Potty Training

Bellas Mommy · 04-23-2009, 07:39 PM

Ok so Bella is 10 weeks old and we have had her a week. We cant get her to stay in her crate and be quite! We live in a townhouse and everything echoes so when she barks or whines its almost ear piercing. SO we have been doing the crate thing very slowly...when shes in it and quite we tell her good girl and give her a treat and wont let her out unless she is quite. So this is our thing...since we cant get her to be quite till she has to "potty" during the night we cant crate her at night. We dont want her in our bed as u all know it will and can be a BIG problem when she is full size!

So I blew up our air mattress and set me and her up a little bed next to my regular bed in our room. So here is my question....She has been holding her pee and poop with the most trips to the potty area 2 times a night. I take her out at 10:00pm and she wont get up till after 1am to go. Last night she didnt even wake me up so I got her up at 3am and took her. I bet she would have or close to slept all night with no breaks. Which I thought was AWESOME since she is in a new enviroment...and during the night she will whine for me to take her potty if I dont feel her moving around...NOW during the day she will NOT let me know when she has to go out as she does at night. And she cant and wont hold it for 3-4 hours..How can I get her to either let me know or help her hold it like she does as night? I know they say boxers wont go where they sleep and I want her to be in a crate when we leave her alone (which we havent done yet since we got her) and I would love to be in bed with my hubby and have her in her crate without all the noise she makes in it. Any suggestions or idea to try will be grateful!

bruinsBoxers · 04-24-2009, 06:52 AM

The only way to crate train her is to put her in the crate . And yes she will cry. The earlier to crate train the better . If she learns that she can sleep somewhere else then she will put up more of a fight ( crying & barking ) when you do put her in the crate . Try talking to yuor neighbore that you are training a puppy and apologize in advance for any noise she may make . that will usually go over better than not approaching them . None of mine have ever cried at night for longer than a week .

Any dog will soil the crate if they have room to sleep in a clean area and soil the other end . So make sure the crate is just big enough for her to lay down in , section off part if you have to .It will help her to hold it if she does not have too much room . Feed her in the crate and give her treats in the crate . She will learn to associate good things with the crate .

If you can not keep 100% attention on her then crate her . Many times there are subtle signs of a puppy needing to go out , we often miss those signs .

puppies need to go out about 15 minutes after eating and after waking from sleeping , so try and get her on a schedule . If you are free feeding then stop , it is harder to get her on a potty schedule if she can eat anytime she wants .

try crating for short periods in the crate an hour or two . And ignore her if she cries . Remember that being consistant is the key . She will learn quickly what can get her released from the crate , whether it is crying or being quite .

Bellas Mommy · 04-24-2009, 08:36 AM

OK so Bella has been in her crate for about 35 mins so far and she is not happy! She is whining and barking and all the good stuff that she does..but she will get quite for a min or so. When after she is quite can I or should I let her out? I want her to know that being quite is what I expect but I dont want her in there longer than she needs to be...

daisy'smom · 04-24-2009, 10:44 AM

I found this great article on crate training through Boxer Rescue Los Angeles. There is also advice on housebreaking and other good articles also. Hopefully it helps.
http://www.boxer-rescue-la.com/trainer.htm

Bellas Mommy · 04-24-2009, 12:02 PM

Great site...thanx...

whitedaisy · 05-07-2009, 09:26 PM

This post was made couple weeks ago, how's it going now? Poppy is only a few weeks older so maybe I have advice if you still need it?

Spyglass Sally · 05-08-2009, 05:53 AM

We went through a very similar thing with Buddy - when he was first home we crated him at night and he would whine himself to sleep, then wake up and whine again. We'd put him out but he never was happy. Around 3 months (he's a tad over 4 now) we tried leashing him by our bed and he was delighted - right away started sleeping until we woke him up to put him out maybe 2x a night. But he still was struggling with letting us know during the day - sometimes yes, sometimes no. In the last two weeks he has finally gotten consistent about being able to tell us. But even so, if he's really wound up or excited, he doesn't seem to have the control to wait.

Also, with crating him while you're home. We have never done that with Buddy - only when we're going away. He still doesn't like it but he doesn't whine. I know that because we've waited quietly outside when we left/returned and he doesn't start whining unless he hears us. So maybe Bella is just lonely and feels anxious if she knows you're there but she's locked up. If I need to 'restrain' Buddy when I'm home I don't crate him, but leash him to a piece of furniture. Then he can still see us and seems to be fine with that.

Bellas Mommy · 05-08-2009, 11:14 AM

Well here is what we have been doing for the last week and it seems to work great but maybe a problem later on...but it works for now..we can deal with the problem later...Bella only gets crated when we leave (she hasnt gone "potty" at all in the crate). As far as sleeping...well shes in our bed...and she sleeps all night long..dont wake once to go out. Now we do have some accidents still but she is to the point when I say who's gotta go potty she gets all excited and runs to the sliding glass door. I didnt want to start her on our bed BUT she sleeps and I think its helping her hold it...We let her out about 10pm and than when I get up at 6:30 am..I take her out whether shes still asleep or not..she does her business and comes back n and goes back to bed..Bella also wont let us know during the day.I just have to keep asking her...I might go get one of those door bells that she can ring when she has to go out...hopefully that will work..

whitedaisy · 05-08-2009, 11:24 AM

If you don't mind the dog in your bed then that's great! Poppy might have ended up in my bed too except she moves all over all night so she got booted

All 3 dogs are now in their crates at night - we did it by (having the kids) sleeping on the floor near the crates (air mattress). That worked really well and the kids only did it 3 or 4 nights (just to give me a break cause I was sleep deprived) and now she usually sleeps through the night. this is how we trained Daisy too, who was even younger when we got her.

We've potty trained with a bell on the door too. Worked wonderful! Now we have a doggie door so the dogs go in and out by themselves. Only problem is when it's raining Poppy sometimes will find alternative places to potty

but she's not even 4 mo so I don't worry, just watch her closer.

maggiemae · 05-08-2009, 12:07 PM

Maggie got trained real quick also. We have her in a crate while we are at work, I work 11:00am. to 4:00pm. She is always free when we are home and if we run out for only about 1 - 1 1/2 hours, we leave her loose also. She has been really good. When she was a pup, she would whine and as soon as she did (during the night) I would take her outside, she would go, then go back in the crate. The way it got started in our bed, was after I had her around two weeks, she got a cold, and during the night she was shivering, I put her in a towel and brought her to bed. She has been there ever since.

So, she sleeps with us, but she sleeps all night. She does move around the bed, it was easier when she was 10 pounds, now she is 50. However, it is really nice to have her snuggle with you during the night. When she wakes up, she likes to snuggle for a while also. Great bonding! My husband doesn't mind either.