here..

I have only had Doc for 3 day, I am a mom and nurse so my instinct has been to give the little guy water when he has "asked" for it along with the 6/6 feedings. As of today I have put his water bowl down in the kitchen and keep it full and fresh for him. My 9 month old baby has turned it over twice so fresh it will be, LOL! He has no signs of dehydration. I will be taking him to the vet on the 21st that is his next shot due date. I will add a feeding at lunch time until he is 6 months. I have been giving him about a cup full of food at 6/6. I will give him a cup at 6am, a cup at noonish, and offer another cup at 6pm. The food guidelines say 2-4 cups per day so this should be okay, I am assuming. 

I will definitely try many of your suggestions for the crate. I will try taking out some of the "fluff" I have noticed he lays in the kitchen floor alot vs the carpeted areas. Maybe he is hot. I will try uncovering his crate so he can see my daughter. I will have her take him out twice during the night for the next 2 weeks then once per night for a week or two then maybe he will be able to go all night. OR I may take my aunts advice and let him sleep in the bed with my daughter..that is probably what they BOTH want to do anyway =)

Again, Thank you all.. I welcome every bit of knowledge I can gain, that is why I am here =) I love Doc with all of my heart and believe he is going to be a WONDERFUL companion for my entire family!

[Carol and Banjo]

We're glad you're here.   DK was a daily source of information, help and encouragement when I first brought Banjo home.    Despite my motherly instincts to make a nice, soft, cozy "nest" of Banjo's crate he wanted NONE of it...lol....it killed me to see him sleep on that hard, cold plastic tray....but he was determined to have a bare bones sleeping area.   He hasn't used a crate in over a year now.  I have a plush dog bed and an upholstered chair in addition to our bed where he's more than welcome....and more often than not he chooses to sleep on the wood floor.   Please join the Food Group....it's a wonderful source of information....thanks so much to Karen (of Karen and Jack)!      Hope Doc begins to have more settled nights.  

[Pat and Traveler]

SO glad you are leaving water down for the puppy, and feeding him more often.  He is just a baby, and depends on you for sustenance and care.  It's hard to believe your breeder would allow this little guy to be adopted at such a young age, but he needs all the attention and care possible right now.  He has very tiny, baby internal organs, and twice a night going outside may not enough yet. 

[Diane, Hurley and Sidney]

Funny you should mention Doc sleeping with your daughter.  We ended up bringing Hurley to bed with us after a couple of months. If you ask my husband he will tell you I started sneaking Hurley into our bed with us within a month of his being with us.

We have taught him to go to bed at 9 PM.  All I have to do is point to the bedroom and say 'bed, bed" a couple of times and off he goes.  He used to not get out of the bed in the morning until we tell him it is okay.   But since growing to a 47 lb puppy he has started leaving the bed during the night and sleeping on the bathroom floor.  We keep our bedroom door closed so he is in a controlled environment and we keep a water bowl in the bathroom for him as he drinks often at night.  

He still starts out in bed with us every night and we would not have it any other way even though he takes up most of the bed.  

Doc will definitely be a wonderful family companion.  Doodles are so loving, caring and special...

[Nicky, Riley & Boris]

That's great that you are here and it sounds like you are going to be an awesome doodle Mom to Doc.  The first months are pretty challenging but like babies you tend to forget all that exhausting early day stuff pretty quickly.  Lots of doodles prefer cool to warm surfaces to sleep on and my Riley even though he always starts on the bed, ends up on the cold floor and then back up to the bed for his morning cuddle.   These dogs are just the best and Doc looks adorable.  

[Jennett Pulley]

We brought our little Lollipop home one day before her 7 week birthday.  The breeder told us to feed her three times a day, water all day but picked up about an hour before bedtime.  What we quickly found out was that Lolli is an all day eater. 

She eats a HUGE breakfast, a medium lunch and a small dinner.  She will only eat what she wants and leaves the rest, just like our last pup.  The vet advised that we put down as much as she wants, leave it for 15 minutes and then take it (the food) up, but she would whine for food and actually eat it, so I let her graze.

She drinks four to five bowls of water a day, easily.  Her bowls hold about 4 cups, so that's a lot of water!   She will lick it dry so I know she needs it.  I feel bad picking it up an hour before bed, but I don't want any accidents, so I do grudgingly.  :)

She has already learned to ring the doorbells 99.9% of the time to go out and piddle and she barks at us to "poodle".  She is now 9 weeks, but was down to one accident a day at 8 weeks--usually in the evening when riled up.  We've not had any pooping accidents since day three.

We take her out directly from her crate, which she is in if we are not home or not downstairs with her.  We were taking her out every 30 minutes and about 15 minutes after a meal.  Now she can go for an hour or so during the day without a problem. 

From day 1, she could sleep from about 11pm to 6am without accident.  I did sleep near her crate for her first three days and then on day four went upstairs.  I didn't want her to get used to being upstairs as she wasn't going to be allowed upstairs for allergy reasons.  Question...is her crate partitioned so she only has enough room to lay down and turn around?  For Lolli, she like the smaller area best and is only covered sides, back and top.  The front is always open so she can see out.  She does get a bit restless if totally uncovered and I get nervous if I can't see her.  It's a perfect marriage.

I can't imagine letting her cry for hours.  That, to me, will not allow her to view her crate as a "safe place" or a place of comfort.  I couldn't allow my babies to cry it out, either, so that might just be me.

I did the alarm clock in a sock, a thick fuzzy blanket folded up in one corner of her crate, the KONG mat (which is cool feeling)  http://www.petsmart.com/product/index.jsp?productId=12089267 and a few rubber toys.  She slept with her head on the blanket and clock, her body on the mat and her paw on her toy dragon. 

She only whined for a minute at night and I simply faced her towards the couch and she would stop.

Every dog, like every child, is different.  You will learn her signs as soon as she figures them out, I am SURE of it.

[Doc and Ozzie]

It sounds like Lolli is a very good girl! =) I agree with all of your advice and will use it! The Kong mat looks good. I will check into those. I am using a bell on the door. Petsmart didn't have a dog bell so I bout a cat toy and hung from the door..lol! He is already using the bell.. I made the mistake of thinking he was "just playing" with it twice now, and both times he proved me wrong!! HA! He hasn't pooped in the house since the first day.. thankfully. But, he does like to piddle all over. I haven't let either of my girls "cry it out" and he wouldn't be with me.. but, he is upstairs with my teenage daughter who I have now informed that she cannot let him cry long and needs to get up and take him out. He hasn't had an accident in his crate yet though. I just don't want him to cry all night.. I hope you are right and we will be able to figure out what it is he needs at night soon! Thanks for the help!

[Jennett Pulley]

Lolli is awesome.  I am sure yours is, too.  :)  Keep me updated!!

I can't figure out how to friend request you, so if you can, I would love to keep up as our pups are similar in age. 

[Colleen, Jake & Baxter]

Wow, you have a lot going on.  I have a 9 month old goldendoodle puppy.  I understand that you want to know what is best for your puppy or you would not be seeking advice.  Please, I encourage you to learn as much as possible from all of the information on this forum.  I know I am a better dog owner for my doodles because of the wealth of knowledge I have received here.  Having a puppy is not easy and I can only imagine how challenging it must be with a young baby and a 14 year old........hang in there and like I said above learn as much as possible about doodles.  Just like children you need to be armed with the  and know how so that your doodle can turn into the dog he was meant to be.   Please let us know how it is going...you can do this!!:)

PS.  Please leave the water out 24/7 (or at least until a certain time of night).

[Anne G.]

So glad you joined DK! You will get tons of support here and a lots of great information. Never hesitate to pose a question. It seems like only yesterday we had our brand new puppy with all the challenges. I benefited from the site enormously! Now our Murphy is 19 months old and she's a great dog. She has total run of the house and a doggie door to get outside. This is quite different from those early days when she was crated and we got up in the middle of the night to take her out. It goes fast, but being a loving and caring "parent" as you are, Boo will do great! He's SO CUTE by the way!! :-)

[Anne G.]

Sorry, I meant "Doc"!