8 week old puppy. Losing the plot.

[MrsWineasaurus]

Our new puppy is being crate trained. Seems to be getting the hang of it. Sleeps in there at night and when we go out (2 hrs max a day).

Only problem is he keeps having accidents in there overnight. Despite taking him out to go to the toilet and making sure he goes.

This morning I've woken up and there is shit everywhere and now he's refusing to wee on the mat. My house stinks and I'm literally at my wits end thinking I've made a mistake getting a puppy.

I really don't know what to do? 😩

You don't know that this IS a puppy farmed dog fgs. Plenty of dog owners have accidental pregnancies

Yes, you need to increase the times.

Also with that cross breed its not just about daily walks. They need a lot of stimulation the rest of time too.

If you spent so much time researching the breed. Spend the same amount researching puppy care.

You don't know that this IS a puppy farmed dog fgs. Plenty of dog owners have accidental pregnancies

The Op knows nothing about the breeders so has no clue either. It could be a front house for a puppy farm. Or someone who pulls this stunt every year. Its animal abuse.

Even if it is accidental they let a dog go far to early and didnt get their puppies checked. What if something is wrong witg the puppies or one of them? That a vet could have sorted?

Fgs. I've researched puppy care but as I said earlier on, everywhere says different things.

Don't do pads, do pads.
Don't let him outside, he can go outside.
Take him out the crate when he whine, leave him until he's quiet.

I've done plenty of research. I just wanted to know what worked for all of you so I can do the best I can. Yes I am at my wits end but I want to make this work despite his previous care. I've done everything responsibly so far on my part, I've had him checked over by the vet etc sat with him for god knows how long teaching him to go on the mat. I'm not irresponsible just confused. This is new territory you can't just expect me to know everything straight away.

Here is a picture of the little guy!

When I first got my dog I started taking her out every hour and fed her at the same times every day (three times a day at first since her stomach was so wee) so I learned her schedule roughly and could increase the time. I also took her out any time she woke up and after a play. We gradually built up the length of time between toilet breaks and I made sure to give super over the top exciting praise each time she went outside during the day.

For the night time toilet breaks though I basically ignored her, I just went, picked her up, put her down outside to pee then put her back to bed. It had to be non exciting as otherwise they start to wake up expecting to go out and getting too excited to see you (which makes accidents more likely).

The Perfect Puppy is a pretty good book about puppy rearing.

I would just accept that he's going to go to the loo everywhere until he catches up with maturity. Terriers take longer to toilet train anyway and one that's left mum prematurely is going to struggle longer.

Just keep taking him out every 45/1hr during the day and every 2 hrs (set an alarm) at night. Praise lavishly when he does it outside.

My terrier is really smart and didn't leave mum til 11 weeks and she still has taken longer to train than my previous retriever breed dogs.

I think yours isn't whining to signalling he needs out during the night? That's your main problem, mine did every two/4 hours (for about 4 weeks).

So you're going to have to set an alarm and go back to basics. Crates right next to you in bed?

Nope crate is in the living room, yet again advice only. One states next to bed then gradually move out to a different room other places states the opposite. This is so confusing. Will put him next to the bed and set an alarm and see where we end up. X

He can go out in your garden but not on the floor in public spaces until he's had his vaccinations.
Housetraining can take months, some get it but still have accidents.
"The Perfect Puppy" was a really helpful book. You need to keep an open mind as some dogs take to crate training, some don't.
Puppies are a bit like babies and toddlers for the first year. It can be really hard work but is worth it.
Calling it a "Patterjack" means your dog was advertised as specific cross, and unlikely to be an accidental litter. If you get another dog go to a shelter or a reputable breeder.

What helped for us is when we took our pup outside, when he did a wee or a poo we would praise to high heaven and say the 'Toilet' whilst he was doing it and afterwards.

"Do you need the toilet?"
"Good boy going to the toilet!"
"Come on, lets go Toilet!"

If he went and stood by the door at all we would say "Toilet?" In a high happy voice and go out with him. Fussed him hugely if he did that.

It all clicks eventually. Like PP said, no pads. It all clicks eventually. He's 2yrs old now and we haven't had an accident since he was about 3 months old. I have a border terrier. I've found him easy to train.

By the way, my boy plays often with a Patterdale in the park. He is high energy but he's utterly gorgeous and loyal.

You want to be taking him out as soon as he wakes up, after he's been fed and after any play sessions, plus every half hour he's awake in between those... and still be prepared for accidents.

He can go outside on the ground in your garden and carried anywhere other dogs will have been.

Crate training should never involve crying, if it does, you've missed a step or gone too fast.

Given his age, you'll probably need to do some work on bite inhibition and a hell of a lot of socialisation with other dogs.

And yep, puppies are really hard work.

OP you will get a hard time on here because a lot of people feel passionately about breeding dogs.

You will also get a lot of conflicting advice everywhere so just choose what works but don't be afraid to say this method is not working and find something that does.

There is a puppy survival thread on here running at many pages long. I would have a good read to see how everyone has managed the early puppy weeks which are hard. New comers are joining that thread all the time so I would encourage you to do so as everyone there can give you advice on what worked for them which might help.

You've got to keep your eye on him constantly too. Never let him out of your sight so he can't go off and have accidents that you don't know about. I kept my boy on a long lead, even in the house and we went everywhere together, if he wasn't on the lead with me, he was in his crate. It was hard work and tiring but he was House trained in three weeks. No puppy pads, just out all the time. Every half hour no matter what and getting him outside if he looked like he was about to go in between.

Toilet training is hard

I've just got my pup yesterday but we've been taking her out every 30 mins, after she's woken up, after she's had a play and after food. So far, in the day time we've had no accidents. She had a couple in the night but as soon as we took her outside she had a big wee and a poo. She gets lots of fuss and praise when she goes to the toilet and I make sure I physically take her out not just let her out

She's 10 weeks old so slightly older. As time goes on I'll increase the times between toilet breaks but for now it's going ok.

How many times a day do you feed him?
3 is good, aiming to get down to twice when he's a young dog.

Final feed at 1600 (but if he's whimpering for food, a few biscuits a bit later, say 1800) he's less likely to defecate during the night, if he goes out at 2200, 4-hours+ after last food.

Still going to wee though. You're going to have to live with it, as you've now become his replacement pack.

Wow you got a puppy you know nothing about from a breeder you know nothing about, and you're surprised that it can't go all night without needing to toilet.

Seriously, you sound so incredibly underprepared. Spend today doing lots and lots of reading up. There's a load of information online.

Fwiw me and DH took, between us, 4 weeks off work when we got out puppy and for the first 2 or 3 weeks we set an alarm so that one of us got up every 2-3 hours to let him outside to toilet.

PurplePen

If you actually bothered to read the post I have said I let him out 1-2 times during the night, which part of that are you not understanding? I would never expect him to be dry the whole night without being let out.

Fgs

Yeah I obviously bothered to read your posts as carefully as you bothered to research buying a puppy.

I've done plenty of research, as I said I wanted to see what worked for everyone as information online is so different dependant on website.

Please only comment if your offering advice rather than passing judgement on a situation you've barely bothered to read about 🙄 I've done everything properly since we've had him.

I can't believe you're bleating on about how much research you did.

All of the VERY BASIC stuff I read on getting a puppy quite clearly stated...

No paperwork,
No vet check up,
No proof of age,
No puppy.

I'm honestly not bleating on, I've already admitted we made a mistake with no papers etc. What I'm saying is since we've had him we've made sure everything is done properly. Did our own vet checks etc. He's literally on his own 2/3 hours a day that's it. I've sat for hours playing and trying to train him.

All I wanted was to see everyone's advice and what worked for them just to make it that little bit easier.

Thing is, these things are done now, and while it's useful to remind other prospective puppy owners that this isn't a great idea, having a go at the OP isn't really going to change the situation. She can't go back and not get the puppy now.

OP come and join us on the puppy survival thread. It's really hard with the conflicting advice online. I have a similar cross (rescue before I get pulled apart) and would advise going straight to out in the garden every half an hour or so to begin with (at least you've got the sun on your side!) and a few times in the night. We rewarded with a little bit of sausage each time he went (again, conflicting advice online about whether to use treats for toilet training but it worked for us).

It's very hard to begin with but they do settle!

SkeletonSkins makes the right points.

It's done, so for the sake of the dog, if nothing else, helpful advice is what is needed.

Thank you SkeletonSkins popped over there now. X