Puppy Training

Well we got a new puppy - English Springer and he is adorable!

I am getting him potty trained and of course want to take him to training for the leash walking and commands AND for not nipping.

I have a crate which I feed him in and I have never closed the door yet (he is 7 weeks old).  He stays in the kitchen with newspaper and puppy pads down overnight but he WHINES like SCREAMS at about 2pm (he needs to poop) I take him out and then WHAM again 4:30am SCREAM and I ignore again 6am SCREAMS.

How long does it take till they quit screaming?

What practices did you use to potty train your puppy?

We go outside after a nap, after eating and anytime I think he is smelling anywhere and I say go potty...He almost always pee's on command.

He only poops overnight on the paper NEVER on the carpet ect...But it seems he takes forever to process the food to poop.

I am looking for good advice on potty training and puppy stuff ;-)

I read so much online its crazy!

First, congrats on the puppy!! He's super cute! 

Second, I am by no means an expert, but as far as the housebreaking goes, it sounds like you're doing alright. We had a relatively painless time housebreaking our dog, and it sounds like you're pretty much on the same page that we were. It just took time, but if you're consistent, they catch on pretty quickly.

You just have to keep taking him out, praising him when he goes outside, etc. We used the phrase "On the grass" and praised him when he did his business, and now he goes on command for both #1 and #2 with that. It comes in handy for when I know he hasn't gone yet and I need to leave the house!  He also scratches the door when he wants out, which was helpful when he, and thus his bladder, were smaller. Now he scratches when he wants to go out and sun himself or chase rabbits. 

Also try to recognise his "I'm gonna go" behaviours.  We eventually could tell when our dog was going to do #2 because he would start sniffing around in a circle with his tail straight up in the air.  My first dog ever would bolt for the end of the hallway as that was his spot, for some reason. 

Eventually you'll get to know what his schedule is like. For example, ours just never wants to do #2 first thing in the morning, even though he's been sleeping for 9 hours. It's pee, breakfast, back to sleep for 30min - 1 hour (him, not us, the lazy bum!  ), and then a poo around 7:30. Then it's another 1 or 2 in the afternoon and one before bed.

As for the screaming. I have very little advice. We were complete wimps. I think you just have to get through it, which I believe is what my parents did with our first dog. Perhaps put something cuddly in with him, as well as something that smells like you. It might comfort him?? Also, it could also partly be that the kitchen is too big a space for him, and closing the door to the crate might actually help. Smaller spaces tend to feel safer to dogs, so he might find it easier to settle down if he doesn't have such a big space to be alone in.

We tried to leave ours downstairs in his crate the first night. Oh the screaming! We couldn't handle it, so we moved his crate up to our bedroom and just lay next to the crate for a few minutes until he settled down. He'd then proceed to snooze, and we could snooze. He'd get up a few more times and we would just go comfort him again, but after the first week or 2, the screaming had stopped. We just kept him in our room at night after that, until he was old enough to be trusted out of his crate at bedtime, which is when he starting sleeping with the kiddo instead. We'd always intended to have him sleep in the kiddo's room anyway, so we didn't really feel that it was necessary to keep him downstairs at first as originally planned.

And now I've gone and rambled on and written my life story! I hope some of that helps, at least a little. Good luck! 

I found with my lab Jackson that he felt a lot more comfortable with the crate door closed.  He loves his crate and still sleeps in it (door open always now) at 9 years old.  When he was a baby we always put his 'woobie' stuffed toy in with him and he got used to it fairly quickly.  I love your fur baby!  I want one!

Awww thanks for your story NOT, it all helps. Sarah, I hope he gets to that place but I cant wait for him to be potty trained so he can sleep with me when DH is gone.

Our kitchen is the size of a matchbox so its not big the crate takes up almost half lol

He has no problem going to sleep in the crate if we are in the kitchen but man you think we are killing him is he is in the kitchen and we aren't!

I closed the crate for 15 secs maybe and did a treat, he flipped so I did it for 10 - I am trying to work my way up.

If DH wasn't home that dog would be in my bed (I got get him at 6 now and bring him upstairs as he goes back to bed till 8am! YAY ME)

How old was your puppy when you closed the door overnight? did you get up to take him out? Most puppies cant hold their pee that long? did you have 1 side a puppy pad and 1 side to sleep?

I may bring his crate into our room and sleep on the floor next to it but the potty thing I worry about.  I agree I think he would sleep better and I know I would too!

He has many stuffed animals and a tiger and a big almost 3 foot plush dog he likes to drag around and beat up.

He is at the nipping/biting pretending to growl stage too (oh the male dominance) and trying to stop this is loads of fun - let me tell you. NO doesn't work but I keep saying it - it is my favorite word. ;-)

Thanks ya'll!

I closed the crate for 15 secs maybe and did a treat, he flipped so I did it for 10 - I am trying to work my way up.

This is good. I think what we did was we would put the crate in the living room while we were watching TV, and have the puppy in there with the door closed so that he could still see us, but was separate. It taught him that being in the crate isn't a bad thing and is a time to relax, and doesn't necessarily mean anyone is going anywhere. He loves his crate now, and actually goes to lie down in there on his own to get some peace and quiet! 

How old was your puppy when you closed the door overnight? did you get up to take him out? Most puppies cant hold their pee that long? did you have 1 side a puppy pad and 1 side to sleep?

We got him at 7 weeks and the door was closed from the start, but he was also in our room with us. We didn't get up to take him out, just one side was a pee pad and the other was his bed. We didn't get up in the middle of the night because I went to bed later than BF and BF would get up at 5 in the morning anyway. Dogs won't go where they sleep, so once he gets bigger he'll pretty much just stop going in his crate on his own, plus his bladder will be big enough to be able to not have to go every other minute!

He is at the nipping/biting pretending to growl stage too (oh the male dominance) and trying to stop this is loads of fun - let me tell you. NO doesn't work but I keep saying it - it is my favorite word. ;-)

Those dang puppy teeth are so sharp!  I think what we did was when he started to get mouthy on our hands, we would take our hand away, say "Leave it", stop for a minute, stick a toy in his mouth, praise him, and continue to play with him using the toy. He caught on pretty quickly. Not chewing on the molding around the bottom of the wall was another thing, we got that icky tasting spray for that!

I have to admit, I caved early on and let him sleep in the bed at about 6 weeks.  I couldn't handle the crying, and since my ex was always gone- I wanted a co-sleeper.  I think I had to take him out once or twice in the night until about 10 weeks, and he never had an accident in the bed.  I crated him with the door closed anytime I left the house, which was generally every day for 1-3 hours when he was very small.  He always got a treat when he went in his crate, and was never punished in there.  And, he was always crated as an older dog (until about 3 years old) whenever we were out of the house.  Usually he would go lay down in his crate when he saw me putting on my shoes, but he also goes in there on command.  My mom thought I was cruel and evil until he moved in with her.  Then she realised how comfortable he feels in his crate, and that he cries if you move it out of the house. 

I have always heard that you aren't really supposed to provide them with an opportunity to pee in their crates.  There are guidelines for how long they can hold their bladder at whatever age, and crating them teaches them to hold it because they don't like to pee where they sleep.  If you have a crate that's for pup as an adult, you might put a cardboard box in it to make it smaller for him now.  It should be big enough for him to stand up and turn around, but not much larger than that. 

All dogs are different though, and I think training is up to your expectations and what you want out of a dog.  Most trainers say that sleeping on the bed is not a bad thing, if that's what you want.  Saying 'leave it' worked for me too, when Jackson was overwhelmed with hearing NO all the time. 

I got my last puppy at 12 weeks old.  7 weeks is still really young.  I think in the States it's not even legal to sell puppies before 8 weeks.  It must be different in the UK.    Anyway, he probably won't be able to "hold it" until he's closer to 12 weeks.  So you may be in for a few weeks of frequent late night potty breaks.   

I crated my last pup from day one.  But like others said, he was crated in the bedroom.    He did whine for awhile, but settled after about 5 mins.  You can cover the crate with a blanket (leave one side open for air flow - a side that he can't see you from!).  The darkness seems to quiet them down quicker.  They feel safe in their little "cave".  It's what my breeder recommended and it worked like a charm.  I still cover his crate at agility competitions if he gets noisy/barky.  I've seen other people do the same. 

The key to housebreaking is rewards, rewards, rewards.  Treats for every successful potty outside.  It doesn't take long for them to associate pottying outside with a treat.  You can wean him off the treats later.  I had regular "potty parties" outside when I was housebreaking.  I'm sure my neighbors thought I was CRAZY for getting excited about a dog peeing outside.  But it works!  Puppies get excited over the happy tone in your voice.  It only took roughly two weeks before he was reliably housebroken.   NoseOverTail is right about learning the schedule.  Even at four years of age, I still know my dog's potty schedule!

Ugh, biting...dogs learn the bite inhibition from their fellow pups and mom.  It was one of the things my breeder cited as a reason for not allowing me to have my dog before 12 weeks of age.  No worries though.  You can still teach it.  I agree with NoseOverTail about toy distraction.  Here's an article from the Whole Dog Journal (wonderful resource for dog stuff) about bite inhibition:  http://www.whole-dog-journal.com/issues/13_6/features/Bite-Inhibition_16232-1.html  There are tips on there on how to teach it.

Good luck!  Puppies are so much fun, but so much work!  If you do the training early though, you'll end up with a wonderful, well-behaved dog.

I agree with what everyone else has said.  We got our puppy at 5 weeks far to young I know but it was from a friend who was desperate to get at least one gone so he was weaned anyway.

Of course all he did was whine so we gave up and took him to bed he has never pooped or weed on the bed but we have cleaned up a few accidents on the bedroom floor but its floorboards so easy to clean up. 

Puppy training the secret is rewards for ages after my puppy had had is injections I took him on long walks with treats waiting for him to do something it took weeks before he finally did something then I went mad fussing him good boy gave him a treat etc etc.  The next time he did something same procedure. 

After a while I stopped taking the treats on walks and gave him one when we came back if he did a wee and poo etc I think it took about six months before he was more or less house trained and then he had occasional accident up until being about one.

He still whines to go out in the night sometimes but I let him out least he tells me lol.

He had an accident last night but he is recovering from an operation so I let him off he is now 20 months old just growing out of puppy stage and he is still mad and ball obsessed lol.

Just give it time and for peace take him to bed lol x

Thanks I am not crazy

I have been putting him to bed in the kitchen with his crate (not closed) he wakes up about 3 as he needs to poop (I am tracking the food now to change this to morning).

Last night I got up and he hadnt pooped - I took him out and he only peed so I took him to bed with me and he slept till 815am!
It was wonderful!

Soon as we got up he went out and had a pee came inside ate like 3 bites and then needed to poop.

We will get there but being in bed with me is so much easier and he seems so much calmer.  I will continue to use the crate/kitchen for when I go out and to start him there since he is still too young to have free run.

Thanks guys!

Told you so lol, it was the only way we got any sleep lol now at 8 oclock the dog goes out and goes to bed whether we do or not.

So now we share the bed with the dog, plays havock with your sex life but we say lie down on bottom of bed and he does if we want a cuddle lol, otherwise he just lays between us and you get a wet tongue in your ear lol.

We also share the bed with the cat as well lol and sometimes they cuddle up together at foot of bed the things you do for pets.

good luck with the potty training x