# Potty Training and Reading signals



## petitpie (Nov 16, 2011)

Everything is different for Tesla. Same kind of paper and placed the same way? Lots of new sights, smells, sounds to get used to. Keep as much "old" as possible and change gradually.


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## Arcticfox (Dec 12, 2011)

Well, at the breeders, she had newspaper in her pen, and pee pads scattered in various spots in the kitchen, I don't know what kind of pads she had before. I have newspaper with just normal blue absorbant pads on it, like the ones used in hospitals. They're just in a corner of her room, perhaps I should put a few in other rooms as well? I'm just a little stumped by the lack of warning when she needs to go. So far the earliest I've been able to interupt her is mid squat, and there's no stopping her then, whether with her no-no noise (I don't know if it's spell-able), loud clapping, leash pop, etc, she's not getting up till she's done peeing.


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## petitpie (Nov 16, 2011)

Many knowlegable people on Poodle Forum can suggest potty training schedules and crate training schedules. Try searching for those posts and threads, also. They are very helpful.


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## all that jazz (Feb 6, 2011)

I have the same issues. Zoe is 12 weeks now and I've had her for 3 weeks. She too, does not used the pads. She did once or twice, but no longer, even if I move it to where she just peed. She also squats and it is too late then. In the last 3-4 days she sometimes whimpers ever so low and I take her out and she goes. Yesterday was a bad day and she peed 3 times on the floor. But I have had 3 days now without any accidents. BUt to do that I have to constantly watch her. I take her out every 1-1/2 hours, whenever I take her out of the crate, whenever she wakes up from a nap and about 25 minutes after eating. I too had not had a problem with #2 after the first week. For that she will go to or near the door and sometimes jump up on it. 
At this point I am cautiously certain she will not do #2 in the house, since she either goes to or jumps up on the door, and her behavior is easily seen. Urination, however, is not yet toilet trained. When we have a dry day it is because I have been diligent, not because she always gives me signals. I thought of hanging the bell on the door but I am afraid of strangulation.


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## Arcticfox (Dec 12, 2011)

It's good to know I'm not the only one. I'm a litle confused by how she can hold for 6-8 hours at night without accidents but she'll go on the floor an hour after coming back from her last walk? I am trying to be diligent too, I keep her on a leash tied to my belt or looped around my wrist, so she's not able to run to the door whenever she needs to. I can't let her loose without the lease or she'll just go pee in another room. She doesn't give me a signal for needing to go out for #2 either but typically it's 3 times a day about an hour after eating, except dinner. She gets fed around 5ish for dinner but she doesn't poop till around 10pm... I'm very puzzled by her bathroom behaviours.


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## sgeorge (Jul 31, 2011)

Well we haven't had an accident since the first day :fingers-crossed: but I take Fleur out every hour/hour and a half. If she's had more than half an hour nap time, I take her straight out, and half an hour after she's eaten. She doesn't signal to go out yet so I just stick with prefer to err on the side of caution.

#2's are also done 3 times a day, coming out of crate, midday and late at night, and are signaled by more frantic sniffing than usual. I don't think it really correlates with her meal times.

Maybe try barricading off some of the other rooms, so you can prevent her from sneaking off? 

For the first two days, I made a schedule of her toilet times, naps etc so I could see if there was any pattern as to when she needed to go. That might help?


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## JE-UK (Mar 10, 2010)

I did the same as sgeorge when training mine .... very frequent trips outside, and praise, praise, praise (and treats) if the dog did anything. Constant supervision so that if he did make a move, I was running out to the back with him before he could finish (a couple of times with puppy pee dribbling :smile. 

A regular feeding/play schedule can help, but a lot of it is just puppyhood. Like little kids, they have to learn to be aware of the feelings associated with needing to urinate/defecate, and then they have to learn to act on them. The interval between "hey! I have to pee" and actually peeing will get longer, I promise!

I spent two weeks doing NOTHING other than housetraining the puppy (that's what it felt like, anyway), but ended up with rock-solid housetraining.


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## TTUSpoo (Oct 29, 2011)

Can her crate be made smaller so she doesn't have room to pee in it and avoid it? If so, I would try having her in the crate during the day rather than strapped to you. 

Hugs- potty training kids and dogs is constantly a work in progress and everyone learns it differently.


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## Arcticfox (Dec 12, 2011)

TTUSpoo said:


> Can her crate be made smaller so she doesn't have room to pee in it and avoid it? If so, I would try having her in the crate during the day rather than strapped to you.
> 
> Hugs- potty training kids and dogs is constantly a work in progress and everyone learns it differently.


Well, she is in the crate on and off, quite often throughout the day. It has a divider so She's only using about 60% of the sapce right now, just enough room for her to lie down and stretch a bit. She can't avoid her puddles when she makes them, so she's had a bath each time she messes the crate. I don't want to keep her in there ALL day except for walks, so I leash her to me for a while each day so she gets used to being around the apartment. She's also out and about for her training sessions.


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## TTUSpoo (Oct 29, 2011)

Arcticfox said:


> Well, she is in the crate on and off, quite often throughout the day. It has a divider so She's only using about 60% of the sapce right now, just enough room for her to lie down and stretch a bit. She can't avoid her puddles when she makes them, so she's had a bath each time she messes the crate. I don't want to keep her in there ALL day except for walks, so I leash her to me for a while each day so she gets used to being around the apartment. She's also out and about for her training sessions.


Well crud- there goes my advice! 

Did she do any better today?


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## Arcticfox (Dec 12, 2011)

I'm starting to get much more vigilant about it, she only gets water right before we go outside, she's crated more and lying at my feet less, I'm taking her outside every 1.5-2 hours even though I know she's capable of holding for longer than that at 4 months. We've been accident free for 2 days now and counting, though tomorrow is the first day my boyfriend and I have overlapping work shifts by more than an hour, she'll be alone for approximately 3 hours. She's still not using her pee pads even if I bring her to them right after being crated for an hour so I don't know if I should leave her in a long term confinement area or crate her for 3 hours. Her long term area is our old storage room, about the size of a king size mattress, maybe a little longer. I have her crate at one end and pee pads at another, and the doorway's blocked off with a baby gate, since there's no actual door.


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## petitpie (Nov 16, 2011)

I used a 3' by 3' puppy playpen lined with pads to train my poodle puppy. She could use a corner to pee in and still have enough room to walk around and not be in it. 

I kept her in her playpen during the day and I don't remember having a problem with housetraining. She slept with me at night and if she woke up, I could take her to her playpen. We didn't need to go out in the dark! :angel2:


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## sgeorge (Jul 31, 2011)

I think what I would do would be to put her in the long term confinement area but box it off just leaving her crate, open, and pee pads surrounding it. That way she has no option but to use the pads.


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## Arcticfox (Dec 12, 2011)

Lol! that sounds like a solution. She thinks the pee pads are her bed right now, every time I lead her to them she lays down and snuggles right in. It's probably because I took the blankets out of her crate since she's peed in it a couple times. She's also started chewing the newspapers I put under them.


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## happybooker1 (Dec 6, 2011)

*I don't remember how old Tesla is but....*

Try taking her out WAY more often than you THINK she needs to. Don't believe the 'books' that say 'Puppies should be able to hold it one hour per month of age'. Most pups I know don't read the books--LOL!!

The reason they can hold it for longer during the night is just like humans -- our bodily responses slow down and the production of body waste is down to a miminum. 

Also block off all but the room you're in at the moment so you can keep an eye on her. Giving her too much freedom too soon is detrimental for housebreaking also.

For 8 week-old small breed pups, we go out every 30 minutes unless they are sleeping, in which case we hustle out RIGHT after they wake up. I usually carry them to the door at first because they want to squat and go before they get to the door.

At 10 weeks, we're up to every 45 minutes to an hour, and I should know their poop schedule pretty well. By 12-13 weeks, it's a good hour to 1.5 hours, but if they start having accidents I back it back down to more frequently.

I hold it at 1.5 hours up until 4-5 months. If they are going the majority of times we go to the potty place, I'll maintain that timing. If they aren't going some times, I might try lengthening it to 2 or 2.5 hours. 

In other words, I DON'T go by what some book says the puppies SHOULD be able to hold it. I go by what the actual PUPPY'S bodily schedule is. 

During the night is a whole 'nother ball game. 8-10 weeks -- maybe 2X/night. 10weeks up -- once a night, gradually tapering off to none a night.


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## stealthq (Aug 4, 2011)

sgeorge said:


> I think what I would do would be to put her in the long term confinement area but box it off just leaving her crate, open, and pee pads surrounding it. That way she has no option but to use the pads.


Isn't this how it's recommended to start paper training? Cover everything with the pads, then slowly start removing them until there's one left? I think I remember reading that on some breeder's website ...

Good luck, OP. 

I'm going through potty training with my Kohl now. He's 13wks. and not yet able to hold it in his crate for longer than 2 1/2 hrs. He does make it through the night 80% of the time - occasionally he needs to poop in the middle of the night. I'm lucky in that he is letting me know when he needs to go. We've had 4 days without accidents just following his lead. 

But. He is running me out every 45min - 1hr. and I can tell by the amount that he doesn't HAVE to go. He just wants to, and I can guarantee you that if I didn't get up and head for the door, he wouldn't hesitate to go inside. That time should increase as his capacity grows and he gets more accustomed to holding it.

I'm thinking maybe your Tesla is similar - not HAVING to go, just feeling a little uncomfortable and deciding to relieve herself earlier than she technically has to. Patience is our friend in this instance


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