Posted: Thu Jan 12, 2012 9:51 am Post subject: Night time toilet training - HELP!
HELP!
I am nearly at the end of my teather!
Mahsa is now coming up to 13 weeks old, and has settled in very well, and is pretty much house-trained. She's very clever and is very good around the house.
But during the night...
She sleeps in her crate in the utility room just off the kitchen - it's a very big room for a small pup and the floor area is toally hers. She has her crate, with a carpet under it for warmth, her food/water bowl and an area for toys/play. She goes to bed at the same time as us - but often will take herself off to her bed at about 9:45/10pm.
I will ensure that she goes out to toilet at shortly after that, and it's pretty much her bedtime from 10:30.
I am getting up at about 3am to let her out, but I am increasingly finding that she has already poo'd and wee'd in her room. We have put a puppy pad down in there already...
It's really frustrating. When she goes to bed she sleeps in her crate, and I leave the door open, I am considering closing her in there...but I am unsure.
Do you lot have any recommendations? I am starting to run low on energy and I am getting really tired - made worse by the fact I have an hours commute to work - waking up at 6am to go...
Help please! Should I 'lock her in' her crate? She's never soiled it...and I don't think she ever would.
I was uncertain about using a crate the first time I had one, so did exactly the same as you and left the door open. My pup also weed and pooed in the kitchen until she was 14 weeks old, then one day I'd had enough and shut the crate door and that was the end of all the toileting in the night. I never even went down to let her out. Just put her to bed at about 11pm and got up at about 6am and she was clean and dry from then on.
Also take up her water before bedtime. We used to take the water away by about 8ish and then it was bedtime at 10:30ish.
We always shut Cooper in his crate overnight, and he is now nearly 1 and he is still shut in it overnight and when we are out. He chooses to go to bed, but will just sit staring at us and refuses to lie down until the door is shut.
When he cried we picked him up and put him outside to do his business then carried him back in and put him in the crate and closed it again with no talking or playing as he still cries a bit to be with people. We hoped that he would learn that crying resulted in a toilet break and nothing else and it seems to have worked.
He now goes to bed at 10.30 and wakes up between 5.30 and 6.30. If it's 5.30 we put him back to bed and if it's 6.30 we're up for work anyway so he stays out.
I had considered taking her water away but, I thought this went against everything everyone has always said about water for dogs.
Hmmm but then if she is in her crate shut in, she can't get to her water anyway...So I wil lgive both these ideas a go tonight, Stop up til 11pm, but then not set an alarm at 2:30pm and just let her out when I get myself up at 6am. That means I might get 6+ hours of unbroken sleep....OHHHHHHH the luxury...
locking jessie in a crate at night was the only way i got her dry through the night - she could hold it no problems but why should she when she didnt have to, but once locked in the crate she didnt want to soil her bed so held it with no problems !
Neither of my dogs have had water in their crate over night! If they are asleep they don't need a drink
I always have a drink by the side of my bed but hardly ever wake up for a drink and if I do I guarantee I will need the loo in the night too Not that you really needed to know that but thought a comparison would make sense!!
Millie when she first came to us was shut in her crate at night and never abused this. I agree with everybody else on this that it is definitely the way forward. You may consider whether she is getting confused as well with the puppy pads when she is used to going outside. She may be thinking she needs to 'oblige'
Hopefully you will get some well needed sleep tonight
____________ Gillian, Millie & Arya, watched over by Becky, Arwen & Amber from the Bridge. Run fast & free
You cannot post new topics in this forum You cannot reply to topics in this forum You cannot edit your posts in this forum You cannot delete your posts in this forum You cannot vote in polls in this forum You cannot attach files in this forum You cannot download files in this forum
[IMG]http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a118/LucyJK/_DSC7456.jpg[/IMG]
Not that you really needed to know that but thought a comparison would make sense!!
