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[Hemlock]

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To us it's all toileting, but to pups there is a massive difference between pee and poo. So, go out with her for the last wee (and all the others!) reward, go back in, then turn right round and go out again for the poo. Use a lead if this helps. Don't expect pup to pee and poo in the same place.

And - getting up twice might be a nuisance, but you CAN do it. It isn't for long compared with a human baby, and work put in now will pay off for the rest of your dog's life. I worked shifts for many years and I know how ghastly lack of sleep can be, but we just have to do it.

 

[afcajax73]

wow... lots of great replies! (again)... I'll start to work my way through

@JudyN, she's currently having Wainwright's Puppy (2-18months) Salmon and Potato, as this is what the breeder was using and recommended we continued with as we settled her in. In all honesty, I haven't given it much research so I'm not sure if it's a contributor to the issue or not but, Skye does seem to love it. In terms of her toilet routine (or lack thereof), she tends to go around 3-4 times in the day and maybe 2-3 times in the night, depending on the night. In the day time, it's usually quite firm/tubular, where as in the night it's more runny but not to the point where I'd consider it diarrhoea, as it tends to stay together and have at least some solidity about it (I'll refrain from taking pictures ). She will often go to the back door and jump up at the glass to signal that she wants to go out, and that's usually when she needs to poo rather than wee (although she will almost always wee first).

As for sleeping closer, I think it's the next logical step. I'll move downstairs tonight to be within ear shot. Although I tend to hear her from our bedroom (it's right above) I suspect it's the quieter more subtle sounds I need to be hearing to catch her before the event!

 

[afcajax73]

hey @Finsky, thanks for taking the time to come and help

I take your point about the bladder control and also the expectations. I didn't ever really have any expectations in terms of how easy or hard it might be, I assumed there would be a whole host of sleepless nights due to crying but I certainly didn't envisage that I'd be up anywhere from 1-3 times a night cleaning an absolute bomb site of a cage, plus in the morning too. I think I will go with the 'camping'... well.. on the settee.. for tonight and see how that goes, then take it from there. I can well see me sleeping in the other half of the crate before long!

 

[JudyN]

It's probably not food related then - you might want to look at foods with a higher meat content and no grain later on, but you don't want to introduce changes when she's young. Good luck with the camping!

 

[afcajax73]

@JoanneF, I think it would definitely help if she went out just before bed. I do take her out but she just isn't interested!

That's a really good idea to add some corn in her food. I'll definitely be able to see how quickly that's working it's way through and if her evening meal is likely to be "out" before bed time. I'll certainly give that a go tomorrow.

I've been consistently using a single word for each of her toilets, "weewees" and "poopies". My only question here is, are they too similar, i.e. the end of the word is very similar. She also gets lots of praise when she does "perform". When she finishes I'm straight over to praise her and give her a small treat (a bit of her food), so that she doesn't come to me and confuse it with a "come" reward.

I did have a look at the flitting game after reading some of your other posts, but she's not particularly following me everywhere I go. If I'm in the kitchen and leave, she's likely to follow me, however if she's in the living room (carpeted), she's more likely to stay and wait it out. I think your previous point to this one might be more on the money, the week and a half of "tough love" could have left her a little dis-trusting.

 

[afcajax73]

@RGC .... I'll take anything I can get at this point! I can't imagine it will do any harm to give her a little belly rub before she pops out for the toilet! Thanks for the support and taking the time to reply

 

[afcajax73]

@Hemlock , thanks for taking the time to reply and provide some good advice.

we've got three kids in the house so we're definitely used to sleepless nights, so what's a few more eh?

She's not too bad with her poos outside, she will always go to one spot, right down at the bottom corner of the garden where it's most muddy and I have the greatest chance to slip over whilst retrieving the doo! She will typically always go within approx 60cm of that spot, which I'm taking as a good sign. Wees however, she does those pretty much up the opposite end of the garden not too far from our door. I initially put this down to the fact that when it's raining she can't wait to get back in but it's perhaps something to with where she isn't pooping?!

 

[JudyN]

It might help to up the value of the treat you give her, so it's more of a 'Wow, you're so clever, let's throw a party!' moment.

 

[afcajax73]

I got given some “higher value” treats but have been using them sparingly as I wasn’t sure on the quality. They’re “Wagg training treats” for 8week old onwards.

 

[JoanneF]

give her a small treat (a bit of her food),

I see Judy has beaten me to this reply, I absolutely agree that upping the value if the reward is a good idea.

If you think about it, holding her toilet is a lot harder than toileting wherever she happens to be, so you want to make her effort to hold it really worthwhile.

I'd use something like several tiny pieces of roast chicken or frankfurter sausage; the nanosecond she has completed. To a dog, several tiny pieces seems to have more value than one piece of equivalent size.

Wagg are not great, if you want good quality ready made, you could look for Lily's Kitchen ones. T got some for Christmas so I know they are good.

 

[afcajax73]

I see Judy has beaten me to this reply, I absolutely agree that upping the value if the reward is a good idea.

If you think about it, holding her toilet is a lot harder than toileting wherever she happens to be, so you want to make her effort to hold it really worthwhile.

I'd use something like several tiny pieces of roast chicken or frankfurter sausage; the nanosecond she has completed. To a dog, several tiny pieces seems to have more value than one piece of equivalent size.

Out with the sausages it is!

 

[JoanneF]

Out with the sausages it is!

Buy human ones, not dog ones - they are a lot cheaper. And I cut them into quarters and freeze them on a tray so they don't all freeze together, then defrost a piece at a time.

 

[afcajax73]

I’ve got some packet frankfurters in the fridge, the kids love them! Haha

I’m currently trying tire her out, she’s really playful tonight. Coincidentally, she’s just stopped playing twice, had a good sniff about and then gone to the back door, I’ve quickly ran to take her out but it’s absolutely pelting down with rain and she just won’t do anything. Just sits by the door wanting to go in.

Just as I’m typing this, she’s stopped play, gone to the rug and stopped to poo. I’ve taken her outside and she won’t do anything because if the rain!

 

[JoanneF]

You need a big umbrella!

 

[afcajax73]

You need a big umbrella!

I’ve just joked about that with my other half... can imagine the neighbours looking out... “there he is again, shadowing the dog with an umbrella... spoilt pooch!”

 

[afcajax73]

and there it is! Nine trips outside and a very wet dog and owner... we have splash down...

 

[JoanneF]

and there it is! Nine trips outside and a very wet dog and owner... we have splash down...

A poo?

 

[afcajax73]

Yep... well... technically three wees and a poo! I’ll keep you all posted on how it goes tonight but I’m feeling confident ... deluded?

 

[Finsky]

Yep... well... technically three wees and a poo! I’ll keep you all posted on how it goes tonight but I’m feeling confident ... deluded?

YAY!

 

[afcajax73]

Morning all, I hope everyone is well.

last night wasn’t bad at all! Bit tiring but we had no accidents.
I set her down at 10, then set an alarm for 12:50am. Took her out, she did a wee, then she went back off at about 01:05. My next alarm was set for 4am, again, no accidents.. got her outside and she did a wee and she was back off by about 4:15. The next time I went in to her was at 7 when I got up, and again she went and did a wee.

you might notice there were no poos! Haha typical! But atleast she didn’t do any in her crate either.

I slept downstairs, but in a separate room with the door slightly ajar so I could hear any movement or sounds she might make.

I think I’ll repeat the process tonight. I’m not sure what helped the most, whether it was her doing a poo right before sleep time, the extra play we did to tire her some more, or the fact I was going in and taking her out before anything could happen, or maybe it was all of them!