[dgeggis]

Sorry this is so long, but I think it helps to explain how I got here.

Remy can home yesterday. He is 8 weeks old. And I will be home all this week to "get things set". I work in the city and will be gone 12 hours each day. My DH works 10 minutes from home and leaves later than I do. He will be coming home to feed lunch.

I have a xpen set up with a crate and a pee pad in a frame. I also have another crate next to my bed for nights.

Yesterday we arrived home around 11 am and after feeding him he slept most of the day. At night he cried to go pee at least every 2 hours and he still had two little "accidents". I used the pee pad because I didn't want to try to put his buckle collar on in the dark. :? I set it in the bedroom and used my hands to guide him on the pad and to stay until he got busy.

I have taken him out many times today. After eating, sleeping, playing and anytime he cries. I bought a new collar that snaps together. This way I don't have to "see" it to secure it.

So today I am thinking that maybe I shouldn't leave the pee pad accessible because how will he learn to develop bladder control? But I don't want to "confine" him in his crate while we are working. :?

I am confused about how I should proceed. I am using the "Get Busy" phrase whenever he goes and have designated a section of the yard for him to do his business. :roll:

The schedule when I return to work might look something like:
I get up at 5 am and take him out and feed breakfast.- leave in xpen
I leave at 6am.
DH gets up around 6:30am takes him out to "Get Busy" and return to xpen
DH takes Remy out at 8 am to play and go potty. then leaves for work.
Remy left in xpen or crate? :?
around 11:30 DH comes home- takes Remy out to potty and feeds lunch.
Plays for a couple of minutes outside/potty and returns to work.
We usually return home around 6pm.
I feel that we may need someone to come by around 3pm to take him out to potty.

Should we be leaving him confined to the crate or in the xpen with the pee pad while we are gone?

I feel like I need to figure it out now so that I can try it out while I'm working from home.
Any suggestions are greatly appreciated.

 

[lmtoth2]

we have a somewhat similar situation. When Dex was a puppy (up to 6 mos) we did a schedule like what you outlined. We made 1 trip home at lunch. He would have a few accidents until he was 3-4 months old, but overall it worked. We did leave a pee pad down until he could go the 4 hrs we were away (this was around 4 months old)...at that point he started shredding the pad so we just stopped using it We did not do a 2nd trip home...we are 20 min from work and the time traveling back and forth would have been too much. Once Dex his 6 mos we stopped the lunch visits and he has been fine.

We put Dexter's crate inside an x-pen. He never chose to use his crate and therefore he is not crate trained. In retrospect it may have been better if we did crate him so I would suggest trying it.

The schedule worked very well for us and Dex adapted.

 

[dgeggis]

Leslie,
Thanks for sharing. It really helps. I feel just like a new mother so unsure of what I should do. You want to do it all right and that can be just impossible.

I think crating him at night is working out. He is really good at telling me when he needs to go out. We slept for four hours straight last night.

You mentioned that you were away for four hours. I'm really concerned about the possible 5-6 hour stretch from after lunch til we get home at 6pm. Do you think it's ok to leave a 9 week old puppy in his xpen that long?

 

[lmtoth2]

You mentioned that you were away for four hours. I'm really concerned about the possible 5-6 hour stretch from after lunch til we get home at 6pm. Do you think it's ok to leave a 9 week old puppy in his xpen that long?

I have been told dogs don't know time I'm sure there were a few days Dex's 4 hr time was closer to 5 or 6 and we never had any major problems. We were lucky in that he always obeyed physical bariers and never tried to get out of his x-pen.

It's rough for the first few months until their bladders mature more, but before you know it, they're 4-5 mos and it gets much better

 

[emilee]

personally, i feel like a 9 week old puppy probably won't be able to hold it for 5-6 hours during the day, especially given the extra room he will have in the x-pen. if he's confined to a smaller area (like a crate), he will try as hard as his little immature puppy bladder will allow to hold it for as long as possible. if you must leave him for that long without letting him out, and you leave him in the x-pen, he is probably going to pee -- and then housebreaking will probably be harder. i'm not saying it will be impossible, just that it will probably take longer. my feeling about the pee pads is they confuse the issue, although i've never tried them so i can't speak from personal experience. the key to housebreaking is consistency, tho, and it seems inherently inconsistent to sometimes allow the pup to pee in the house and sometimes not. that's a much harder rule for a baby dog to learn than "always pee outside".

by the time he's about 16 weeks old, he'll be able to hold it for 5-6 hours no problem, in a crate. we got our second doodle puppy in january (he's 5 months old now -- they grow so fast!) and it took him a bit longer than the first to learn to hold it -- we were taking him out every 20 minutes it seemed in the freezing cold. my fiance and i are both graduate students so we both control our own schedules, so somebody could be home all the time -- but what actually worked best for us at teaching ursus to hold it was crating him for 4 hours at a time, despite the fact that we were home. a couple weeks of that, and a little more maturity, and i'd say he was essentially housebroken by 4 months. he does still "squirt" a little occasionally when he gets really riled up playing with kumo, our other dog, but i think that will stop happening as he gets older.

-em

 

[DebBrown]

I don't like the pee pads because I don't like to encourage any type of pottying in the house. I know others have been good with it.

Unfortunately, while the xpen gives him more freedom, it also will encourage peeing inside. The beauty of crate training is that the pup will not want to potty where he sleeps and will hold it longer.

It sounds like you have a week to determine your puppy's level of control. I would not use the pee pads while you can be home with him. I also would not get up in the night with him. The first day is a transition time but he will catch on to playing and peeing during the day and sleeping at night.

It would be great if you had a dog sitter stop by around 3pm. Maybe a neighbor child after school could do this? We had our 12 year old next door neighbor take Charlie out at lunch time when he was very young and I had to work.

Please post and let us know how things are going. The first few days can be trying.

Deb

 

[lmtoth2]

The others make good points too. We didn't have any other options so we used the pee pads for 2 months. Dex was almost completely reliable at 4 months and had his last accdent before he hit 5 months. So it may have taken us a bit longer using the pads for the first month, but it wasn't too bad. Every dog (and situation) is different You'll learn what works for you by trial and error.

 

[Calimom]

I think a general rule of thumb is that they can hold their urine for 1 hour for each month of age. Someone correct me if I'm wrong. So, since your puppy's pretty young, he'll need to go fairly frequently.

Someone on the forum tried woody pet litter: Here's a link:

http://labradoodle-dogs.net/forums/viewtopic.php?t=6388&highlight=litter+box+training

 

[dgeggis]

Thank you all for your suggestions. I guess that I will have to "choose Wisely" and try to work out the best solution.

What I'm finding is happening is that he trys to tell me he needs to go out and if I don't respond then he goes to the pee pad. It's only been 2 days so there's no real track record yet.

We had our first vet visit today.I feel like I should have brought my briefcase to carry all the literature they gave me. :shock: They also gave me my first dose of Frontline and Heartgard.

 

[MaxandMe]

DIane...keep us posted on how the proposed schedule works with Remy as it isn't easy if you aren't home with a young puppy.
I was home each time I had a puppy and when i do work out of home they were much older......so i am not much help

except to say a 3:30pm walk would be excellent...i had my son do this for me when i had to work all day at the job location,

 

[dgeggis]

Last night was muuuuuch better.
We went to bed around 10:30, he got up once around midnight but then slept until 5:30 and no accidents!

This morning I took him out around 8am which is when my DH normally leaves. He proceeded to use the pee pad at 8:30 and again at 9:15.

I took the advice and took him outside to get busy and then put him in his daytime crate. He is right next to me so I can kindof watch how he's doing.

I figure if I can get him to hold it for 2 hours that's a start. But I also don't want too many accidents in the crate. :?

We have an older teenager who helps us with our animals. I'm going to call him up this afternoon and see what his schedule is like. Hopefully he can come over after school and let Remy out.

 

[deepnite10]

it took Toby 2 weeks to be completely potty trained..luckily im retired and able to spend alot of time with him...

it took me just over 2weeks to completely potty train him and use the the doggie door..

from the first day..during the day i took him out on a leash every hr. thru the potty door..i stood outside the doggie door with a treat and called him along with the other dogs..it took a few try s and he figured out quickly that if he went out he d get a treat..then it was a matter of saying over and over *POTTY* :? and afterwards it was *Good Toby* followed by another treat..

in the evenings..every 2hrs the same thing *Potty*..it did nt take long to understand the command..understand that this was Jan and it was cold outside..he did nt like it very much..and he constantly pulled on the leash to go back in the house...to the point where he d fake a potty *push-up* :lol: so id take him back in..

and when there were accidents id say in a low voice *NO* and quickly take him back out...at the time id only feed him half what the breeder recommend..and no eating or water after 8pm just befor bed..at nights we kept Toby in a crate..BTW he crated trained the first night and went to the crate whenever i called his name and pointed..

after the first week he still would nt go out on his own..had to coax him out with the treats..and i still took him out on a leash so he would nt go back in the house without doing his buisness..and still only half portions in his meals..also he learned to eat everything at one sitting or his brother and sister was going to finish it..

as the 2nd week started i no longer needed the leash..he d still have to follow me out..continued to use the command *Potty*..and i promised him that when he learned to potty on his own id feed him all he wanted.

just as things were getting better near the middle of the 2nd week..he had accidents left and right.. i thought a great set-back..then i remembered..*It Always Gets Worst Befor It Gets Better*..and it was true..after a couple of accidents days he began to go out on his own..i peaked thru the widow and watched him do a #1 or #2..*WOOPIE !!*
and the few times he did both i felt heaven had decended on me..

 

[dgeggis]

Last night I put my DH in charge. I was just exhausted. Remy went in his crate around 9:30 and slept until 4pm, which is when I had to get up and "Get Busy" So I took him out and he went right away. We slept in until 6:30 am and he didn't seem to concerned about potty, but Boy was he hungry.

I took away the pee pad and he is in his daytime crate now. He went in around 8am. It will be interesting to see how long he goes today.

This is working out much better.

Thanks to everyone for your suggestions and support.

 

[cracker9ball]

If you read up on crates you will find that if you introduce the crate to them correctly they like them and it becomes their den. I strongly advise you use the crate and then your dog will not want to pee where it sleeps. You could even feed your dog in the crate they usually wont pee where they eat.

Your dog should be able to hold it 4 hours at 3 months. 1 hour for every month then add 1 hour. That is the formula.

Good luck, use the crate!

 

[dgeggis]

Thanks for the encouragement. Remy seems to like his crates.

At night we tell him it's bedtime and he goes right in. I think he likes the fact that he is right next to me.

During the day he plays in and out of his crate. He is so cute when he rearranges his "furnishings" He has a teddy bear that's bigger than him that has his mom's scent on it and a red rug with her scent too.

At night we have just the rug and teddy in there with him and in his daytime crate we add his chew toys.

Now how do you all handle keeping water in the crate?
If I left him in there for 4 hours would that be too long without water?
The crate came with a little white bowl that attaches to the door but I'm thinking that could easily get spilled and then the crate bottom would get all wet.

 

[cracker9ball]

They are fine without water. Samantha stays in a crate for 9 hours at night without water and she is always fine. I did alot of research and question asking before I left her like that but she is fine.