Potty training exhaustion!!!

[exhaustedinok]

Boy is Bella stubborn! At least, stubbornness is all I can figure it is. We've had her for 6 weeks now (she's 3 and 1/2 mo.) and have been consistently leaving out and taking her to her piddle pads since day one. Last week we narrowed it down to one pad in one location and began using a strict schedule like it suggested in "How to Housebreak Your Dog in 7 Days". The premise is to crate your dog several times a day and overnight, and anytime they're not crated, watch over them every moment. Yeah right!! I can see how that might work if she didn't just pee or poop in her crate! AND if she poops in her crate....she EATS it! Blech! (No poop to be found but LOTS of evidence it had been there.) So, now we are only crating her for an hour or 2 at a time (except overnight which she does better with...and if she whines we take her to her pad). This seems to work better with not having accidents in her crate, but I'm still having trouble with her going on her pads. Before when I had lots of pads out, she would go on them with a lot less struggle, but now she never voluntarily goes to her pad....just sniffs everywhere else but there. And this morning she even thought potty'ing on her bed (in the living room...not inside the crate) seemed like a good idea! I'm so tired at work today, from getting up so early every morning to get her started on her pads (she's usually ready to go before my alarm clock goes off) and from having to get up with her in the middle of the night too! Any suggestions?? Please tell me she will get this!? (We are only piddle pad training, not training to go outside. She doesn't go out often, though she enjoys running around when she does! Also, she has been sleeping in her bed in our room and as far as we can tell has been pretty good about getting up and using her pads at night by herself (it was during the day she really had trouble), although who knows since we were asleep. Now she sleeps in her crate in our room at night and has to whine to let us know when she needs to go. I'm so torn as to what to do, if I'm doing things right, if there's anything I could be doing differently that would be better..... I thought this crating thing would be better than letting her roam free and not be corrected for all her mistaken pees/poops??

[BraxtonsMama]

I've had Braxton for about 2 and a half months and I never really crate trained him. I have a crate and we put him in there the first night but he cried so bad we took him out and he was also sick when we first got him so he was really babied and never really crate trained. He is pad trained as well and he does a pretty good job. I used to keep him gated in the bathroom with his bed, toys and pads when I went to work but when I was home I let him roam. I treat trained him with the pads by giving him a treat and lots of praise when he would pee or poop on the pad. He now looks for his treat after he uses the bathroom on the pads. He still is not completely trained but I think he doing a pretty good job for a puppy. We do have pads at different places in the house and I used the wee wee pad spray as well to help him with the scent of where I wanted him to use the bathroom. Hope this helps. This is just what I done but I'm not a puppy expert but I just did what works for me.

[nicksgf]

haha first off you need to relax and get used to this situation (some pups take a year to be fully house trained!)
Don't fret too much about going in her bed/crate, that will go away once she learns better. Scooter had many crate accidents until he figured out that I am always going to be home in time to let him out!
And I had to do midnight potty breaks until Scooter was 15 weeks old... hopefully you don't have to wait that long tho!
Here's what I did, and it has worked so far.
He is crated overnight, so 6:00 am rolls around - put him on the pee pad, say "go potty" (or whatever you use) and he's not allowed off until he goes, then tons of praise etc. etc.
Watch like a hawk until he has to go poop (he won't do that on command yet) and make sure it happens on the pad, either by bringing him to it as soon as he gives a sign, or if I'm lucky he walks to it on his own!
Before I go to work, back on the pad, and he's not allowed off until he goes.
Come home for lunch - he's stuck on the pad until he goes.
Same after I come home at the end of the day.
Then at night every 2 (or so) hours he's put on the pad.
He might only squeeze a little out sometimes, but better a little on the pad than an accident on the carpet!
He quickly learned to go on command, and now he walks to the pad on his own about 90% of the time! He even goes to the pad JUST to squeeze a little out because he knows he gets a treat then! Little cheater!
And let me say good luck! Some people start with a weekend bootcamp where they aren't allowed out of your sight just to get them started on a proper schedule and habits.

[katelin]

First, you got her really young. She is just now getting to the age when she should be trained.

I'd recommend an x-pen. Exercise pens are available at Petco and most stores. Make her a small area inside the pen that has her bed, her toys, her food, and her pee pads. She should stay in the pen at night and during the day when you are gone or cannot watch her. When you are there you can open the pen, but keep an eye on her and restrict the area that she can go into -- not too far from her pen and pee pads.

This eliminates your getting up in the night. She will get herself up, potty and go back to bed. She will be safe in the x-pen, but have access to everything she needs. You can even put her crate in there for her to sleep in if she likes it. Later, when she is farther along in her training, you can have her in your bed if you like.

Also, if you see her potty on the pads, praise her and give her a little treat. They really like that and it helps a bunch in training

We do this with all our puppies, and their new owners report that they are practically trained by the time they go to their new homes. Of course, we keep them until they are 10 weeks old.

Best wishes. I know how exhausting it can be.

[CharBar]

I also use the Wee Wee potty training spray and spray it on the puppy pads... and also take the same puppy pad and soak up Wall-E's pee with it so his own scent is on the pad. It's been really effective and Wall-E is 15 weeks old. He still won't poo on the pad, but he understands he needs to pee on the pad. Good luck! Just know that you are not alone with your frustration. I work during the day too and the first two weeks we had him, I was super exhausted from having to train and care for my pup! I was ready to pull my hair out too!!!! It will get better for you. It will take some time, but you'll be so happy when your pup finally gets it though!!!!

[nicksgf]

Originally Posted by katelin

First, you got her really young. She is just now getting to the age when she should be trained.

I'd recommend an x-pen. Exercise pens are available at Petco and most stores. Make her a small area inside the pen that has her bed, her toys, her food, and her pee pads. She should stay in the pen at night and during the day when you are gone or cannot watch her. When you are there you can open the pen, but keep an eye on her and restrict the area that she can go into -- not too far from her pen and pee pads.

This eliminates your getting up in the night. She will get herself up, potty and go back to bed. She will be safe in the x-pen, but have access to everything she needs. You can even put her crate in there for her to sleep in if she likes it. Later, when she is farther along in her training, you can have her in your bed if you like.

Also, if you see her potty on the pads, praise her and give her a little treat. They really like that and it helps a bunch in training

We do this with all our puppies, and their new owners report that they are practically trained by the time they go to their new homes. Of course, we keep them until they are 10 weeks old.

Best wishes. I know how exhausting it can be.

I used Scooter's own scent too, just so he knew that it was ok to potty there. helped a lot with starting him out on the pads.

[margy]

Is she still pooping in her crate? My 5 month old seems to think this is the place to poop.

[Ladylavender]

If your puppy is pooing and peeing in the crate, then the crate is too big. (it may be the smallest crate they make, but it's still too big for a 2-3 lbs puppy. You need to make the crate smaller by stuffing cardboard, boxes, towels or things in the back so that all there is left is about 1/4 of the floor space available. (as she gets older and bigger, you can start making more floor space in the crate to accommodate the growth, but it should still only be large enough to stand, turn and lay down.) You should be able to keep her in the crate now for longer periods of time to begin to train her to "hold" her pee and poo for several hours. BUT you must work up slowly to more hours.

I would also get an x-pen and make this the "designated" potty area. I would set up the x-pen (out of the way, but easily accessible.) I would put down peepads to cover the floor of the x-pen area. (This will give your puppy plenty of room to sniff to pee and allow her to run back and forth to stimulate her to go poop) I also would suggest putting her scent on a clean peepad to start things and also put some smeared poo in there too. (not a lot) Dogs need to smell poo to stimulate them to go. I would bring her to this area on her potty schedule. I would make her walk in the x-pen herself (treat her to walk in) and then I would close the gate and let her do her thing sniffing and walking around until she goes. Treat and praise the potty. (repeat the "go potty" phrase while she is in there before and while she goes. By giving her an enclosed area to go and a bigger space to go, you are giving her a better chance to succeed. Also she will soon learn she gets out of "jail" after she goes potty and she can play. If she decides to play or she gets distracted, redirect her and keep repeating "go potty". After a time, she will go on command and you will be able to make her area smaller and smaller, by removing peepads and making the x-pen area smaller, until eventually she is down to one pee pad, but this could take months. Just be consistent.

Unfortunately, waking up in the middle of night is unavoidable, unless you do as another poster said and to set up the x-pen with her bed, toys and peepads. I don't recommend this, because you want to separate her potty area from her sleep area. You essentially want to train her to differentiate between her "den" and the "soil" area. If you combine the two, then she will also think it's ok to soil in the "den". Eventually her "den" gets bigger and bigger as she has access to other areas of the house when she becomes more reliably housebroken and she has to understand that these areas are NOT "soil" areas. That there is only ONE soil area and that's the area you have established from the very beginning and it never changes.

[Geoffrey]

my Geoffrey is just over 19 weeks and has been terrible about learning the concept that inside is not the correct place to defecate. she rarely pees inside (unless i leave her alone for too long) but she poops whereever she please! I've had her for over eight weeks so don't feel bad!

[margy]

Last hight we had success and broke the habit of crate pooping!! We had been limiting his time playing (because he wasn't pooping when we wanted him to) and this was counter productive - we let him run around to his heart's content - also we left a light on in the room his crate is in for the night. So - whether it was the extra exercise or the light which prevented crate anxiety - I don't know. Hoping for a repeat tonight!!

[nicksgf]

Originally Posted by margy

Last hight we had success and broke the habit of crate pooping!! We had been limiting his time playing (because he wasn't pooping when we wanted him to) and this was counter productive - we let him run around to his heart's content - also we left a light on in the room his crate is in for the night. So - whether it was the extra exercise or the light which prevented crate anxiety - I don't know. Hoping for a repeat tonight!!

YAAAHHH!!! Congrats!
A long walk before bed has always helped Scooter so I bet the exercise was key!
Also, don't want to disappoint you, but don't expect too much right away, your pup is really young, and Scooter was off and on for accidents in the crate when he was 13-15 weeks old. Even last week at 19 weeks old he had an accident, though that was really rare and it's because it was raining on our walk and he didn't feel like going in the rain...
But congrats and don't feel too bad for accidents at that age! Once they understand your schedule they'll learn really fast that if they go before bed they don't have to sleep in it! Good luck!

[bigdog]

Put a diaper on her inside the crate. I have a strip of black velcro and wrap it around the diaper because libby lou can pull the tabs lose off the diaper. I get size one or two from the dollar store and cut a hole in the tail. works perfectly. She has been a terror also but she is finall getting it. we still have a few accidents, she is 7 months old and i still make her wear her diaper.