New Puppy Help!!

[AmandaD]

Hello! We brought our 11 week old frenchie, Fig, home last week. He is now 12 weeks. We immediately started crate training the day we got him... but we are facing some issues I could really, REALLY, use some help with. I'm going to type out our schedule below, followed by the main issue we are facing: night time.

My partner wakes up around 515am for work,
He takes Fig out immediately, where Fig eliminates completely, both pee and poop.
He rewards Fig after each success with a small piece of boiled chicken.
Then, they come back inside, and Fig receives his first meal of the day plus a vitamin for digestive health.
Play time for 30 minutes, then Fig comes and snuggles with me in bed for about 30 mins to an hour.
I get up with him, and take him outside immediately where he usually eliminates completely and receives chicken rewards.
We come inside and play chase and tug of war while I get ready for work.
He goes outside again and receives chicken rewards.
Then, he goes in his crate around 10am until I get home for work.
I arrive home from work around 430/445, I take him out immediately and he receives chicken rewards.
Then he gets his second meal of the day.
We play, then go outside.
Then my partner gets home, and Fig goes into his crate with toys while we eat dinner.
We reward him when he gets out of the crate for not whining or eliminating.
We play/sleep until 800pm when Fig gets his third meal of the day.
He goes outside right afterward, and receives chicken rewards.
We play until about 930/1000pm where he goes out and then he goes directly into his crate for the night.
I wake up around 130/200am to take him outside, give him chicken rewards, then back into his crate until 515am.
Repeat.

Notes:
We never allow him out of the crate unless we have our full attention on him, so he is not free roaming and being tempted to eliminate in the house. But, if he is out of the crate and we are watching him, if we catch him sniffing, or even see him preparing to go, we say 'no,no,no we go potty outside!' and immediately take him out. Where he always goes and gets a chicken reward.

Problem!!:
Fig is eliminating himself in the crate even if he is only in there for an hour and he was taken out right before he went in. Last week, he went three whole days without an elimination in the crate at night or during the day, but then he started going in there like crazy about 3 days ago. He also pooped in his crate last night, which he hasn't done since his first night with us.
What is most weird to me, is that when he does go in the crate he lays in it and seems totally un-phased by that. Everything I'm reading says that dogs are den animals and that they don't like to eliminate where they sleep, but Fig seemingly has no problem with that... he dives right on in! Hah!

I know he is only 3 months, and accidents are bound to happen... but are we doing something wrong here? Why is he eliminating so frequently in the crate, when we are giving him more than ample time to be outside, and he eliminates every time... SOS! Am I overanalyzing or is there something we could be doing better?

THANK YOU!!!

 

[Frenchie Grrrl]

Not knowing exactly what your set up is, the first question that comes to mind is: How big is Fig's crate? He should only have enough room to comfortably lay down and turn around in. If he has more than that, make it smaller. If you think it's small enough, then I would try feeding him in his crate, to underline that is his den and not his potty, and/or remove any bedding in the crate for a few days, that might absorb any accidents.

Sounds like you are doing a lot right, though. Welcome to both of you.

 

[Cbrugs]

My question is the same as [MENTION=2622]Frenchie Grrrl[/MENTION]...how big is the crate? If there is too much room, at that age they will tend to use one side to potty and then lay on the other side.

 

[EPR35]

Sounds like you have a great schedule and are doing everything within reason to house break him. I have a male which is now 9 months old so the trials and tribulations of potty training etc. are recent experiences. My boy was very frustrating to train as well but it all came together between 5-6 months when he finally just "got it" and stopped having any accidents at all in the house.

My setup was with a crate and attached ex-pen. He learned quickly not to eliminate in the crate, which is apparently where you are having difficulty now. He would spend the night and any time I couldn't give him full attention in the crate. I had a bed and a worn t-shirt of mine in his crate along with water/food bowls, a chew toy and a plush, puppy safe stuffed animal. My crate came with a divider that I used to limit the free space he had and increased it as he grew. I would consistently take him outside every 3 hours (including the middle of the night) and his accidents inside of the crate stopped very quickly.

Once he no longer eliminated in the crate, I opened the crate door to allow him access to the ex-pen when I could still keep an eye on him, he still spent nights in just the enclosed crate. He did have many accidents in the ex-pen when he was small and soon I introduced a pee pad. I would play with him inside the ex-pen until he would eliminate. I would calmly tell him "no" and put him on the pee pad as soon as I saw him starting to eliminate and then praised him when he finished on the pad. while telling him "no". Before long he would only eliminate on the pad and gradually I let him spend longer periods of time to roam freely in the enclosed crate/pen. The next step was to allow him access to the ex-pen from his crate overnight. He would still have random accidents but soon I was able to comfortably leave him through the night (6-8 hrs) and he would only eliminate on the pad (and I could get a full night of uninterrupted sleep!).

To sum it up, take him out as consistently as you can every 3-4 hours. He is still very young and does not have the control to hold it very long. If you can not take him out this often you may way want to get an exercise pen that can be attached to his crate (probably a good idea anyway). You can limit the size of the pen he has access to so it is only large enough to contain a pee pad. Gradually increase the amount of space he has unsupervised access to that he will feel is his living area while providing him a pad to eliminate on when he can't be taken out. As his ability to hold his eliminations increases, the time between visits outside can be lengthened and eventually the pad can be removed. I had no choice but to remove the pad as he started to enjoy shredding them but by this time he could hold it long enough anyway. I believe spending time with him inside the pen (playing, feeding, grooming) was very helpful. At 9 months, I am now able to give him free access to the entire house if I'm not gone for extended periods. Upon returning, I often find him lying in his crate or the attached pen even though the crate door is open (my crate has 2 doors, one to access the pen and one the rest of the house).

At times it can be a very frustrating experience, just know and he will definitely eventually "get it" so good luck and enjoy his puppyhood!

 

[Frenchie Grrrl]

My question is the same as [MENTION=2622]Frenchie Grrrl[/MENTION]...how big is the crate? If there is too much room, at that age they will tend to use one side to potty and then lay on the other side.

Yeah, I may have learned that the hard way with my last puppy before this. :tongue:


I thought of another thing. With Gus, my current puppy, I had a little white board, when he was still not house trained, where we wrote down the times we took him out, whether he pooped or peed, and when he got his meals. I did this mainly because we had five people in the house and we needed it for clear communication.

This would help us see patterns with his accidents or just give us more info. For instance, if my husband took him out before bed, but Gus didn't poop, I would know to give him a longer time when I took him outside in the middle of the night, etc.

This might not be necessary for you guys, but just thought I'd throw it out there. I really enjoyed using the board and we'd add and ! ! ! when he would ask to go out himself. Like a little report card, lol.

Best of luck! You sound super consistent, so he'll get it soon, I'm sure.

 

[antbkny]

my brain just exploded looking at these schedules

 

[Jakeyjake]

Seems like you have a good schedule. He is still quite young so it will take a bit before there will be no accidents. I potty trained the lazy way and had a crate inside of an x-pen with the door open. I never took them out in the night. I had a pee pad in the x-pen so if they had to go during the middle of the night they would go on the pee pad. Once the pee pads were clean when I got up in the morning for a few days I knew I could close the door to the crate and they could hold it. Then I threw that out the window and they started sleeping in bed with us.

 

[Squishy Walnuts]

my brain just exploded looking at these schedules

Same!

 

[Frenchie Grrrl]

my brain just exploded looking at these schedules

Same!

OK, I guess a log is not everyone's idea of fun. :ashamed: :tongue:

 

[Squishy Walnuts]

OK, I guess a log is not everyone's idea of fun. :ashamed: :tongue:

Whatever works! I was lucky, my older dog helped potty train Wally. He just did what she did and it worked. :whew:

 

[2bullymama]

We struggled with Cheli for 2 yrs. and one day he finally got it-- stay diligent


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Alice Kable]

It sounds to me like you are on the right track, your boy is just a little young to not have a few accidents. You are doing an excellent job!

 

[AmandaD]

Thank you all SO much for this incredible feedback!!! To answer the questions, his crate is divided so he has a very small space to lay in comfortably, since he is so small! We started feeding him in his crate and rewarding him with treats for going into his crate on his own during random times of the day/afternoon. We are also now having him sleep on the same side he eats, which is seeming to work! We have had fewer accidents and he now sits by the door whenever he needs to go out so he is learning really quick! I have door bells on order so I can teach him to ring them to also prevent any other accidents. We have made a few slight adjustments to the schedule but he is taking to it very well for his age! Last night was the first night I didn’t wake up in the middle of the night, and he only had one accident instead of two so that was a good step in the right direction as well! The only setback we are facing is that he does not like to be in his crate at all, and we want to establish that as a safe space for him- however, I have not had any bedding in there because of the accidents so hopefully that can build over time.

I’m feeling so grateful for this platform you guys are all awesome!