Last night Simba got home at around 10, I introduced him to his new Long term confinement area and his crate. I think he enjoys his crate, I placed some treats in it and he happily walked in and started playing with his toys that were inside. I took him outside into the yard and he went potty and I praised him for that and then quickly cleaned it up. After letting him roam around outside for a while I took him inside. I led him in his playpen and left the back house where his LTC area was set up after he realized I was gone there was constant whining.

He continued whining until I got in the pen with him. Before getting in the pen I tried to talk to him and stick my fingers through the grate but he would nip at my fingers and put his paws and claws (which are sharp) on them. I played with him a bit and then he started to pee so I took him outside and brought him back in. He walked into his crate and laid down I then began to massage his fur until which I found a tick I removed the tick and by that time he was asleep. I left his crate open to his LTC area which has a doggy toilet and some toys.

He began whining at 5am I went to take him to the bathroom to find out that he already had gone on his doggy toilet. I cleaned it up and brought him back in when he began whining again. I got a kong and stuffed it with a bit of kibble and some peanut butter and put it on the ground he immediately went for it. He was quiet and I was able to exit. about half an hour later he's whining again.

My questions are, when its sleep time do I leave the crate door open so he can relieve himself at will on his doggy toilet?
When he's profusely whining after I leave for 5 minutes how can I reassure him without jumping in the pen? he will bite and pull at the pen until I come in.
When he wakes up at 5am what should I do? Bathroom, stuffed kong and then leave him?

Is there a reason why you're using puppy pads? Honestly I find the whole concept counter productive. I don't want my dogs to ever think its OK to use the bathroom inside the house. Do you live in a high rise?

I would ax the puppy pads and close the crate door at night, he will cry in the middle of the night to go potty but that's the joys of puppies. Letting them out in the middle of the night is part of the deal. In the morning when he cries to go out again I would take him out to potty and then bring him back inside and depending on your schedule either get up or put him back in the crate until its time to get up. He's going to whine and he's going to cry, they're puppies. I would just say that giving him a kong with food is only going to stir his bowls up and he'll have to go shortly after.

As Kristina stated, he's a puppy- it's not uncommon to whine, cry, throw tantrums, etc, until he is adjusted and you teach him otherwise. It's only his first night, it will get better. Most puppies want to be near you and feel insecure when you leave them. Just let him have his fits and reward them when he stops. Getting up and giving him a kong with food when he is being loud only makes him think being loud = reward, you want the opposite.

I also agree with no puppy pads, and definitely don't let him have access to it through the night. There's no guarantee he will want to use the pad either. Just get up every 1-2 hours to let him potty and expect sometimes to clean his crate and him up. It's like having a baby the first few weeks.

Heather! wrote:

I also agree with no puppy pads, and definitely don't let him have access to it through the night. There's no guarantee he will want to use the pad either. Just get up every 1-2 hours to let him potty and expect sometimes to clean his crate and him up. It's like having a baby the first few weeks.

Agreed. I was up every 2 hours with Mya and Kody. Several times I had to clean up the crate and them also! It's like having a baby. I said good bye to a full nights sleep for a few weeks. The puppy pads only encourage them to go potty in the house. I wouldn't want a full grown sibe going potty on a puppy pad It gets better as the days go by so just have patience

Now, can we have to pics of this furball?!

Thanks so much for all the replies. We live in a house with a decent sized backyard, a small area of grass. I took the puppy toilet out and placed it outside. Today he took a few naps inside the crate with the door closed, without a fuss. But, when I wake him up about 50 minutes after he goes to sleep he just either lays on the grass or just doesn't go, he just walks around and then starts eating the grass and other leaves I try and stop him from eating the leaves.

Simba a week ago:



On his doggy toilet

How he is now:

[img][/img]

we've had Freya 4 weeks now adn she still carried on like a headless chook every now and then. try putting a blanket over the crate to make it more 'den like' or play some music as a bit of back ground noise.

IMO I think the going into him, or even sticking your hands thru the crate is rewarding the whining.

I know it's hard, believe me I know, but I think egnoring it until you know he does really need to go potty, is best. At this age he should need to go every 2-3 hours.
I think it's one hour per month of their age that they can hold their bladder.

Oh he is just a doll baby!!! Too cute I agree with Francine, you have to COMPLETELY ignore them or they will think you are rewarding them for the whining. Snow whined for a week and now is great in her crate unless she has to go potty. She HAS to have a blanket over her crate or she gets mad and cries until we cover her up

Thanks so much for everyone's advice. I woke him up last night to no avail. He just fell asleep on the grass. He went potty at 7 am though. We've been taking him out every 2 hours but most of the time he just walks straight back inside. I try 3 or 4 more times and same thing. I usually have to wake him up though.
He wasn't very fond of the stuffed kong we got him. I tried a piece of liver at the end, kibble, and the opening closed off with a biscuit. He just wasn't very motivated to go after it. The family friend mentioned that he loves wet food. Would it be a bad idea to mix some wet food with the kibble in the kong?

You could always put some PB or yogurt in the kong as well (even freeze it to make it last longer).

You have an amazingly adorable puppy!! Oh, and some good advice too Setting your alarm and waking him up through the night is no problem at all, the chances are, when your alarm goes off and you ignore it because he is still sleeping, half an hour later he'll start whining and you'll go down to a messed crate.

He should pee every time, he won't necessarily need to poo. Keep it up & every week that passes, things will get a lot easier. Especially when he is house trained and he sleeps through the night I didn't use puppy pads either, don't see the point, had mine house trained in about 4 weeks.

Thanks everyone for all their advice and input its really been helping me through this first time dog experience.
I tried the wet food, and it works like a charm, he goes after that kong till he falls asleep, and then some when he wakes up, the wet food clumps up at the end and i have to usually help it work its way down. He's gotten so good at it though he lays on his bed and puts it at an angle up against his bedding and just lets it come down. I tried pb before but it just didn't entice him. I'll definitely try the yogurt.
His nipping is getting worse especially in playmode but most of the time its ok.

He's been doing so well so far *fingers crossed* last night and the night before he slept all night no accidents at all we woke up around 7 he was sitting there waiting, we opened the door he walked out, straight to the grass and went! We put him to sleep around 11, I keep sleeping through my 4am alarm. I don't understand the peeing situation, maybe every 3-4 hours he'll pee we'll take him outside every 2 hours and he'll just walk straight back in or eat the grass, i'll try again in an hour same situation. Is it possible he's not getting enough water? I fill the bowl up constantly throughout the day.
We played with him outside and for the first time ever he started running around the yard full sprint. in circles. I've seen videos on youtube, and on their they looked like it could be a bad habit. Any thoughts on that?
He keeps eating leaves and I keep pulling them out of his mouth. How does everyone here expend their little puppies energy? He loves playing outside mostly because of the leaves and grass.
I try and play a little bit of tug of war with him trying to teach him to drop. Throw the bone and some of his toys around he goes to where they drop puts them in his mouth and walks away. I also try to do a little bit of training. He sits usually with a treat in my hand and lies down, every once in a while he'll come and roll over.
The family friend got a hold of the breeder yesterday and he told us his birthday, 5/2. He also said that they have one of his siblings, he suggested that two of them would be really good together. But I've heard that two that are the same age at the same time can be disastrous with training. Does anyone have experience with that?

I just saw this and wow what a cutie!

Cute! Sounds like you are doing good. The first week is always rough. It gets better! Around day 5 or 6, Juneau learned how to go to the door to be let out! We have blinds that hang low on the door and she knocks them with her face. If I ignore her for 5 seconds, she does it again! They're smart.

As far as the whining goes... I would either get a ticking clock, cover the crate with a blanket or play some music from a nearby computer/laptop. It's tough to ignore the whining, but you have to do it so they learn that they won't get attention when they do it.

I've actually never owned two dogs that were the same age, but they do learn habits from one another. So be careful of that!

Otherwise, enjoy that cute furball! I love his mask.

I am going through the same thing, I just got Yukon who is 8 weeks old on Saturday. I made the mistake with Nikko on waking him up ever 2 hours throughout the night to go potty…he expected it and it just made me crazy. I stopped and he was able to last throughout the night.

Yukon has been doing fine through the night. His last time out is about 11pm, and right now I do get up with him at about 4am, but that should only last another few weeks, then he should be on Nikko’s schedule with 10pm and again at 6am.

Today was the first day back at work and Yukon was in his crate from 8am until noon with no mess!

Just make sure they don’t have water about 3-4 hours before bedtime and they are tired before bed and they should sleep most of the night.