House Training a Puppy – My new puppy has started whining in her crate, peeing and pooing in the house!
by Jan
(Shell Cove, Australia)
Hi,We have a new AmStaff puppy named Bella. She is 11 weeks old and we love her BUT she is driving us crazy! We have had her two weeks and started crate training her straight away and she seemed fine at first. I was getting up to her 2-3 times in the nights and she was settling back down with very minimal crying. House training was going well with very few accidents in the house. As soon as we brought her home we showed her the area in the backyard we wanted her to use for toileting and the command we use is “hurry up” when we want her to pee and poo. She caught on very quickly. She already responds to “come” and “sit”.
Yesterday and last night have been a very trying time for all of us. The morning started with me finding that Bella had pooed in her crate. My fault as I did not hear her cry to be let out. She proceeded to wee 3 times and poo in the house after that! I never yell or hit her when she toilets in the house but I am getting frustrated with her.When she does have an accident in the house I pick her up quickly, say “outside”, take her to her spot in the yard and give the command “hurry up”.
We give her lots of attention, praise and play time. We are socializing her with people and have her on a leash for little walks. Last night when it was bed time she carried on in her crate for ages. And cried after I put her back in her crate when I got up to her in the night for toilet breaks.
We are all stressed due to lack of sleep. It is starting to wear us down and affect the way we feel about her. I don’t want that to happen. I want to understand what I can do to have a happier more settled puppy. I have to return to work next week after being home with her for 2 weeks and I am worried how she will go. Any help or advice would be greatly appreciated. Thank you,
Jan
Our Response
Hi Jan – to be honest you are doing everything right – everything that you have told me is correct – but you need to remember – our puppy is only 11 weeks old. To put that in perspective it is like having a baby in the property – you wouldn’t expect a small baby to be toilet trained by 11 weeks and its the same for your baby (sorry I mean puppy)! Start to get where I am coming from. I guarantee if you carry on using the techniques that you are using and the techniques we teach you on our site you will succeed – it is a no brainer you will succeed! I know its painful not sleeping but it is VERY early days. If you told me our puppy was six months old I would be more concerned. Take your puppy to training classes and ask the trainer and other puppy owners questions as it will give you more reassurance.
Stay with it!
Hope this helps
