Hello,
I had my baby for only 6 nights so far and reading everyone else's story is a nightmare to me because of all the similarities. Here's my scenario:
1st: The bedtime crate thing is driving me crazy. He is 17 weeks old now and i finally got some rest last night because I folowed the advice of my sister, put a sheet over the crate to cover the side window frame and front door partially. The crate is in my room so I usually say good night and turn off the light.
At first I would put a pee pad in and 2 sheets of newspaper and his water bowl with some of his toys and the towel that he had when he came with me. I never knew if his whining/barking was due to wanting to go potty or because he just didn't want to be there. I never took him out because it took 1 1/2 hrs the 2nd night for him to settle down, then 1 hour the next night, then 1/2 hr the next night. But all through the night he did cry at certain times I just didn't want to take a peek so that he didnt' see me because it would make it
WORST.
Last night I put in the water & food bowl in the holder so it wouldnt spill over onto the pads/paper, his toys, and one of my old tshirts and he finally settled down within 10 mins. But as soon as I get up to go the the bathroom myself he is barking and whinning immediately. He can't stand to be away from me during the day either. Whether or not I leave him in the crate when I go out or just in the house. He follows me everywhere even for me to potty/showers. I'm scared that Im going to step on him accidentally like the other day when I didn't see him behind me. My heart broke because he thought I was doing something bad to him on purpose.
When I let him out in the morning he gets so excited that he has minor accidents and runs around like crazy until he can finally let it all go. The majority of the times out of the paper I have set up in the bathroom and the dinette area. His #2 is never on the pad/paper. I need better techiques to handle this since my neighbor which has bulldogs told me of getting another type of crate where there is a partition/wall to set up on a larger crate with the removal potty tray in the bottom of a grid floor. Keep him in all day for 1 week w/food and water and that will potty train him faster. Well I feel like Im punishing him if I do that. And I don't want him to fear the crate either. I want him to feel comfortable enough to go in when he is tired/sleepy/resting on his own eventually. What other advice can U give me.
The kitchen is definitely out of the question so is the bathroom since I get up myself. I live in a 3 room apartment so the other place is the hallway or the livingroom to set up a area just for him with gate partitions.
Im trying train him by November/December.
Maria19
