I agree wiyh the last poster. I would not crate the puppy. We don't have a mudroom close enough for us to monitor our little girl. When we first got her, we had her in bed with us. She never soiled once! If we heard her whimpering at night, we got up and took her to the potty pad. She rarely did that, and so I think we only got up once or twice during the night the first month, and usually, she didn't whimper until 5:30 or 6:00. So you might give this method a try for the nighttime problem. After about a month to a month-and-a-half, we moved her to a crate next to our bed. We could still hear if she whimpered, but she sleeps solid until 6:00 - 6:30. I get up to get ready for work at 6:30, so I take her to the potty-pad first, then she goes back and lays in bed with my husband until I need to get my clothes around 7:30. My husband takes it from there.
We praise and give treats each time she does it right, and we ignore mistakes. Treats are about all they care about, so we are very consequent about giving them every time. |