help me justify my decision... :\

[y0rkiesR0ck]

Kash is going on 17 weeks (this Saturday, April 5). I've had him since Feb 9 (about two months), and since both my boyfriend and I work from 8-5, I've been keeping Kash confined to the kitchen with a baby gate, and coming home at lunch to let him out...

well, at first i left out a pee pad, but everyday, i would come home to find one or two puddles of pee that were in other areas of the kitchen, and not on the pee pad... my kitchen is pretty big for such a small dog, so he has free access to pee anywhere he wants, and i can't cover the whole kitchen floor with pee pads. lol.

so, anyway, the point of this thread is that i decided two things, and i need to know what everyone thinks: 1) i just can't come back home for lunch every single day of the week because i work too far away. after doing this for almost 2 months, the cost of gas is killing me, not to mention the added wear & tear to my car from driving nearly 60 miles a day is stressing me out; 2) i needed to make the area where Kash is kept smaller so that he has no choice but to pee/poop on the pad that i lay out for him.

i feel that by solving problem #2, i solved problem #1 because with a smaller area, even if i don't come home to let him out, he'll be able to pee/poop on the pad. i bought the north state xt superyard playpen (and set it up as a 60" x 30" rectangle), which gives enough room for his crate, food/water bowl, a little bit of floor to play on, and the pee pad at the end...

i'd like to see what other people think of my solution because i'm just stressing out about leaving him home alone for 8 hours straight, even if he's not locked in a tiny crate. but i'm also a little relieved that i don't have to drive so much.

p.s. i only have 1 hour for lunch, and since i live so far (about 20-25 minutes), i am only able to see Kash for 10 minutes (15 minutes MAX)... so, i feel like i was only getting him all excited to see me, just to leave shortly afterwards, and getting him upset all over again. although this doesn't make me feel better about him being alone for so long...

thanks guys!

[SevenGirl]

17 weeks is still pretty young to expect total potty training success (in my opinion). I will be curious to hear other member's ideas. Potty training takes a lot of consistency and it is definitely hard to do when you are gone during to the day for 9 hours.

How does Kash do with his potty training in the evening when you are home?

Potty training is so hard, but I'm sure Kash will pick up on it! Good luck!

[y0rkiesR0ck]

Originally Posted by SevenGirl

17 weeks is still pretty young to expect total potty training success (in my opinion). I will be curious to hear other member's ideas. Potty training takes a lot of consistency and it is definitely hard to do when you are gone during to the day for 9 hours.

How does Kash do with his potty training in the evening when you are home?

Potty training is so hard, but I'm sure Kash will pick up on it! Good luck!

Kash is pretty good at potty training when i'm home in the evening... i still have to watch him closely, but he gives me signs, like walking to the back door (where i take him out), and sniffing around that area... he doesn't straight up bark at me to let him out or anything, but he acts like he knows where he's supposed to go potty... i haven't had an accident with him for a while (when i'm home)...

and i agree that 17 weeks is young to expect him to be fully potty trained. i'm just trying to come up with a solution that works for both him and me.

[Lynn WDW]

I had to put some of Baxter's pee on the pad for him to get the picture. Now he uses his every day. I am gone all day and he stays in our master bath which is plenty of room for him. He is defeating me in every area but potty training. He's 3 months old. Right now I am struggling to get the upper hand in grooming and chewing. Good luck!

[mainegirl]

My Ozzy is about the same age as your Kash. (He was born 12/5) I leave him in his xpen twice a week all day while I'm at work. I have his bed, water and food on one side and 2 pee pads cover the other half of the pen. He really can not fail this way. He always hits the pad as he really has no choice. This works great for me. When we are home I leave the pen door open and he will run in his pen when he has to go potty. He is 90% housebroken at this point. He will go potty outside if you take him but won't go to the door to tell you but willl go right to his pad. Every few weeks he may have a pee accident if he's playing far from the pen but it's becoming more rare. I used to go home at lunch to see him but also have a 20 minute ride each way so I stopped b/c of the cost and also he got upset when I left him in the am and then again at 1pm. He settles in after i go and sleeps all day. I think it's less stressful for him now that I don't go home at lunch. This routine worked really well for me. Good luck keep us posted

[MissLizzie]

I am having the exact same problem with Itsy, and actually did the exact same thing last night to try to solve it! I have a large kitchen with tile floor so of course I have been keeping her in there while I'm gone to work all day with a baby gate up, and I come home at lunch to check on her (luckily my work is less than 10 mins away). She pees and poos on her pads pretty well but has persisted at also going right in front of the doorway where the baby gate is. When she had poo'd there yesterday when I got home from lunch and then danced all through it in her excitement to see me it was the last straw!
I went out and got the XT pen and put her bed and bowls at one end and potty pad at the other. So far it has worked pretty well. BTW if anyone is thinking of buying an XT playpen, they are $89.99 at Petsmart and only $64.99 at ToysRus!
Also on the potty training, praise was working well to motivate her but treats are definitely working MUCH better. Good luck!

[SevenGirl]

Originally Posted by y0rkiesR0ck

Kash is pretty good at potty training when i'm home in the evening... i still have to watch him closely, but he gives me signs, like walking to the back door (where i take him out), and sniffing around that area... he doesn't straight up bark at me to let him out or anything, but he acts like he knows where he's supposed to go potty... i haven't had an accident with him for a while (when i'm home)...

and i agree that 17 weeks is young to expect him to be fully potty trained. i'm just trying to come up with a solution that works for both him and me.

Sounds like he definitely is getting the hang of it!!!

[y0rkiesR0ck]

Originally Posted by MissLizzie

I am having the exact same problem with Itsy, and actually did the exact same thing last night to try to solve it! I have a large kitchen with tile floor so of course I have been keeping her in there while I'm gone to work all day with a baby gate up, and I come home at lunch to check on her (luckily my work is less than 10 mins away). She pees and poos on her pads pretty well but has persisted at also going right in front of the doorway where the baby gate is. When she had poo'd there yesterday when I got home from lunch and then danced all through it in her excitement to see me it was the last straw!
I went out and got the XT pen and put her bed and bowls at one end and potty pad at the other. So far it has worked pretty well. BTW if anyone is thinking of buying an XT playpen, they are $89.99 at Petsmart and only $64.99 at ToysRus!
Also on the potty training, praise was working well to motivate her but treats are definitely working MUCH better. Good luck!

i actually bought my XT playyard on walmart's website for $59 (which includes tax). i had it shipped to the store for free. i can't believe petsmart charges so much more for the same thing...

[KathyK09]

Originally Posted by y0rkiesR0ck

Kash is going on 17 weeks (this Saturday, April 5). I've had him since Feb 9 (about two months), and since both my boyfriend and I work from 8-5, I've been keeping Kash confined to the kitchen with a baby gate, and coming home at lunch to let him out...

well, at first i left out a pee pad, but everyday, i would come home to find one or two puddles of pee that were in other areas of the kitchen, and not on the pee pad... my kitchen is pretty big for such a small dog, so he has free access to pee anywhere he wants, and i can't cover the whole kitchen floor with pee pads. lol.

so, anyway, the point of this thread is that i decided two things, and i need to know what everyone thinks: 1) i just can't come back home for lunch every single day of the week because i work too far away. after doing this for almost 2 months, the cost of gas is killing me, not to mention the added wear & tear to my car from driving nearly 60 miles a day is stressing me out; 2) i needed to make the area where Kash is kept smaller so that he has no choice but to pee/poop on the pad that i lay out for him.

i feel that by solving problem #2, i solved problem #1 because with a smaller area, even if i don't come home to let him out, he'll be able to pee/poop on the pad. i bought the north state xt superyard playpen (and set it up as a 60" x 30" rectangle), which gives enough room for his crate, food/water bowl, a little bit of floor to play on, and the pee pad at the end...

i'd like to see what other people think of my solution because i'm just stressing out about leaving him home alone for 8 hours straight, even if he's not locked in a tiny crate. but i'm also a little relieved that i don't have to drive so much.

p.s. i only have 1 hour for lunch, and since i live so far (about 20-25 minutes), i am only able to see Kash for 10 minutes (15 minutes MAX)... so, i feel like i was only getting him all excited to see me, just to leave shortly afterwards, and getting him upset all over again. although this doesn't make me feel better about him being alone for so long...

thanks guys!

Our Mariah is only a few wks older then your puppy. We have an x-pen (approx 2x6) now in our kitchen. This was absolutely the BEST advice I have ever gotten from this website.

She is alone from approx. 7:30 am to 3:30 - 4:00 pm while we are all gone to work/school. She ALWAYS goes on her pee pad while in the x-pen during the day. She is perfectly fine in her pen all day and I feel comfortable knowing she is safe/happy.

When we get home for the day we take out the soiled pad and put a fresh one down (mopping out her pen every few days). Then we leave the door to her x-pen open and she is allowed in the kitchen and one other room (our family rm). When she is loose, she is about 98% trained to go on her own into her x-pen and pee on her pads. She was doing so well that we had stopped reminding her to go pee and recently she had a couple of accidents. However she is consistently pooping in one spot (not on her pad) in the kitchen - so we are working on that.

We do want to start training her to go outside but we are waiting till the weather is over 50 degrees.

I think having these little puppies/dogs in an x-pen if we are away from home for a long period of time is such an excellent idea.

We do kennel our Bichon while we are gone and she is happy in her crate too, but with the hypoglycemic issues these little dogs can have - I feel much better having food/water available to Mariah all day.

[Yorkiedaze]

If you attach the expen to the front sides of the wire crate, leaving the crate outside the expen, it allows for more room to walk around.

[MIZBROWN]

I would suggest doing a lot more searching on this site to get ideas of what you should do with a pup at that age. 17 wks.... my dear, he's got such a long way to go. I've had Meka since 9 wks and at 1 yr now, she still has accidents. At that age, I kept in her a human like playpen. With pad (which she did good w), bed and water bowl. I would leave the TV on for her and she was fine... Considering they're still sleeping a lot at that age giving them too much space, is only asking for trouble. Its not going to come to him as natural as it might other breeds. Your litterally going to need to show him and assist him a lot with the training...

[katelin]

I was having similar problems with my 6 week old puppies -- the potty issues in the kitchen that is (I'm home with them all the time). I have to say I found a great solution thanks to some suggestions on YT.

I bought 2 shower liners, the cloth kind not the plastic kind. They are waterproof! I put it on the kitchen floor, put the x-pen around/on it and lay down a couple pee pads inside. There is room for food, play, pee pads and beds. If they miss the pee pad (not often) it just puddles up on the shower liner and I just use a tissue or paper towel to soak up any liquid.

Because I bought 2 I can wash it every day! Clean floors, clean puppies. Everyone is happy.

[puppy_Love08]

What is an "xpen"? Is that a short way of saying playpen?

[y0rkiesR0ck]

Originally Posted by puppy_Love08

What is an "xpen"? Is that a short way of saying playpen?

short for exercise pen... it can mean playpen too i suppose.

[chachi]

I love my xpens! You wil love yours too they really come in handy