Toliet training

Our 17 week NI pup was doing really well with the house training. Ella knows the place to 'go' is outside and is we are in the house she willl whine at the door and ask to go out. We even had a few dry nights a few weeks ago.

However we now seemed to have taken a few steps back! She doesn't seem to understand to hold it when we are out or at night. We know she CAN hold it as when we all slept in a tent she was fine.

Any ideas of how we can encourage her to hold it?

We have tried crate training but she hated the cage and made a right fuss when she was put in it. Also i dont think it would be fair to lock Ella up at night when Cassie has the run of the downstairs.

Thanks!

Mmm - some people let them out if they whine in the night - but personally i wouldn't go back to this if she is making no noise in the night and is used to not seeing you until the morning. However this is what i did with Tonks while she was toilet training as i began to be able to distinguise the "i want company" whine to the " i need to go to loo right now" cry.

Although you say that she's knows where to go, she is showing you that where to go is dependent on who is there to let her out and what time of the day or night it is....in her book!

Personally i think crate training is great, as if the dog can hold it they will, otherwise you will get woken to let them out so there is no room for misunderstandings and the confusing rule that it is ok to wee inside the house at night time. I don't think dogs really have a feeling of what is fair and what is not and she should be able to be trained of being in the crate, even if the other dog isn't.....that is all part of learning that you can't always get your own way which is a very very useful leason for a pup to learn!

Some people lift dogs water in the night or on the run up to bed time, but personally i am not a fan of this either. I think dogs should be able to drink if they are thirsty. ...it can also lead to some dogs gulping down as much water as possible before it is taken away from them.

Does she have the whole run on of the downstairs? If so then try keeping her only i nthe kitchen at night as this would mean that she was nearer her bed and may consider it too close to wee near it.

The other thing you could do is let her out once in the night say 12pm.

The last option of course is just to expect some mistakes and set backs and sit it out until she has a larger bladder and more control.

Thanks for that!

We do have a large crate for her but when we tried her in it we had 2 hours of soild howling, pooing and then she really started to fling her self at the bars. We decided to stop as we were worried she was going to hurt herself and we live in a terrace house so next door were not too happy!

We did take a card, chocs and a bottle of wine round to say sorry (bribery at its finest!) though and they have just got a new dog as well so it may be worth another shot.

They have the run of both the living and dinning room with the door closed to the kitchen. She is always quiet during the night and wees in the dinning room not the living room where she sleeps. May try locking them both in the kitchen as its not that big (more of a galley kithen) with the bed in there it would turn into more of a huge open roofed crate with both dogs . . .

Oh dear - it really sounds like she didn't like it! I was really lucky with Tonks i think, my friends whippet used to have major tantrums in his crate. The kitchen sounds like it might be worth a try, i would try it without the crate so that she doesn't get bad associations with the kitchen. Really the smaller the better so that she doesn't feel that weeing in it is an option.

Are you putting puppy pads out for her still or is she messing on your carpet?

Remember most dogs - even girls- will pee in the same spot, especially if you have cleaned it, she will wonder what that strange smell is (is it another dog?!) and then she will pee on it again to mark her territorry! Lovely!
So make ure you use the specially formulated puppy cleaning stuff.

However on the other hand if you are still putting pads out have you tried taking them away so she learns she will have to wait for someone to let her out?

Also if she does stay clean one night reward her straight away, if she messes ignore her. Some people argur it is to late for them to understand but it worked for us!
Good Luck

We did used to have puppy pads but she enjoyed chewing them rather then weeing on them! Now its just on our lamiete (sp?) floor. We use a floor cleaner and bleach combo to get the worst up followed by a good spritz of 'get off' spray we get from pets at home. Will try the reward for a dry night as we hadn't bothered doing this before as we were always told it would be too late.

I have upped the reward for going outside (dog treats to chicken!) and we are also rewarding our other dog Cassie when she goes outside (hoping it will be a case of monkey see monkey do).

Your puppy is still a baby & TBH I would be still be taking her out every 2/3 hours or so & on a night set the alarm to take her out whether she asks or not. I would then put the alarm back 30 mins until gradually she can manage all the way through. Yes it is hard work but far better results than simply ignoring or putting down paper or the infamous "puppy pads" both of course teach the puppy it is ok to toilet indoors

It is definately too late for her to understand what the reward was for, but some times coincidence works in a way that makes it seems they really knew what was going on!

Completely agree with what you say about puppy pad/paper in doors JOedee....your mearly teaching them that it is ok to go inside sometimes, but not at other times.

Although this used to be the way of training, it does take much longer if you do it this way partly due to the confusing messages the dog is getting.

The idea of toilet training is that the dog learns that outside is the only place you ever ever go - with no exceptions!!

Well done for upping the rewards when she does toilet. Have you considered using a clicker, then you can click just as she ends the wee and reward. Depending on when you reward, if you are not using a clicker, can also cause confusion. Person may be rewarding the puppy for weeing outside, puppy might think the reward is for coming towards the person after they have weed outside. Clicker training really does cut out any confusion!

Some people hate the "getting up in the middle of the night" malarky but it really is good for getting the message across of where pups should wee. I did it with Tonks for the first two weeks we had her, gradually extending the time between going outside.

I've been going through the same stage with Chip.
He's 18 weeks and is only just going through the night now. We've been settling him at 10ish, taking him out at 12.30/1.00 and again at 4 and then gradually stretching the time until now he can go from 12.30 til 7.00 Its amazing how quickly you get into a routine of getting up and it definitely saves a lot of puddles.
I also got a baby monitor and that's been great. I've got to recognize the sounds so I can lie on in the morning until I know they're wakening up