Rough First 12 Hours

[Kizzer]

Sorry, been to busy to take any pictures, but will post some up of our new addition soon!

Anyway, we picked her up and brought her home this afternoon. She is a 10 week old Labradoodle. She did great on the hour long drive home. Got her in the house and after scouting out the place a few minutes she peed right on the floor. Took her outside for a good 5 minutes and she did nothing. Brought her back in and within 30 seconds she pooped on the rug by the back door.

She has since peed twice and pooped once in her crate. Even though we take her outside plenty.

Her stool has now become almost diarrhea like. I am hoping this is all because of the shock of being brought into a new environment and her whole world turned upside down.

She hasn't ate much since she got here and we are feeding her the same food the breeder did. We did give her dental bone and she pretty much ate the whole thing. Maybe that is some of the problem as well.

Lastly, the breeder had a fenced in yard and said she was good about going outside to do her business. We don't have a fence, so we took her out on a leash, she absolutely hated it, and was more concerned with it than what she was out there for I guess...... Sunday I am going to erect a small fenced in area in hopes that will ease some of these problems.

It's gotta get better right?  :)

I also want to add that we had our children and the grand kids over, so maybe it was too much, too soon for her to handle. She got very little rest since she got here.

Right now she is sleeping peacefully and being an Angel 

[Judy, Meg & Polly Wolly Doodle]

Congratulations on the pup.  Everything is new and has no familiar scent where she is used to going to the bathroom so she really does not know where to go yet.  As a rule we pick up after our dogs every single time they poop but in your case you may want to pick that up and place it exactly where you want her to establish her potty area and then take her right to it, once she figures that out you can start cleaning up after potty breaks.  I would leave the leash on her in the house for a bit so she gets used to the feel of it, then she can pay attention to business instead of fighting the leash every time you go out.  You will be doing her a favor to cut back on the company for a bit, let her get a routine going and then start introducing the rest of the family, she will still love them (doodles can't help it, they love everyone) and get her straight into the vet for a check up, the loose stools is probably nerves and reaction to a big change but she needs that first check up right away.  No public potty walks until she has all her shots.

[Adrienne]

I agree with Judy.  Sounds like she just has to adjust to her new environment.  Also, I would not introduce any new foods/treats for 2-3 weeks.  The treats may have caused the diarrhea.  Regarding the pooping in the crate, make sure that she does not have too much room.  If so, adjust the size so that she is only able to stand up and turn around comfortably. It will get better :).

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Very important not to introduce any new food or treats for at least two weeks. There is a really good chance that she has giardia, and that's what's causing the diarrhea. Very, very common in doodle puppies. If it continues, you are going to need to have a fecal test done. 

[Elizabeth, Bailey & Bruin]

You might also want to give her more time than just 5 minutes to "do her business" outside.  I know my Bailey had to find just the right spot to go and it took her wandering around some before she did.  Also, try a longer leash to give her some space.  I am not sure where you live but a lot of the local petsmarts/petco have long cotton training lines that you can use to give her more room to wander to potty..

And lastly, be patient, she will catch on, she is a baby...  And have fun!!!

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Many dogs need to spend some time walking, running, and just moving in general before they are ready to eliminate. If you take them out on a leash to eliminate, you can't just stand in one place while the dog sniffs around, you have to keep moving. Take her for a walk around the yard. Be sure to praise her exuberantly when she eliminates outdoors so that she learns that potty outside is a very good thing. Act like she hung the moon, and use words she can associate with the act. "Good girl, good potty!" (Or good peepee, or good poop, or whatever word you use.) This is how you start to teach them to "go" on command. Always use the words and speak in a very excited high pitched voice, even if you feel like an idiot, lol. You can also use tiny bits of plain boiled chicken as a reward for going outside, that shouldn't affect her digestive system.

If you catch her 'going" indoors, make a short, sharp, discouraging sound (Eh Eh!) to startle her (don't yell)  and then get her outside ASAP. If she finishes what she started, praise her to the moon. She needs to get the idea "Potty indoors, bad. Potty outdoors, good! 

And be sure to use an odor neutralizer like Nature's Miracle on every area where she has had an accident indoors, including her crate. Just cleaning it up is not enough. You may not be able to smell anything, but a dog can, and she will keep returning to those spots. 

[Elizabeth, Bailey & Bruin]

I so forgot to tell her about the praise like " you are a crazy person" LOL.  I think my neighbors thought I was nuts for sounding like a cheerleader when Bailey pottied LOL

[Jane, Guinness and Murphy]

How often are you taking her out?  At that age we took the puppies out very often and had them on a schedule which I think really helped with the potty training.  When she's not confined you'll need to watch and the second you see her start to potty calmly pick her up and take her out to her "potty spot".  Let her finish and then lots of praise.  Always take her to the same spot for now.  Also whenever you take her out of her crate she'll need to go right out...I'd carry her. 

[Lori, Quincy & Frankie]

You may want to keep her confined space-not the roam of the whole house.  Pups instinctively don't eliminate in their immediate "den", but if the space is too large, it's fair game.  You can gradually increase the space once she has the basic idea down. 

my guy was really good-he came to us at 11 weeks pretty much trained.  the only accidents were when he was in a little used bedroom with carpeting for the first time and once on the far end of the dining room -  both new areas at the time.

[Adina P]

Try a longer leash and let her drag it as you run around outside with her.  She might be able to 'forget' about that leash that's just trailing behind her better than the leash that constantly catches her at the end.

[Kizzer]

Thanks for all the great information!

Was a very long night and so far a long day. She just won't do her business outside. I stood out there for 45 minutes with her on a long walking leash and we walked all over the back yard. She did nothing. As soon as we got inside, she peed in a different spot! I don't get it.

She most certainly has diarrhea. So we will only feed her a small portion for now, and monitor this closely.

We put pee pads in the crate (the crate is big but we have a divider) and just now read on the package that the peed pad contains an attractant to make them pee (dumb us!) So we have removed that and will use newspapers.

I am pretty sure most all of these issues is because she is in a new and stressful environment. 

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

I hope you are right, but diarrhea from stress alone should not last more than a day or so. If it continues, I would strongly urge you to have a fecal done. I'd say at least 25% of doodle puppies here, from all kinds of breeders and backgrounds, have come home with giardia, and that's probably a low estimate. If you enter "giardia" in the DK search box at the upper right corner of the page, you'll find hundreds of discussions about this. 

Good luck. 

[Kizzer]

We will certainly keep a close eye on this and if it continues will get her to a vet asap. 

Thanks for all the help from everyone.