posted 09-02-2003 10:11 PM         

I got a 3 1/2 month old daschund. His name is Nathan. Unfortunately I had to go out to several doctor appointments today and had to leave the puppy in the crate. When I returned home he pooped in the cage, which was not good but figured he was home for almost 7 hours. So accident happens. Each night he sleeps in his crate only to wake me a couple of times a night to be brought to the kitchen to tinkle or poop. This is frustrating enough and not sure how to break him of this habit. Well tonight put him to bed around 10pm and when I went to bed at 11pm. He was crying so took him to the kitchen and he piddles. Put him and myself back to bed. An hour and a half later he was crying again picked him up figuring he had to go to the bathroom again and smelled something. He and I was covered in feces. He went in his cage again. Cleaned the both of us up but I am afraid this situation is getting worse. If I leave him alone in the kitchen for extened periods of time without being in the cage. He does not poop on the paper. He poops on the floor and then rips up all the news paper in the kitchen. He also cries none stop and does not like to be on his own. This could last for several hours. I guess you can say I am at my wits end and need your help. Any information or tips would be appreciated. Thanks for your cooperation in advance

posted 09-03-2003 06:40 AM         

I also think the trick is to catch her before she has to go. Maybe on a weekend set your alarm every hour or so and take her out even if she doesn't need to. Praise her if she does go potty. Also the rule of thumb is to take them out as soon as they wake from a nap and about 10-20 min. after they eat. Once he/she learns that the outside is for going potty...maybe it will change.

posted 09-03-2003 11:54 AM         

Puppies generally cannot sleep through the night. The general rule of thumb is that the puppy's age in months plus one is the number of hours he can be expected to "hold it." Of course, this varies with the individual dog.

We have a new puppy and this is the first dog we have housetrained. She is somewhere between 3-4 months old. I usually take her out once during the night, although she has made it through the last few nights just fine. My husband usually brings her to her crate around midnight and I get up with her at 5:30am, and then we play for a couple of hours before we all leave for work and she has to go back in her crate.

During the day when I am home, I make sure she goes out at least once an hour, and more frequently after meals until she has pooped. We don't put her in her crate at night until she has piddled one last time, right before the person who is up latest is going to bed (me or my husband).

When we are at work, she is in her crate. My husband goes home for lunch and I am off at 3pm, so she is never in the crate for more than 4 hours at a time. We take her DIRECTLY outdoors when we let her out - we used to carry her but now we just hustle really fast.

You might have the puppy checked by a vet just to be certain there are no underlying problems. Our puppy has a bladder infection which makes her have to piddle quite often. She has done amazingly well with the housetraining in light of this problem. Hopefully the medication will get rid of the problem.

Also, make sure you use an odor neutralizer on anything your puppy has peed or pooped on. If they can smell it, they will use it as a toilet spot. They get used to going on a particular surface, so you have to try to limit access to other surfaces - the more mistakes they make in inappropriate places, the harder it will be to correct.

If you are leaving him in the kitchen while you are gone, you have to start by covering the WHOLE floor in paper. When he starts picking a certain spot to go, you can gradually start taking some of the papers away. If he poops or pees on the floor, take a step backwards and use more papers. Eventually, you should be down to just one spot for papers and he will go there. I would avoid using newspapers, or he may pee on your morning paper in the future. This whole process must be done in very slow increments.

If you don't want to paper train him and then try to transfer him to going outside, you can use a crate. Make sure it is small enough that there is only room for him to stand up, lie down, and turn around. Put some toys in with him. BUT remember that puppies cannot physically hold it for too long, so you have to be there to let him out of the crate every few hours at least. If you can't do this then you'll have to go with the paper method.

Feed only at certain times - probably three times per day at his age. Some people say to limit water also, but our vet says to have it always available. Cutting off the water at 7 or 8pm is probably a good idea, though.

I hope some of these suggestions help. Puppies are a LOT of work. We pretty much treat the puppy as we would a toddler - they have to be supervised CONSTANTLY or else confined to an area where they can't get into trouble, they don't sleep through the night, they have other physical limitations (things they simply cannot do), and you can't give in to their tantrums. They must be taught manners, but gently and lovingly (yet firmly), always bearing in mind what it is reasonable to expect for their age.

posted 09-03-2003 01:13 PM         

Thank you for all your input and suggestions. I normally only pen him when I go out which I try not to be out longer than 3 hours but sometimes things happen. What I am confused about if he was brought to the wee wee pad at 11pm. Why did he poop at 1230am in the cage? I just dont want this to become an ongoing problem. I am sure you all can relate. The other thing is if I leave my mother who lives down stairs says he gets quiet a little while after I leave. The whole thing is when I am home doing things and he is penned up in the kitchen. He cries and cries and I know going over to him to try to quiet him down only makes me give in to the problem. I try to ignore him sometimes it works and othertimes which is the most of the time it doesn't. Goes on for an hour or two. Does anyone have any suggestions for this problem? Also I am going to try no water after 8pm and see if that helps with the having to go from the bedroom to the wee wee pad in the kitchen in the middle of the night. Which we usually wind up taking at least one trip and sometimes two. Any other suggestions regarding this matter as well would be appreciated. Looking forward to hearing from my fellow members