Housebreaking- transitioning to outdoors?
 

Hi all I have a 8 week old bichon mix. Rex is doing awesome with the puppy pads for peeing (so so for poop) has not gone off the pads since we got him home.

when can I expect to move him towards outside. and how?? He is not on a peeing schedule- he just started going on the pad and never stopped.

My other concern is that I work 4 day during the week- how do I get him to go outside if I cannot be consistant on a daily basis. I find much of the puppy advice on the web and books it geared to the person at home all day- lovely but puppy will starve if mum does not work.

also what age generally can one expect an dog to hold pee all night. I am amazed that he olny seemed to pee 1x/ night. The books lead me to believe that he would be going hourly.

I also have some crate training questions that I will post seperately

we are in a house- large fenced yard.

Joanne ;)

Here's what I think and worked for me.
 

You can start taking the pup outside any time now. A schedule will definitely help as might a cue word like business, hurry, find a spot, etc. The pup will be able to figure out that when you're home, it goes outside, and when you're not there then it uses the pads.
My dog never really pooped in the house unless it was as a result of him being sick. He likes to keep his space clean.
Next time the pup looks likes it needs to go to the washroom, take it outside, use your chosen cue word and have a treat ready.

if Rex is successfull w/ the pads, I'd slowly start to move them to the door.. then eventually OUT the door. I didn't train this way, I trained by only letting my dog "go" outside. going on paper or pads INSIDE was never an option. Since I was encouraging him to go outside, I felt allowing him to potty inside on pads or paper would just confuse him. As the other post mentioned, a cue word helps.. I used (and still use) GO PEE.

as for the working mom thing... LOTS of us here work, inlcuding myself. My bf & I arranged w/ our employers to be a bit flexible while our pup was still very young and being housebroken. I crated my dog around 8:30am, my bf came home for a break at 10am (20 min break), recrated him, again bf came home at noon (hour break), again crated at 1pm, then I came home at 3pm. We always tried to keep crate time to 2hrs MAX. crating time generally = 1 hr per mth old. 8 wk pup = 2 HRS.

as for holding it all night, dogs are very different. I have friends who's pups slept through the night from the start, but my dog was up about 2-3x a night, until he was about 4mths old. Since I crate trained, I used 2 crates. One in the kitchen for day, and one right next to my side of the bed for night. This way the pup couldn't wander around at night, and I could hear him stirring & whining if he needed to go out.

Limiting water before bed helps. Be sure never to deny water, but don't let the pup drink alot before bed. This helps cut down night-time potty breaks and accidents.

good luck! Housebreaking really just takes time, practice, and patience.

Thanks

I have been taking him outside when I am home with good success. He is doing good with the pads as will- up to pee x 1 tonite-

Tommorrow will be the trial as I am back to work- I do not have an option to leave- I am a nurse and cannot even leave the job site at lunch in case of emergency. Hubby also works 45 min away.

Well he is using the pads and very consistantly so I will cross my fingers.... and toes......

We left him yesterday for 2 hours and today for 3.5 hours- he just needs to make 6.5 hours tommorrow- poor baby

Thanks for the info

Do you have a neighbour that could let him out while you're at work? :pawprint:

[QUOTE=JoLou]We left him yesterday for 2 hours and today for 3.5 hours- he just needs to make 6.5 hours tommorrow- poor baby

Thanks for the info[/QUOTE]

He'll probably hold it as long as he can, but as long as he has his pads, he'll probably need to use them. Its best if you can put the pads at one end of the room and his bed and food at the other (don't don't usually piddle where the sleep and eat. Don't worry, he'll figure it out with your help and patience.