My dog was pee pad trained and is now litter box trained (a litter box with a pee pad in it) When we first got him he slept in the bathroom (we got him when he was 8 weeks so he was too young to hold it all night). He had a crate but I took the door off, he would sleep in the crate and go to the bathroom, most of the time, on the pee pad but he was free to roam in the bathroom and would often just go wherever as the space was too big for him.
As he got older (12 weeks old) he'd stay in his crate (locked) all night and go on in a litter box in the morning. His crate was in my bedroom and he'd cry and whine as early as 5 am to go to the bathroom, so we'd put him in the bathroom where his litter box was. I finally got tired of waking up at 5am and bought him a large crate (for a Chow Chow) and put his bed in there with his litter box. He'd sleep and pee when needed.
Once he reached 10 months he started roaming around the house unsupervised and he's wearing a belly band around the house. Now he sleeps in bed with me. The rule is he's only allowed on the bed with a belly band after he's pooped. We use baby wipes to clean him (backside and paws!) He still wakes me up at night, so I take the belly band off and put him in his larger crate with his litter box. He's been very good and hasn't had an accident in my bed in 8 months. |