Puppy toileting upstairs when allowed up

[MamaBanana12]

Hi all!

My pup (cockerpoo) is now 16 weeks old!

Toilet training downstairs (baby gate on main room - it's a huge living/kitchen dining area around 70sf so not short of space) but means pup hasn't been allowed access to upstairs, or the other rooms downstairs as all have carpet.

He sleeps downstairs, quiet well no issues and hasn't had any accidents in a few weeks he's doing so well!

But I'm trying to now allow him small periods upstairs in the hope that eventually he will come up on a morning when my husband goes to work at 5.45am so I don't have to keep starting my day then as he howls when he leaves 🙈 (fine alone for times normally if we are out of the house just hates it if we are upstairs understandably )

At the moment every time he comes upstairs the first thing he does it have a piddle / poop 🤦🏻‍♀️

No matter if he's been out a minute before!

I'm assuming it's normal and I'm just taking him straight out as normal but just wondering if there is anything else / anyone else experienced this ???

I'd love him to just have free reign eventually (I have RA and the baby gates often have me trapped also 🤣 - but maybe it's just an age thing

Thanks in advance!!!

He's obviously not old enough for this stage yet , all dogs are different .

At this age he shouldn’t be walking upstairs anyway in order to protect his joints while he grows. He’s just too young and needs time to fully get toilet training finished before being on carpet etc

Agree with PP - puppies and stairs is a no go. It's really bad for their joints.

He's too young, OP. It's also important for him to understand that just because your husband goes out that you don't automatically get up. He's already learning that crying/howling gets his own way. You need to nip it in the bud and ignore him next time this happens.

Not ready yet. Our puppy was fine downstairs, but anything different, exciting, interesting and she regressed. At six months she was pretty good anywhere.

Thank you! For what it's worth I did carry him up anyway as I was bathing the kids so I just needed to be upstairs!

Urgh yeah I totally agree. I wish he would he just barks and screams and wakes the kids up! So I usually come down and lay on sofa at that point.

But in an ideal world yes I need to get this to stop!

I have a trainer booked shortly so I'm hoping she will support!

Thank you!

Could your DH maybe give him a bone/kong lickmat as he’s leaving the house to hopefully keep him occupied and settled for a while? You do have my sympathies OP - we’re a year on and I most definitely do not miss the early days where DPup didn’t want to be out of my sight. It’s so full on and exhausting but will be worth it in the end

@goldenretrievermum5 I've just had a lick matt delivered today!! I will try that in the morning

. We don't get up late really anyway usually up for 6.30 as my youngest is up then and I'm up for meds etc, but yeah that 45mins just kills me off !

He's the best and we love him but man it's been 15 years since we had a puppy and I really did forget how hard it is!

Personally I wouldn't leave a sixteen week old puppy unattended with a lickmat in case he tries to chew it up 😬 -speaks from bitter experience-

But a stuffed Kong should be safe for him to have, or you can get solid bowls that you can fill with food for them.

Thanks! Tbh he was not interested in it one bit and proceeded to just howl and yap til I came down 🙈

Oh no @MamaBanana12 🙈

Hopefully you find a solution - we had ours sleeping up in our room with us from day one but I appreciate that's not for everyone!

Our old dog slept upstairs, no issues with it whatsoever once he's all toilet trained! The weekends he sleeps lovely til 6.30-7 as soon as kids wake he's up,

Thinking maybe I need to relocate the husband 🤣

I’ve always found that young puppies have toilet accidents in rooms that they don’t spend much time in. They instinctively don’t like to toilet in their bed and then the home but they need to recognise all the rooms as part of their home for that to work. They usually quickly learn not to pee or poop in the sitting room or the kitchen or wherever you spend most time but you need to extend that to all the rooms in your house.

With a new puppy I spend time playing and just sitting in rooms that they aren’t going to be in very much, for example my latest dog would wee whenever she went in DS’s old room (scooped up and whisked straight outside) so I made it part of our daily routine to go in with one of her bedding blankets, lay it on the floor and then just sit in there for half an hour playing with her. Soon sorted out the problem.

Try building time in your bedroom with him during the day. Take one of his blankets that has his scent on it and just spend time with him and watch him like a hawk.

And of course, all the usual advice applies, take him outside before you go upstairs, properly clean areas that he has had accidents, etc.