housetraining Q's

I have just got a Bichon-Poo pup he is 12 weeks or so old, the people I got him from have him paper trained, very well i might add, he wont go anyplace but the papers

when i brought him home, i immediately took him for a walk and he did pee outside, that later that night he did pee twice and poop once on some papers i left out for him

here is my question, I dont want the dog to continue going on papers, i much prefer not to have any papers down as soon as I can be sure that he will do his business outdoors.

my plan for the next week is to take him outside every hour to hour and a half and praise him like crazy when he does his business outside.

I live in an apartment, so gradually moving his papers outside isnt an option.

so do i just take the papers away or do i continue putting them down and take him outside as much as possible to allow him every oppertunity to go there and receive praise? and then jsut not praise soiling the papers??

I do have a crate but the dog is not fond of it, Im a stay at home mom so the dog will never be alone really.


I suppose im looking for the best way to begin the process

any suggestions are greatfully accepted

Eleni

Alright, few things to respond to.. first the paper to outside training.
What I had been advised to to with my pup, was... take a paper that she has peed on, and bring it outside with you, put it in the pot you would like her to pee in, and praise her like mad for it.
Keep bringing a paper out each day, and then gradually stop. She will get that, this is her new place for her business, and she will do it there, instead of the papers.

Secondly, the crate, I haven't heard of anyones dog that really LIKED thier crate at first (I am opening myself to soo many people saying 'mine did'. lol, IN MY EXPERIENCE no dog has liekd it)
You have to b e committed to crate training though... halfway, doesn't work.
With Justice, it was easier to get her to sleep in it at night... though for the first few weeks, i was sleeping on my stomach with my fingers through the mesh of her crate to keep her quiet.
Remember that they are pack animals, and so even in the crate, at first, they want to be near where the people are.

thanks for your advice,

luckily it seems as tho its become a non issue,

I stopped putting papers down, and the dog decided to only go do his business outside.

mind you im still taking him out every 2-3 hours, even in the night, but considering i have a 3 month old son, im up that much in the night anyhow, so it works nicely


I couldnt be more pleased,

now just to tackle a bit of leash ettiquette with him, hehe he seems to enjoy a bit of TUG O war with the leash


Eleni

hey, be glad he wants near the leash... i had to convince Justice (by chasing her around the apartment) that the leash was a good thing. lol
Now she loves it, and I am teaching her off lead.

Eleni, you're a better sport about taking him out during the night than I am. I have an 8 month old baby and normally he sleeps all night, unless he's sick. I have no desire to get up every 2 hrs to take the puppy out, as you might have read in another post, which somehow went from how to get her stop crying at night to how to housetrain her. But, anyway, I commend you for the great job you're doing. It didn't bother me for the first week or so, but now it is getting on my nerves and I'm tired from being up so much at night. Sophie is kind of a brat when it comes to the leash. Sometimes she does great on it, but other times she just sits down on her butt and I practically have to drag her. She also likes to roll over on her back when I'm trying to lead her. Goofy dog!