Potty Training Tips :)

[Michelle Rodriguez]

So we picked out our puppy today and we are SUPER excited and can't wait for her arrival! She should be ready to come home around the first of May so we are working on getting everything ready.

I would love to get some potty training tips :) We have a pretty large fenced in yard so I do plan on having her going outside in a specific area. My main concern is the middle of the night potty breaks, our bedrooms are upstairs and I'll be putting her crate in the room with us to sleep. I was planning on having a potty pad in the upstairs bathroom to have her go in the middle of the night, my question is would that cause any confusion for her since I do want her to only potty outdoor once she's sleeping through the night?

[Rosemary (Ro) and Enzo]

Congrats! Exciting times! I always down played the use of pee pads for puppies. You are sending a very mixed signal. That it is ok to pee here inside now...but not every time. That is of course, unless you are going to continue using them into adulthood.
The best way would be to take her out at night, let her do her thing and bring her right back in. That phase usually does not last long.

[Judith and Addie]

I think using pee pad would be confusing for her. I remember reading in Ian Dunbar's book that if you do use something for indoor potty, it should be the same as outdoor, So if you are training on grass, then use a shallow pan with grass/sod. I found it a bit messy and would carry my puppy outside to potty in the night. I also remember reading somewhere - it might have been Dunbar again - that using s pee pad delays house-training to outside.

[Missy]

Congratulations on your puppy!!  We had our pup in a crate upstairs as well, and we went downstairs for potty breaks in the middle of the night.  It only took about 4 weeks of midnight potty breaks before he learned to hold it all night. and how I knew that was he was not waking up wimpering at night.   I would think it would be confusing for potty pads, but I have no experience with them either.

[Mary ann & Lincoln]

We were told by our vet and our breeder to leave the crate downstairs and let them cry.  We put a few old towels in the crate and left on a small light.  Lincoln cried the first night a lot and we just let him go until about 6 am.   He did pee in the crate. the next night he cried less  and did not pee.  the third night he did not cry and slept until about 7 am.  Just like a baby it is hard to hear them cry, but sometimes you have to tough it out.  He has not done naything in his crate since and sleeps until we get up at 7;30 or so.  This may not work for all if oyu cannot listen to them cry.  If get them up at night you set a presedent and it takes them longer to learn to hold it at night.  Just my opinion and I  am sure oyu will get alot who disagree wiht me, but it worked for us!   Good luck.

[Laurie, Fudge, and Vern]

I can only speak for my way of doing this, but years ago when we got our Hershey, we too were told to let her cry. I still regret that decision. That poor puppy cried for 4 days straight. IMHO, this is wrong and I know better now. Fudge and Vern were the easiest dogs I ever had to train and I kept the crate right next to my side of the bed and responded immediately when they began to fuss. If they had already been out, I put my fingers in the crate to soothe them. If they had to go out, we went outside and then back in the crate. Puppies cannot hold it all night in the beginning. The stress and confusion of a new home is enough for them in the beginning. I personally would never do potty pads. I say, get up, take her outside to a specific spot. Good luck!

[Rosemary (Ro) and Enzo]

Awwwww...don't be too hard on yourself Laurie! You didn't have a great sounding board like DK to learn! I can't imagine leaving a puppy to cry it out! Those first few nights are stressful enough for them.

[Laurie, Fudge, and Vern]

Thanks, Ro! I cried upstairs while Hershey cried downstairs. I am so less strict nowadays about so many things. 

[Laura and Angus]

Congratulations on the new baby! Very exciting times ahead!! When we brought Angus home, we had him in the crate in our room. He cried and cried the first night and my boyfriend ended up laying on the floor next to the crate. The first couple days were pretty distressing (for me at least) with not knowing when to take him out. We took him out if he cried in the middle of the night - just carried him outside silently and plopped him down and then back in the crate. After the first night (so much crying), we tried a few additional things - we wore a t-shirt around and put that in the crate with him, put on a fan for white noise, and actually my boyfriend downloaded a womb sounds app on his phone to leave by the crate --- crazy, I know, but our puppy went right in there and passed out that night.

About the pads: I wouldn't use a potty pad unless you plan to use the potty pads all the time. Better to take puppy outside in the middle of the night -- you won't sleep great for a little bit, but puppy will learn much faster IMHO. 

Good luck with everything!! This site will be so helpful for you as you go forward with training and everything :) 

[holly b]

I wouldn't use a pad. It might confuse the pup. Plus I have just never had any luck with pads, and I've had many dogs. I'd also leave the crate downstairs personally. Good luck!

[Debb, Lucy & Oscar]

Such an exciting time ahead, but honestly, I don't envy the work ahead for you :) As others have mentioned, putting down a pee pad would send a mixed signal, regardless of how long you planned to do it. What worked for us was to have a small crate upstairs in our bedroom (right next to my side of the bed so I could dangle my fingers through the top of the wire crate if puppy stirred in the night) and for potty runs we picked the puppy up and carried it outside. I had read that a puppy really only needs to be next to your bedside for 3 nights and then it can be transitioned to it's regular crate wherever that may be in your home. For us, that was downstairs next to the back patio door. 3 nights worked great for Lucy, but Oscar was another story. He was much more 'needy' during the night and cried and whined if I ever got out of his sight (like when I disappeared into the bathroom), so we kept him upstairs at night with us for about 2 weeks before transitioning him downstairs. Neither Lucy nor Oscar had any problem with the transition. They both still needed additional potty breaks through the night for a short while after that but that wasn't a problem for us. One thing that makes potty training much easier is always going outside with your puppy on leash and taking it to your designated potty spot. Word cues like "hurry-hurry", or "busy-busy" (we use the first for pee and the 2nd for poo) can be very helpful down the road, too. Good luck!

[Michelle Rodriguez]

Thank you so much everyone for all your helpful tips! :) Based off what the majority of you ladies said I think I'm going to rule out the puppy pads! The last thing I want to do is confuse her or prolong housebreaking. What I think we're going to do is keep her main crate downstairs and have her sleep upstairs with us in her traveling crate for the first few nights and carry her down to the yard for midnight breaks. How long did it take for your puppies to be fully housebroken and sleeping through the night?

[Laura and Angus]

Nice! Sleeping through the night took maybe a month or so for us...which felt like a year honestly. Other people do not have this experience, but our pup is very restless...still is at 8 months. At least until he gets on our bed in the morning. Angus was fully housebroken by 4 months, maybe a little before. We were super vigilant and took him out frequently in the beginning. We also said "good potty" and gave treats for the first few months. Angus only had maybe 4 accidents inside - one was at my parents' house and completely my fault..missed a signal...and I believe this was because we watched him everywhere and took him out frequently.