[Little Bit]

Originally Posted by luckylady

Well, we are to the point this past week where I've actually seen Lexie's pups potty on their own.Congratulations puppies! Lexie still helps them out & cleans up after them, but they are on their way to potty independence. When I've had them out of their box, I've put them on a potty pad, and they have gone on it. Today, I had Candy out of the box, put her on the pad, she peed, then walked around for a little while, and a few minutes later was on the pad again....and pooped! I'm telling you, if I would have had my camera handy, I would have taken her picture . I was amazed and praised her lavishly ! My question(s) is this.....was that a fluke, a coincidence, a dream (LOL), or did she really go potty on there purposely? And if so...since they have not graduated to having free roam of an xpen yet, should I have a potty pad in their box? I know they have been potty-ing in there as I have had to change their bedding more often. Advice again from the more experianced breeders here is needed and welcome.

If they are able to get out of the bed on their own I would cover the floor of the puppy pen with pads. Then as they get older slowly reduce the size of the padded area until there is a bed at one end and a pad at the other end of the pen. It worked great with my pups. If the box is big enough I would definitely give them someplace to potty besides the bed.