working during the day... help me please?

[Ladylavender]

Originally Posted by Candacekimble

I have a 6 month old yorkie female, who is potty trained. I got her about 14 weeks and started crate training immediately. Never used the potty pads and she never had full run unless I was watching her like a hawk. If I couldn’t watch her she was in her crate. I have an X-Small crate but it was still too much room and she would pee/poo on one end and lay on the other. Needless to say that didn’t work. This is what worked: I got a doggy bed and placed this in the crate. She could stand up, move around a bit, play with her toys but she couldn’t pee and run. It worked like a charm, the day I put the bed in she stopped peeing in the crate. I believe the trick is not to give too much room in the crate, but that was hard for me to measure. This site really helped.

I used to come home and take her out during lunch and then immediately after work. At about 4.5 months (I think) I noticed she could hold it for the day (when I had an emergency). Even now at 6 months she sometimes in her crate from 8-5 and when I let her out she stops and plays with me for about 5 minutes before she is ready to go out. At this point, she runs around the house without any accidents, when we are home. She will come get our attention when she needs to go outside 

Not home=Crate. No food or water, just few of her favorite toys.
Also, I took the bed out of her crate after about 3 weeks and now she has the entire crate with no problems. It was so frustrating the first few months but now she is potty outside trained.

Most important, do what works in your lifestyle. There is a lot of great advice on this website and every dog is different. Be patient, stick with a routine, and this will be over before you know it.

[Ellie May]

Originally Posted by Ladylavender

I don't wish to be controversial, but this is wrong. A puppy can hold it for 5 hours and they will. And a dog does NOT need access to water 24/7. And to take it a way from them while confined is not cruel, just practical.

Puppies have very little bladder control until 3 or 4 months old. Their muscles aren't strong enough and their bladders are small.

This is why I recommend access to water all the time:
http://www.veterinarypartner.com/Con...=1&SourceID=47
I wouldn't want to be thirsty and not be able to drink for five hours.

[Little Bit]

I agree with those who said cover the whole floor in his area (kitchen or ex pen) with potty pads. That way he can only go on the pads. Then gradually decrease the area covered by pads until there is only one pad at one end and his bed and food at the other. I would do this very slowly (over weeks). That is how I have trained all my puppies and they do wonderfully, both inside on pads and outside. I know it is hard, but please be patient and don't get mad at him, just praise him when you catch him doing it right.

[y0rkiesR0ck]

Originally Posted by Ellie May

Puppies have very little bladder control until 3 or 4 months old. Their muscles aren't strong enough and their bladders are small.

This is why I recommend access to water all the time:
http://www.veterinarypartner.com/Con...=1&SourceID=47
I wouldn't want to be thirsty and not be able to drink for five hours.

Good article! I agree with keeping water constantly available to dogs (especially growing puppies). I'd rather have easy-to-clean accidents on the kitchen floor than a dehydrated puppy. I just think the area I keep him in is TOO big. I don't want to keep him locked in a crate, I just need to down size so that he can ONLY pee on the pads. I've been researching playpens, but they're pretty expensive for my taste. lol. I'll keep looking though.

[chrwel02]

We started out with an Xpen and lined the bottom with pee pads...and the first week or so he would have accidents and then he stopped and was able to hold it more and more. I would come home at lunch and let him out and now he is 8 months and he can hold it until I get home with no potty pads at all. He hasn't had an accident in 3 months! He does still have accidents in the house if we get busy and don't see the signs but we are working on that! He is to the point now where he holds it through the night and very rarely do I have to get up and take him outside...it takes time and patience but I know that hopefully in the next 3 months or so he will be there

[hha]

IMO, the kitchen is too big for him to have run of while you're gone..what I would suggest is an xpen, this way, his bed or crate can be at one end, then his food, then the pee pad at the other end...whenever my first dog peed on the floor, I wiped it up like what you're doing, and then I put the pee on the pee pad, she never did pee on the kitchen floor after that again..
As far as the kitchen, the thing about letting him run in there, is that they can get ahold of cords(refrigerator) and ahold of molding, so, if they're in an xpen, they have more room, but yet, not a lot, and there is nothing they're going to be able to get hurt on..

[Potter]

Originally Posted by Ellie May

Puppies have very little bladder control until 3 or 4 months old. Their muscles aren't strong enough and their bladders are small.

This is why I recommend access to water all the time:
http://www.veterinarypartner.com/Con...=1&SourceID=47
I wouldn't want to be thirsty and not be able to drink for five hours.

A puppy or even dog does need water 24/7 and especially when sometimes they are sick they tend to drink a little more. What happens when you do not know yet and puppy does not have water access? I am not trying to be mean just bringing out the what ifs. And I do agree about the fact that puppy's bladders are small and do not have enough control yet until they are older.

[hha]

Originally Posted by Ladylavender

I don't wish to be controversial, but this is wrong. A puppy can hold it for 5 hours and they will. And a dog does NOT need access to water 24/7. And to take it a way from them while confined is not cruel, just practical.





It is hard and you may not think it will work, but it does. It is an extremely effective method, without being cruel. It eliminates a lot of the stress in the homecoming, because there is no potty to pick up or clean up and there is a sense of accomplishment everyday that they get it right. The homecoming is a happy occasion for both you and the puppy.

You might want to practice on the week-end and keep her in her crate for a couple hours at a time and work your way up to 5 hours, so that on Monday, she will be used to it and it will not be anything new to her.

I have to disagree with this..I have a lot of time(I'm a stay at home wife), and I have done a lot of reading on crate training..you should NEVER expect a puppy to hold it's bladder for more than one hour for every month old that it is..I don't even expect my 7 mo. to hold hers for over 7 hours, and that is about what she is holding it at night before she goes potty on the pad..I know this because we have experimented on getting up at different times..after 5 1/2 hours the pad is dry, after 6 hours its dry, after 7 hours, it's wet...I sure wouldn't want someone making me hold my bladder..

[hha]

Originally Posted by Ellie May

Puppies have very little bladder control until 3 or 4 months old. Their muscles aren't strong enough and their bladders are small.

This is why I recommend access to water all the time:
http://www.veterinarypartner.com/Con...=1&SourceID=47
I wouldn't want to be thirsty and not be able to drink for five hours.

LOL You wouldn't want to be able to drink for 5 hours?? Heck, I wouldn't want to have to hold my bladder that long..

[hha]

Originally Posted by Potter

A puppy or even dog does need water 24/7 and especially when sometimes they are sick they tend to drink a little more. What happens when you do not know yet and puppy does not have water access? I am not trying to be mean just bringing out the what ifs. And I do agree about the fact that puppy's bladders are small and do not have enough control yet until they are older.

Ellie wrote they do need access to water..not that they don't need access to water..

[shelbell77]

Originally Posted by Candacekimble

I have a 6 month old yorkie female, who is potty trained. I got her about 14 weeks and started crate training immediately. Never used the potty pads and she never had full run unless I was watching her like a hawk. If I couldn’t watch her she was in her crate. I have an X-Small crate but it was still too much room and she would pee/poo on one end and lay on the other. Needless to say that didn’t work. This is what worked: I got a doggy bed and placed this in the crate. She could stand up, move around a bit, play with her toys but she couldn’t pee and run. It worked like a charm, the day I put the bed in she stopped peeing in the crate. I believe the trick is not to give too much room in the crate, but that was hard for me to measure. This site really helped.

I used to come home and take her out during lunch and then immediately after work. At about 4.5 months (I think) I noticed she could hold it for the day (when I had an emergency). Even now at 6 months she sometimes in her crate from 8-5 and when I let her out she stops and plays with me for about 5 minutes before she is ready to go out. At this point, she runs around the house without any accidents, when we are home. She will come get our attention when she needs to go outside 

Not home=Crate. No food or water, just few of her favorite toys.
Also, I took the bed out of her crate after about 3 weeks and now she has the entire crate with no problems. It was so frustrating the first few months but now she is potty outside trained.

Most important, do what works in your lifestyle. There is a lot of great advice on this website and every dog is different. Be patient, stick with a routine, and this will be over before you know it.

Agree 100%. This is exactly what I did with Elphaba!