So... I picked up my little girl 10 days ago now... and here is the lowdown:
I have a house with a nice garden...
I'm working from home at the moment like many people 😝
It's ideal when you have a little pup who's 2 and a half months old and already weighs about 14 lbs (1 stone)! :-)
Because of that... I wanted to get on top of the house-training straight away because my house is usually... spotless 😯 Anyway... I’d read that you should stay up with the puppy and get up every two hours at night to help them learn faster... but honestly, this pace is too hard to keep up... I'm exhausted all the time... and I feel like at night... mmm... it's not working... her training isn't moving any faster (???) ... I use the same word every time = WEE-WEE and we always go to the same spot when we go out!! That doesn't stop us going for walks during the day (I'm taking her for a 15-minute walk max at the moment for a 2-month-old?? Is that right?). Anyway... so at night sometimes I forget to wake up (I've stopped setting the alarm) and then, lo and behold, I find a poo :'( .. and a little wee.. so I clean it up no problem (without her seeing me do it) but it's a nightmare.. if I don't keep watch she just keeps doing it :'( and I'm hitting a wall a bit now.. and sometimes during the day too when I'm working in the office... I look away for a second and bang, a wee!! (It’s rarely poos during the day, I get the impression she's starting to know how to communicate then... anyway;.) Now I don't know what to do if I want to stay sane sleep-wise.. is it worth continuing?? Will the puppy learn any faster??? How do you get a dog house-trained?? My dread is that she'll never be clean and that I'll always have to be on high alert :'( whereas my mum's dog was always perfectly house-trained :'(... I'm lost.. help help if you have any advice or experience to share with me because this.. is very hard.. I give her a reward (a small treat) after every poo or wee.. that won't make her ill, will it??? Best to you all... thanks, I'm going to try and get some zzzz
😔👋💨
Translated from French
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I’m really not being funny here, but I just think your puppy is far too young. Trying to house-train them at two and a half months old is about as pointless as trying it with a baby in nappies.
If I were you, I’d just get some sleep and wait until they’re at a more appropriate age.
It’ll (pretty much) just happen on its own with time and a daily routine. What I mean is, most people I know haven't actually done anything special to house-train their dogs (some people like to think they’ve played a part, but in reality, it’s mostly just down to time and the fact that the puppy grew up 😂)
Being a bit of a control freak and owning a dog is... a massive shock to the system!
Waking up every two hours to take your puppy out won’t help them gain bladder control any faster! Get some shut-eye. If they aren't house-trained by six months, then it’s time to worry. Until then, it’s your own expectations you need to work on, rather than your dog.
Right, let me explain. The threads on this forum are read by a lot of people. It’s quite common for us to state a few general truths as a reminder of the basics, moving beyond the specific situation of an individual poster. That said, it’s still pretty rare for a new member to throw such a strop over a general remark like the one I made in brackets... Still, at least I’ve had a good laugh.
Blah blah blah, the truth hurts and I got 9 likes while you only got 6, so there! I don't give a toss, I’m not going to let you make me look like an idiot under the pretext of... you have to be careful when you make generalisations or you just mix everything up. I’m the one being attacked here, and by you. Re-read your comment and put yourself in the shoes of the person receiving it, someone who can’t have children, for example, and who is just trying to say yes to life by asking for advice so they can be the best they can be for their little one! It’s mental... it's easy for you to turn the tables on me, but I’m leaving, full stop. Thanks to everyone else... without you I really would be alone again. This forum has made me feel 1% less lonely in my life.
You’re doing a great job, just keep at it, but remember you’ll need to be patient for a few more months yet. Your puppy is only about ten weeks old; he doesn’t have full bladder or bowel control yet, so don't expect him to be able to hold it. It’s not his fault—it’s like having a baby without a nappy at home.
So, keep taking him out for a quick 15-minute toilet break first thing in the morning (even if you find accidents indoors), then a proper 30-minute walk about 2 or 3 hours after he's eaten. Follow that with another 15-minute toilet break 4 hours later, a 30-minute walk in the afternoon before his tea, another 30-minute walk 2 hours after he’s had his dinner, and one last toilet break as late as possible, around 10 or 11 pm.
As for the night, just sleep! There’s no point stressing; there will probably always be the odd wee or poo during the night, and it’s not his fault. If you want to avoid treading in it in the dark, try restricting his space. Put him in a puppy pen with his bed; he’ll learn to sleep and stay in a smaller area, and if he needs to go, he’ll do his business in one corner.
My girl wasn't fully house-trained until she was 7 months old, but even then, it’s not like she could hold it for 10 hours! At 7 months, we’d take her out at 6.30 am, then the dog walker would pop in around 1 pm, then we’d take her out again at 6.30 pm before her dinner, and finally at 10 pm. By the time she was a year old, she could wait until 9 am, but accidents still happened occasionally—that’s just how it goes, depending on what she’d eaten or drunk, if she was stressed, and so on.
So hang in there. Tell yourself you’ve got at least another 4 months of this. I’ve been through it myself, and trying to house-train a puppy in the middle of winter is never easy!
Lol, well it reeks at our place then, because we've accepted the fact that a puppy doesn't have the physical capacity to hold it in, and keeping them indoors was always going to result in puddles of wee.
Clearly cleaning products don't exist, as everyone knows.
Right, let me explain. The discussions on here are read by a lot of people. It’s quite common for us to point out a few general home truths to remind everyone of the basics, regardless of the specific situation of the person posting. That said, it’s still pretty rare for a new member to throw such a massive wobbler over a general remark like the one I made in brackets... Still, at least it gave me a good laugh.
Look, @jeveuetreautop, even if Docline’s remark wasn’t very pleasant, it’s no excuse to be aggressive or start hurling insults. Besides, I don’t see what the whole ‘spoilt brat’ thing has to do with any of this.
Puppies that never end up house-trained are the ones whose owners were way too obsessed with their accidents. Praise them for going outside, and act like you haven't seen the messes inside (even right under your nose: he’s far too young to have control over his body, it would be unfair to blame him)... just wait for nature to take its course and for him to physically mature; that’s all you need to do. (People who demand a perfectly spotless house probably shouldn't have pets, children, or anything living around them, if you ask me 👎)
Ugh... what’s with the judgment? "People who..." what the hell has that got to do with anything? I never said I was a clean freak, and even less that I was fed up with mopping up... I just don't want my house smelling like **** or being trashed just because I have a pet!! Usually, the homes of "holier-than-thou" people like you absolutely reek... both inside and out... it stinks, plain and simple... just like your moronic comment. Read the question again or go and eat a waffle in your mutt's crap, you spoiled brat 😈
Hi everyone, I’ve got a big 7-month-old puppy and the house-training phase is over for Cortex (at least for now, we’ll see if he has a regression or not). He was house-trained by the time he was 3 months and 2 days old; I’ve hardly ever had to clean up after him (3 or 4 times max). He arrived during the summer so my door was constantly open, even at night (I’d hear him get up at night as my bedroom overlooks the garden, and it really wasn't every 2 hours – I’d say 2 or 3 times a night at most). Nowadays, even with the door closed, he hasn't started having accidents; he just sits in front of the patio doors and waits, and if I don’t catch on, he whines a little bit.
