Lots of housetraining questions

[FaceClothParty]

8 week old black female cockerpoo.

We take her in the garden regularly to do her business. I’ve put a short lead on her to go out as she’s so little and black im worried we^ll lose her. Is that ok? Sometimes by the time I’ve got the lead on, my coat and shoes she’s getting quite frustrated. And wriggly.

Would I be better putting in a bit of fence in the garden to make a loo spot we could stand in.?

In the morning I’ve taken her out aboutt 5.30 when she stirs, then a bit of play inside and back to her bed for a bit before water and breakfast at 7. Does that sound right?

[LochJessMonster]

Ooh difficult. If she is unable to hold it whilst you are getting your coat etc on and is weeing inside then you need to change it asap.
However, if she is managing to hold it, then that is quite good for teaching her control, and there will be situations where she is unable to go to the toilet immediately.

You may want to consider the fenced off area anyway as you don't want her to associate the lead=toileting.

The morning routine is whatever suits you, are you usually up at 5.30am?
If not, then I would suggest no playing as you don't want her to get use to waking up early, just for a play.
I would ideally take her outside for the toilet, then back to bed until normal wake up time (ie 7).
Then as she grows and has more bladder control she will sleep longer and longer and eventually hold her toilet until you are up at 7.

How is her toilet training going in general?

[FaceClothParty]

Mixed toilet training. I hasn't thought about the association with the lead and toileting. And the 5.30 play probably isn't a good idea!

[Pipandmum]

Don't bother with your coat and you need to fence your garden for the future - surely you'll let her run around out there as she gets older?
Are you crate training?

[CluelessAboutClothes]

Keep harness and house line on as that will allow for impromptu toilet breaks without your clever pup pre empting it by the triggers of the lead/etc.

[FaceClothParty]

What’s a house line?

[FaceClothParty]

Don’t bothe4 with your coat? It’s cold out there at 11 at night.

[FaceClothParty]

We are going to get garden fenced but it won’t happen this week.

[Snufflesdog]

We put ours on a lead still most of the time
She’s 17 weeks
But sometimes she will run around and sniff And dig for ages and then get cold, cry to come in and not go outside then need to go back out again later
I like to know realistically what she’s done outside and when too, so I know how long she can be left alone etc

But she can still go the toilet off lead, it’s not caused any problems with that

I also have a station ready to go - coat lead house keys and slip on shoes all by the door, it takes max 30 seconds and she’s never wet herself waiting for me

[adaline]

I think what PP means is it's better to get pup out so they can wee ASAP rather than expecting an eight week old to wait while you faff around with leads, coats and shoes.

This is the main reason we got ours in the summer - toilet training was a doddle and it meant even going out at 2am was only a matter of shoving on a pair of flip flops!

At eight weeks they can't hold it for long so you really do need to be on the ball. As soon as she shows signs of needing to go you basically need to shove her out of the back door! The more chances she gets to pee inside, the longer toilet training will take.

[FaceClothParty]

Well she poodles around for ages before weeing....

[Woody479]

Wellies by the back door will make things quicker.

[adaline]

She might do but at least she's outside so if she does wee, she's doing it in the right place.

We just left slip on shoes by the door and shoved them on and then out. No faffing about.

He was dry indoors by 14 weeks old but it took 24/7 commitment from us and he wasn't left alone until he was trained.

[CluelessAboutClothes]

Google Puppy House Line.

Attach it to puppy's harness and it trails round behind them so as soon as it's time to go outside for "wee wee" or "busy" you can lift the house line, slip on wellies and grab a fleece that's kept by the door as you go outside.

Puppies are hard work. There is a lot of standing around in the cold and rain. It's not forever but it will take longer if you are not consistent now.