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? 😩

Hi op.your breeder wasn't in towester was it? We viwed a pup there..accidental litter...apparently ,..mum patterdale.dad ..god knows what...we took one look and turned and left..the woman had no idea what she was doing..she had chipped the dog TWICE in its neck,because for some bizarre reason breaders are allowed to do this(she claimed)and she did the first chip wrong,so had to do it again..this tiny scrap of a pup ,miniscule scrap with two chips in its neck..why are breeders allowed to chip pups? Surely only vets should.

Thank you Norland. That's all I've been asking for. Just want to get it right and have a new happy member of our family. X

If you are on FB have a look at Dog Training Advice and Support. Great resources on toilet training and crate training and settling a new pup.
I slept by crate for the first three weeks. Taking her out several times a night.
You can't leave a tiny puppy for 3 hours. An adult dog can last 4 hours. A pup will only learn to cry and toilet inside.

EezerGoode no we travelled to Reading to get him (we live in London) so was a bit of a drive. Mum was Jack Russell and Dad was Patterdale. I've made a few mistakes which people on here have been quick to point out (no papers, unknown breeder etc) I'm not sure if I do believe the whole 'accidental litter' story but to be fair he's an awesome little pup who just needs some time and effort put into him.

All I want is to put the right training in place so we don't confuse him and have change it later on. X

Honestly not having a go, but I've had puppies (including a patterdale X) and I really think you are building up to having issues by leaving such a young puppy on its own.

That's something to work on much, much later imo

You will probably have more success with the crate beside your bed, or with you camping out downstairs with him.
During the day, it's like s baby or toddler you spend time with - you get to know the signs if when he needs to go and if you can get him outside quickly enough ( pick him up & run!) you can then get very excited with loads of praise. Realistically though, it will take a few more weeks....

In the meantime you need to report this 'breeder' for selling underage pups and also let the Inland Revenue know these people are not declaring their extra income. If you don't, you will continue to see 'patterjack' pups advertised in the exactly the same way, by the same people.
Accidental litter' or 'we wanted to have one litter before we spayed' are classic puppy farm scam stories :( .

I mean during the day time btw

No papers is no great issue , lots of us have perfectly lovely unregistered dogs . I've not much to add except Congratulations OP , I have a nearly 7 yo patterdale x JRT which we got from Battersea as a puppy . He was very easy to toilet train, is generally well trained , gets about an hour off lead a day , what I would say is ours is ball obsessed and it's been far easier to train him by not allowing him any balls in the house . Balls are for walks !

This is quite clearly a puppy born on a puppy farm or by irresponsible breeders.

First of all chuck out those bloody pads - they are the worst puppy invention ever! You need to be letting him out every 20 minutes. 1) after every meal and every drink 2) after every little play time 3) every time he wakes up and 4) every 20 minutes.
Keep saying 'do a wee' and lots of praise every time he does something.

Our puppy got the hang of it within a week of us doing it this way.

I used to set my alarm every 90 minutes during the night - I'd take her out without talking to her apart from saying "do a wee" and praising her.
Then it gradually got to every 2 hours then 4 hours. She's gone the whole night for months now.

Stick to it. It'll work out.

The only thing I don't agree on with what you're doing is already leaving him for 2/3 hours when he's just 8 weeks old.

I know it isn't a long time to us but to them it is. He's been taken away far too early from him mother and litter, to suddenly being left all alone at such a young each.
I'd really recommend trying to change this.

Some people are so judgemental. Whatever mistakes the op made, the puppy is now her responsibility, so move on from what can't be undone, and do the best for your new family member. We got an 8 week old puppy in february. I have had dogs all my life, but she was exhausting. She peed so much I had her tested for a uti (clear). She needed to be taken out every 20 minutes. However, she has never cried at night as the crate is in the bedroom, and she is happy if she can see us. It's all getting better now, but it was very hard work. Stick with it op. It does get better, eventually.

OP I totally second the recommendation of the Dog Training Advice and Support FB group. It's run by highly respected professionals who use modern, science based approaches. In their Files section there's a collection of guides called 'Congratulations on your new puppy' and I would suggest giving all of those a read through.

I would also suggest doing plenty of research into the common behavioural issues in puppies removed from their dam and litter mates too soon. One common factor is that they can be very prone to separation anxiety so you need to be even more careful than usual to avoid him ever associating being alone with being in distress. Difficulty with house training is also common and other issues seen in puppies in this situation include general fearfulness, resource guarding, a tendency towards developing obsessive behaviours (paw licking, light/shadow chasing, tail chasing, etc.) and struggling with bite inhibition.

You will need to put in a lot of work to negate this puppy's poor start in life. Whether the breeder was just completely clueless or thoroughly unscrupulous its highly unlikely that they've put remotely enough effort in raising this litter, especially as they took the actively damaging choice to shunt them off to their new homes too young. "Accident" or not, he won't have been bred with appropriate consideration given to temperament, health or conformation. It's a good idea to be aware of health issues which can affect both breeds (my main concerns with this cross would be Primary Lens Luxation and dodgy knees) so you can keep an eye out and get things checked early if you see any signs.

I've been where you are OP. DDog2 came to us (from a well meaning but ultimately clueless rescue) at approximately five weeks old. She has health issues (hereditary cataracts, spinal issues, poor mouth conformation) resulting from the fact she originally came from a shitty breeder and she also has a lot of the behavioural issues I mentioned before. Her main issues were house training (she wasn't reliable until she was nearly three years old), attachment issues/separation anxiety, obsessive behaviours (mostly tail chasing and circling) and poor bite inhibition. In our case though she was our first puppy, they told us she was seven weeks old and we just carried on as if she was. Our vet suggested she might be younger than we thought and, having been around many litters since, we can see she was developmentally around the five weeks mark when we got her. In hindsight we could have done a much better job of raising her and avoided some of her issues but we were first time puppy owners mistakenly trying to raise her like a "normal" puppy

Hmm, given his colouring and the fact he's from an accidental mating, I think he's a generic small terrier based mixture, rather than a "patterjack". But that might be a very good thing, as why anyone on God's earth would cross a PJRT with a PT is beyond me (and I speak as a devoted terrier person with thirty years of terrier ownership). Both JRTs and Patts have the same breed faults- snappiness, hyperactivity, aggression with other dogs, a need for lots of stimulation, and independance when off lead, so a combination of those two breeds can be explosive! Socialisation, relentless , constant sociaisation, is the key to a nice adult terrier. Meeting up with as many different breeds and temperments of dog as possible, once he is old enough to mix. Puppy parties at your vets, if they have them, are great. JRTs do not like to be left alone, and sometimes will be one -man dogs, so you may find your pup fixes on one member of the family. They are extremely high energy , but puppies need lots of rest, so more frequent shorter walks are the thing as the pup grows. This is a very difficult dog for a first time owner, as they are extremely independant when out, and will chase small prey, go down rabbit holes etc. Their recall can be terrible, so that, along with socialisation, is the major thing to work on. They also have a terrible teens phase, you may find that around 12-18m, your dog that seemed to have decent recall, is now much more naughty and will ignore you completely if there is something more interesting. I would say neutering is essential with this breed, but wait until bone growth is completed (15/18m ish, ask your vet). Agree with everyone who has said that this is a very very young puppy and that you need patience with training. Terriers are ntelligent (usually,) so he will pick things up easily once he gets old enough.