Hi my bishon frise is now 9 weeks old. I have had this darling since he was 7 weeks. I started traing him on puppy pads but because of all the advice and vets rec i started training him in the garden. He has been doing really well, i love him. Anyway sorry for rambling but my questions are these, as i dont have a dog crate for bed time i use a exten lead so when puppy moves i as a very light sleeper wake and take him to toilet. My hub thinks im mad but i think its a good idea. Also my auntie has a very young chichoua(sorry cant spell) she wants to bring it to mine when needles allow but she uses puppy pads(which i did first week) however ive been waking 3 times in night to put baby outside. if she brought her puppy to mine and it peed in house would this ruin my very hard work with my puppy training.. ps mummy very tired. if anyone could help please do

Thanks so much for reply. I now feel really bad as my husband had said the same about the danger. Only as my first dog ,plus my bedroom floor being limited(children having the 2 large rooms) i thought he was being a bit rash. Now that someone else has also said this i feel awful.Should i crate train him in the night . I would not like to during the am as im home and he has been doing really well. Ps , big thanks

Sorry new to the site .Prob about a week but im computer ill. Only making the effort for baby Bengi, thanks you have been more helpfull than my vet,

The moment you arrive home with a new puppy take it into the garden to relieve itself. From now on always take it to the same spot to ‘be clean’, you need to do this after every meal/ sleep/play/excitement/first thing in the morning/last thing at night/when it 'circles' or appears to want to go out and about once every hour during the day. Whenever the puppy performs give lots of praise and a treat ( a tiny bit of kibble/chicken/cheese) so the experience is rewarding, then take it straight back into the house so that it associates going out to that particular spot with one purpose only.

I believe the fewer times a puppy soils in the house the better and the more chance you have of teaching it that the only place to ‘be clean' is outside. Everyone expects a small baby to cry during the night and they attend to it knowing this particular stage in the baby’s development won’t last very long. To me puppies are no different from babies in this respect and I like to give them the same consideration, to do this will mean a bit of inconvenience and getting up in the night a few times so that their daytime routine remains unbroken and there is less opportunity to soil in the house. Most dogs don’t begin to gain bladder and bowel control until around four months of age, so what you are in fact doing is preventing the puppy from soiling in the house until it has matured sufficiently to wait to go out.

Having established a daytime routine, when it comes to bedtime take the puppy upstairs and have it near you in a small box containing a blanket, a jumper with your ‘scent’ on, a small drinking bowl and a soft toy, it should go to sleep quite quickly in the dark and the sound of your breathing will be very comforting. Remember it has only just left its mother and littermates and is now started to bond with you, having you near will help to bond/ build trust between you. If it needs to go out it should cry to alert you not wanting to soil in the small bed. If it wakes pick the puppy up gently, take it outside, place it on the ‘usual spot then give lots of praise when it performs. Then take it back to the box with the minimum of fuss.

When the puppy has got used to this routine and has gained a little confidence you may wish to progress to leaving it in the kitchen during the night. Set an alarm clock for the time it usually wakes and take it out at that time, every couple of nights add a few minutes to the time you go to take it out. Don’t be surprised if there is the odd set back and the puppy has an accident or wakes and cries to go out early, this can happen although some are really good and hardly wake much at all. Alternatively, you may wish to continue having the puppy in the bedroom with you, it's a matter of personal choice.

Until house trained it is best to restrict your little dog's access to one room only like the kitchen, if there are any accidents quickly clean them up with the minimum of fuss and without speaking to or looking at the culprit.

If I catch a pup in 'the act' of having an accident I never shout or punish it and don’t even acknowledge the incident has happened at all . It is easy to get angry and shout but in so doing you will make the puppy fearful and afraid to 'be clean' in your presence. Some people say 'you can’t just say nothing because the puppy will do it in the same place again' but why should it, this was an accident and if you are vigilant accidents won’t happen very often if at all. I prefer to ignore the incident completely, by doing this it should soon be forgotten, and as far as the puppy is concerned it bought no reward whereas 'going' in the right place brings praise. Instead of saying anything I take the puppy outside to the 'spot' in silence, this reinforcing the fact that this is where it should go, then I clean up the soiled place thoroughly and carry on as before.

If you are intending to use a crate upstairs for night time training you will need to section it off so that the area in which the puppy sleeps is kept to a minimum to deter soiling, one way to do this is to put a small box in the front of the crate allowing room for the bed only and no space in which to soil. Even when using a crate in the day time I found it easier to have a small carboard box by my bed for the night.

For some people getting up during the night may seem like a lot of effort particularly when they may have to get up early to go to work, but I think it is well worth the trouble and in no time at all you should have a clean and happy dog that can be taken anywhere.

If you decide to leave the puppy downstairs overnight in all probability it will need to relieve itself so you need to either get up and take it out, leave the crate door open, or to make a separate soiling /sleeping area within the crate. If you don't do this and the puppy is forced to soil in its bed then soiling in the crate can become a habit and the puppy may eat its feces , a natural way of keeping the sleeping area clean .