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Originally Posted by MishyMish  I was going to put a belly band on him, but take him out every half an hour at first. Working my way up to an hour over a period of time. Plus, when waking up, after play, after eating, the usual times. Is this not a good idea? |
Seems like a lot of work to me. They do this if the dog will be crate trained. You use a small crate that only big enough for the dog to stand up and turn around it. He will not pee in a small place where he only has room to lie down. So the idea is that when you take him out of the crate, he has to pee and learns quickly that you are happy when he pees on the right spot. With a belly band, he doesn't really learn to hold it, and he doesn't really learn to go on the pad in his crate. That’s why I suggested keeping him in a small crate overnight; this overnight training really helps them to learn about peeing in the right spot and learning to hold their urine. Do not withhold water, this is a common mistake and this too works against you. If he drinks water normally the bladder gradually grows and stretches, if you withhold water, you aren’t giving the bladder a chance to stretch normally.
By the way, if your pup has a good mother, she will have begun the training process, by nudging him over to the pee pad when she smell that he needs to urinate. He may know more than you think when you get him.