[Bluebells]

Jax has made some progress in the past month. He’s gotten very good about using his “potty box” — which is a small-dog sized plastic box with six inch walls and a snap-down grate to prevent him from getting to the puppy pad. AND he seems to be losing interest in eating poop. He only does it now about one time out of three BMs. So double yay!

I’ve also finally found a brand of treat he will eat, which should help with teaching some basic commands. He still won’t drop a toy to get one, as he much prefers playing to eating treats, but he does seem to like them better than poop, lol.

On the downside, even though he’s doing well in day time potty training, he is still having a lot of “accidents” in his crate at night. I put “accidents” in quotes because I honestly don’t think he perceives going pee in his crate as a bad thing. He apparently hasn’t read the section in the puppy manual that says dogs don’t like to eliminate where they sleep, because he doesn’t mind at all. He never barks, fusses or whines before or after he does it; he just pees and goes back to sleep. And I’m not leaving him in the crate for long periods of time — I literally have been getting up to take him potty every three to four hours at night since the day I brought him home last December. It’s wearing me out, and he still has “accidents” several times a week. Any suggestions?? I already have most of the crate sectioned off so he has an extremely small area, but that doesn’t make a difference. The only thing I can think to do is take away his blanket, because obviously he pees a fairly small amount (he only weighs four pounds) and the blanket absorbs it ... but I hate to do that.

His neuter surgery is Friday, and I’m trying hard not to panic. Not succeeding but trying.