We got our 9 week old CKCS puppy!!

[CharlieBoo]

So we picked our girl up on Friday lunchtime and she is just so gorgeous!!! She's settled so well, loves the house, the garden and the kids!!

I've never owned a dog/puppy before (dh has but he was a child) so I just wanted to check I'm doing things right....

House training is going really well, the breeders done a great job getting her started and were only having the odd accident (2-3 weeks a day maybe).. All poos have been done outside. I am very vigilant about making sure she gets lots of time outside to do her business. At night we put her in her crate at about 10-10.30, we go to bed, I get up between 1-2 to take her out for the loo, then dh gets up at 4 to take her for toilet break, then I get up at 7 with the kids and she goes out then. This has meant no accidents in the crate overnight. However a couple of people have mentioned that they wouldn't do this and would just leave her. Yet everything I've read suggests to take em out...what do you guys think? Getting up doesn't bother us, we just want to do what's best for her, however obviously don't want to make a habit of this long term.

She drinks a lot. I am currently monitoring how much to try and gauge if its too much and something to be worried about. She drinks in the house and then is constantly at the puddles outside! A friend also mentioned to limit her water before bed to help with dry nights, but not so sure...what do you think?

She eats 4x a day and has dry food with a little fresh chicken..typically she eats the chicken and leaves the dry for 5-10, realises there's no more chicken then goes back to it.

She is such a pleasure and a real happy little bundle of fun, just checking I'm doing all I should!!

**2-3 wees a day that shouldve said not weeks!

Congratulations on your new furbaby. My three get up to the toilet through the night not every night, but they do wake me up. If you are comfortable with that fine if not you have to stop taking her out through the night now or you may be making a rod for your own back.
She is drinking lots most probably because she is on dried food so I wouldn't think it is anything to worry about. She will eat all the chicken and leave the dried because the chicken tastes better. Personally I wouldn't remove her water, mine have water bowls all over the house so they have water whichever room they are in 24 hrs a day.

Congratulations!! I wouldn't be getting up in the night either as she might expect you to continue to do that but if you don't want to clear up mess in the morning then carry on! My pup is 4 and a half months now and has been clean through the night now for the last two weeks so I've stopped putting him in crate at night as he prefers to sleep in the hall with my older dog but when he was in the crate I used newspaper for toileting on one half and shredded paper for bedding in the other half but someone said to me to not put paper in as he will think its ok to wee and poo in there but I still did it as he couldn't hold it all night. Mine drinks a lot too but it's not a problem now he has better bladder control. Life does get much easier when you are not constantly watching them to make sure they won't wee indoors! I wouldn't pick the water up either. I think the dry nights will just come with time, she is still very young. Good Luck!

Congrats on your new arrival. I didn't get up with my puppy(he's now 14 weeks old) and have never had an accident over night in his crate. He goes in there at 10 ish and we get up at 6.
He hardly drinks anything during the day but that's probably because he's on raw food (Natural Instinct stuff) so there's lots of moisture in it. I haven't put a bowl in his crate as he's never seemed to want it. His water bowl is never emptied, I just change the water when I wash the bowls.

Thanks for the replies. In her crate I have just over a half of it which is her bed and the other half newspaper. Maybe its 2/3rds bed 1/3 toilet area. Maybe if I make her bed area a bit smaller and her toilet area bigger?? I've also made the mistake of getting a lovely soft bed, all furry and cozy and maybe I should've got a small hard bed and used lots of blankets... My washing machine has broken down (typical when i need it the most) and the bottom outside of her bed was a bit smelly but i sponhed it down yesterday. When she's wee'd on the first couple of nights she has cried so weve got up and changed it. Should i just let her cry. Will have a think, maybe I need to rethink the crate area....I don't want to make a rod for my own back long term getting up in the night. I suffer from insomnia and have just come out of a bad patch so don't want to go back there!

Just spoke to MIL and she said yes the dried food will make her thirsty.

Thanks for all your help.

I was putting my puppy's bed in the crate at first but he would wee or poo on it too if he missed the paper and I was washing it every day so I switched to shredded paper and he didn't matter if he messed that. It makes a nice warm bed if you put enough of it in and you can throw it away if its dirty. He was on Natural Instinct too when he was younger as he had a bad tummy with the stress of coming home but I feed him Millie's Wolfheart dry food now. He cried for the first two weeks when we got him, one night he barked all night non stop (luckily we live in a detached house!) but I knew if I went downstairs to him it would reinforce that if he barks, someone will come eventually. It was hard to listen to him but you have to start as you mean to go on and he knows bedtime is bedtime now. I put a Kong with peanut butter or kong paste or stuffed with treats in his crate when I go out so he actually looks forward to going in there when he has to!

I didn't expect him to go that length of time, the first night I had to check he was still breathing as I expected to be up at least once. He was fast asleep and I'm not going to wake sleeping babies. If your pup is weeing in his crate then he obviously needs to go out during the night.

Finn is pretty good during the day now too, very rarely has an accident and then it's when we've missed him asking to go out.
He is a bit of a shock to the system as my previous two puppies were nothing like as considerate and certainly were having multiple accidents at 14 weeks which is how old Finn is now.

My puppy is 14 weeks and only goes to the toilet indoors, so lucky you! She's a total baby at 9 weeks so don't expect too much, their bladder and bowel muscles aren't fully formed yet, never mind them actually having control of them in accordance with humans strange ideas.
No bug walkies (up steps or mountains etc) for the first year while their hips are still developing. Be prepared for teething and secondary teething at about 1year when their teeth are settling into their jaws.
Have you had all the health checks done? Cavaliers often have lots of severe health problems :-s

I didn't get up to mine in the night and he was clean in his crate by 9 weeks. We only sleep 12 am to 6 am though which helps!

Vet bed is great for the crate, it is warm, fluffy and washes and dries really well. It is expensive in pets at home but ebay can be good.

Congratulations on your pup!

I always had water available too.

And don't hate me but can I just share the benefit of me experience re chicken? I did the same, by 6 months I had the worlds pickiest pup. He could go days without kibble and I do mean days. I now raw feed so just be aware and don't start thinfs if you aren't prepared to be held to it!

best choice of puppy ever. Congratulations.
I've never crate trained a cav before, I don't think their temperament need a crate. But I know of people who have.
One lady I know had her cav in an open crate with a puppy pen surrounding the crate and a puppy pad in the pen so incase he was needing he could go out onto the pad. The puppy was already pad trained when he went to her. That worked well in the first few nights but by the end of the week he didn't need it.
Cavs aim to please you and can be moulded into a routine very quickly and easily. She will learn walk time/sleep time quickly so I wouldn't personally be letting her out that often during the night, unless you don't mind doing it for a years to come lol.
Remember her bladder muscles won't be mature until around 6 months so the odd accident will happen.
Enjoy :)