[marriagrace]

we just picked up our new puppy on saturday & he's 9 weeks old. we are paper command training him at the moment, because we don't want to take him outside when he doesn't have all his shots yet & it's friggan cold out there right now. we set up a nice area just for him with newspaper & said "go potty" and he's been going back there to go, which is fantastic! but for some reason in the evenings he is having accidents around the room & not using his potty area. we're not really sure why he's fine all day & then after his nightime meal, he either gets constipated for a few hours or he goes in the middle of the room. we tried putting him a crate for a little while & he just cried & cried & cried. any advice you could offer us to make this a smooth transition for our pup would be greatly appreciated. thanks!

 

[i love remy]

It could just be that he's confused - he is learning that it is okay to go potty in the house and doesn't fully understand that you only want him to go on the papers - and his accidents at nighttime are just a coincidence. He's also very young and prone to accidents. Expecting him to go ONLY on the papers is a lot to ask of a 9-week-old puppy that you've only had for a few days. Just keep praising him for going where you want him to go, not letting him out of your sight while you're home (prevent him from having accidents, basically), and scooping him up and taking him to the appropriate place when you catch him in the middle of an accident. I'd give the crate thing another try. Of course a puppy is going to cry when separated from you, especially since he is just now starting to settle into your home. Just let him cry it out.

Do a lot of other dogs go through your yard? Is that why you don't want to take him outside?

 

[marriagrace]

there's one other dog that shares the yard & sometimes i step in his doo doo. the breeder & vet STRONGLY advised to be careful taking the puppy outside where he may come in contact with other dogs before he has all his shots. but he won't be done with his shots until the beginning of january. i think this is way too long to have him going in the house! we do have a deck, so maybe we could take him out on the deck at first. it's just REALLY cold outside...is it dangerous to take a young puppy outside when it's so cold? can he get sick from just going out there? we're obviously VERY new to this and getting all sorts of opinions...and respect & consider all of them

 

[Cookies Mom]

get a crate. should solve the problem.

 

[Nikki's Gus]

hmmm

I would be afraid that when he finally does learn to go outside that he will be confused, we tried paper training with him and he started eating the paper when he was teething more, so watch out for that. BE PATIENT!!! Gus is almost 8 months, and is just now potty trained! Be stubborn with the crate, Gus hates his and still does, and i know there was a thread on here about some dogs just don't like them, even if you lure them and make it "there space" and all that jazz. We did all that and Gus hates it, but won't go when he's in there. The first week was hell (had him since 8 weeks). And when he cries and cries and cries....take him right outside, and then back in the crate immeadiatly so he knows that everytime he cries he's not going to get let out for fun. Just hang in there!