Ive had my puppy for 2 weeks (now 10 wks old ). The house training is going really good but.... She's taken out for a last walk around the garden at around 12 as my daughter works late and we get up at 7am.  We are greeted every morning with a wee or 2 - no problem and up to 5 poohs, mmmm am I doing something wrong.  She fine in the day even if we go out its just at night.  She does have a crate which she goes in but we are just getting her used to us closing the door as she went mad when we first did it.  I'm also increasing her food by 1gm at each meal in the day. 

I expect to get up during the night till they are 3/4 months old for a wee, their bladders are tiny[ size of a walnut at 8 weeks old], it won't get bigger till the pup starts to hold on to the wee till they are let out, the age this happens varies from breed to dog.

During the night and when asleep urine production slows down but doesn't stop even when no more fluid is added.

Are there 5 poos or one time but the pup has moved around? What normally happens during the day,not all dogs stay in one place till finished. If it is that many times makes me think the pup is distressed and the bowels have gone into over drive, there shouldn't be enough food left in the gut after their last toilet trip to produce that much. Make sure the last feed is early enough for it to have worked its way through by bedtime, stay out long enough for both functions so less likely to have accidents.

Make sure the pup is close enough for you to hear them let you know if they are distressed or need to go out, it is unusual for them to stay quiet and just do it.

Good Luck

I would not worry as yet because at 10 weeks a pup has no or little control, during the day you have probably trained yourself to take her out at the right times but at night it will happen before she is aware and she probable is not yet trained enough to worry about it. Keep up the good training work and the pup will learn soon, usually they get control of poos first followed a while later by pees.

Because I have a number of a very easily trained breed I do not do any house training because the pup will follow the adults but if you only have the one then the time at which they will start asking to go out will differ with breeds and also individuals, I think you may find it helpful if the door to the yard can be kept open during the day so the pup will be able to take itself out if it wishes - mind you I realise that is added pressure on you as you will need to know where the pup is.

Nova- the door is open all the time weather permitting and I go a walk round with her quite often as I'm in most of the day.
Rhodach- her last feed is at 7pm is that too late, she's still on 4 feeds per day.  I would say they are separate poos and this morning were quite firm no runs and in totally different places ( I put pee pads down at night just to see but she never goes on them so may just not bother, she would prefer to eat them lol

Allowing the pup to come and go at will does not train the bladder to hold on, I have a breed which is not easily housetrained so have to work hard to get it right, when the bad weather arrives and it is too cold and wet to leave the back door open they will not have developed the control they will then need. I also like to know how long after a pup is fed is it going to need to perform so some sort of routine develops.

It was only when I had my first litter and saw pups crawl out of the bed to wee/poo did I realise the instinct is there you just need to work with it and not set the pup up to fail.

With 4 meals then you can't give the last one any earller, you may have to look at what you are feeding as too many "fillers" make for more poo out the other end as they are not absorbed, 5 in 7 hours is alot.

My puppy is now 3 months and unless I get down quick enough she will have at least a wee during the night/early morning.

I wouldn't expect full bladder control until 5 - 6 months, though pooing is usually under control sooner.

Allowing the pup to come and go at will does not train the bladder to hold on

You can't train bladder control any more than you can control hair growth, it will happen naturally by the time it is 6 months old, leaving the door open gives the pup an option and you a chance to praise if they go out and evacuate. You teach where to go not when.

Forget pee pads, why teach a dog to pee on pads and go outside at the same time, the pup will want to get as far away from it's sleeping/feeding area to pee and poo as it becomes aware of what it is about to do so where possible let it at night if you can't hear you may need to get up ever couple of hours or clear up in the morning, control and the knowledge of where to go will come but like babies it takes time and until the pup has full control there will be accidents.

Ok got the weeing bit.  She's fed on 99 % RC AND 1%AG as I eventually want to put her on AG alone.  Nt sure what you mean about fillers, she doesn't really have anything else.

Fillers are what some kibble companies add to fill the dog without any nutritional value and low cost.

The stools of a dog fed on a kibble with higher filler content tend to be bigger and more of them, many don't realise till they feed a kibble with less/no fillers and see how little comes out the other end.

My lot went off RC plus it was going stale before we got to the bottom of the bag[5 dogs/13kgs] despite being stored in one of their containers.

I have been feeding Fish4dogs for over 12 months now and like the results and the dogs like the food, they get less in quantity as it weighs heavier and maintains their weight.

The stools of a dog fed on a kibble with higher filler content tend to be bigger and more of them

I can agree with that, just put my dogs back onto AG and the difference is remarkable. I would, with puppies, take about 10 to 14 days to change them from one food to another but would not start that change until they had been in the new home without tummy upset for at least 10 days.

It might just be a timing thing with the feeding and pooing.

At 10 weeks old I have always fed any of my pups at approx 7am, 12 noon, 5pm, and 10pm, give or take half hour or so.  The main meals are 7am and 5pm and they are kept on these 2 feeds for all of their lives.  The other two meals at lunch and supper are smaller.

So, the 5pm one is usually digested and 'out' before I settle the pup for the night.  And the 10pm supper is just light and maybe just means a small poo overnight or early in the morning.

Hope this helps.

Nova Sorry I have to disagree.

I had no problems housetraining cocker spaniels but dachsies were a different thing altogether, I thought it was me or the dog till I joined a breed specific forum and found out it was a breed thing but by following a regime soon got it sorted and not had a problem even with older ones who had previously been given free rein to the garden before I got them and had no bladder control when in the house, within 2 weeks there has been very few accidents[usually my fault as I hadn't picked up on the signals] and by a month they were fine.

I send a copy of the regime home with my pups and not had one complaint re housettraining, at 12 weeks old when they leave me they have been well on their way anyway. As litters are only small it is easy to keep an eye on each ones progress.

Nova Sorry I have to disagree.

That's OK I'll return the favour, I can't see and will not be persuaded that it is possible to 'train' the speed of maturing, growth takes it's own time and follows a patten set down by genes. Yes, agree you can retrain an adult that just can't be bothered to go out but that is training the dog to 'go' in an appropriate place not training the control.

No matter what you do there is no way you can speed up the bladders maturity, you may think you have but you will only be training yourself not the dog.

Does anybody know of a good GR website I could join so I can read about them and things that maybe breed specific ? When I googled it I didn't know which where Or whatever lol

> 99 % RC AND 1%AG

If you've decided to change her over then you can do it faster than 1% at a time - otherwise it'll be months!  I'd do a few days at 75% RC and 25% AG then 50/50 for a week, then 25% RC until you finish that food.

With regard to toilet training, puppies follow a fairly basic routine with regard to eating, sleeping and playing and you'll find that the time between input and output is easy enough to calculate.  Make sure that you have her meals well spaced across the day and try keeping a diary for a week.  Make a note of when she pees and poohs, when she's awake and pinging off the walls.

Remember that puppies can last a bit longer at night, that they can in the day, but most will need at least one outing during the night to toilet.  Our pups sleep in a crate upstairs by the side of our bed til we've taught them what is expected at their bedtime.  They stay with us until we've learnt their bladder tolerance then they go downstairs and I set the alarm to take them out.  One of mine extended nicely from 3am - 3.30am - 4am etc right up until 6am where he got stuck!  He was nearly 6 months old before he could sleep past 6am.  Interestingly I kept the next puppy upstairs for longer and he learnt to sleep through the night much much faster than the one that came downstairs too soon.  At 10 weeks both were still with us though - is your girl sleeping on her own?

Yes she s in a crate but with the crate door open as she got very distressed when we closed it. I've just started closing it when she's asleep and I'm around but do I open it before she barks or am I then teaching her if she barks I let her out

Crate training for day time use is a bit different to getting a pup used to a crate overnight. When I have a litter the first pups start to go at 8 or 9 weeks. 4 nights prior to them leaving they go into a crate overnight, for solo time - so I know what they're going to be like and can pass info to new owners, also so that I have any hassle of 'unrest' at night and not them ... so that they use the crate correctly. Shut the door :-D A crate is for sleeping in at night ... so long as you leave the door open she will go off and find somewhere to piddle and poo.

With the first couple of pups leaving (whether 8 or 9 weeks) I do set my alarm for around 3am to take them out to toilet, or I just wait and listen for them to start to get restless (they sleep by my bed). If I hear them getting restless I  take them out, let them toilet and then pop them back into their crate.

The last feed at night is usually 10pm, with me going to bed around an hour later ... this seems to give enough time for them to have their last poo of the day. By the time the 10 or 11 week old pups are going, they're usually lasting a good 7+ hours overnight. Do bear in mind though that I have collies ... they're very, very clever ;-) ;-)

I actually don't 'train' for overnight use of the crate. They're popped in last thing, literally just as I'm going to bed, so lights out and all peaceful ... they have a kong or a nylabone in the crate with them. Crate must be small enough so no room to toilet and only bedding inside, normally with a nice fleecy pillow for them to snuggle into. They usually whimper a bit the first couple of times, but very quickly settle down to sleep. As said though, I am prepared to sleep with pups in a crate next to my bed, this is done for the entire litter. By doing so, pup can hear me breathe, they settle quickly, if they whimper I can talk to them to soothe them. I know all dogs and all bladders are very different, but I think at 10 weeks you can expect her to sleep through the night with one or maybe two toilet breaks at most.

I note you said she was distressed when you closed the crate door, and yes some dogs will be. You need to think when you're expecting her to settle ... if there are things happening around her then she's unlikely to settle. I'd try her next to your bed (or if she's not allowed in the bedroom then you sleep next to her crate for a few nights), and only putting her to bed as you and the rest of the household are off to bed. If she does make a noise in objection and you go the route of letting her out, then you must wait for her to be quiet, else she'll train you very quickly :-D When you do put her away at night have your plays and cuddles a good 10-15 minutes before she's being shut away, so by the time she's for bed things have been calm. Just pop her in, no fuss, no messing. Same if you have to take her out for toilet during the night, no interacting, just get on with it business like, once toiletted 'good girl', pick up and straight back into crate, lights out, sleep.

If you are not willing to sleep with pup, then you need to set an alarm at say 3am to take her out. Do that for a couple of nights, then set back to 3.30am and so on, until it's to a usual getting up time.

I'd say get rid of the pee pads :-O Good luck, sure you'll get there :-)

does she always go when your daughter takes her out? What time do you put her to bed/go yourselves? I'm just wondering if she's being disturbed by the 12pm walk enough to wake everything up but not kept out long enough to finish. Also is your daughter around for a while when she gets home or is it quiet again quite quickly? and are you 100% sure she's not getting any extra food then?

Personally I would try and set my alarm for a few nights at around 2am and again at 4-5 and see what happens. Getting up's no fun but I'd prefer it to cleaning up! And yes, I'd use the crate and shut the door. If it's not practical to have her crate in your room then a baby monitor works well, I started using one for my adult dogs when I moved and realised I didn't wake if they barked in the night from the utility room.

> Yes she s in a crate but with the crate door open as she got very distressed when we closed it.

My pup is now just over 12 weeks old. On his first couple of nights he got very distressed in his crate and screamed the place down (his crate is next to my bed) we covered it with a sheet and it made a huge difference and now he only cries when he needs the loo. He has just stopped his evening meal but he was having it about 9.30 isn and bed about 11pm, he was waking for a wee/poo at about 2.30am then was sleeping until about 6.

Now that we have dropped the evening meal he sleeps a lot longer, he is in bed by about 11.30pm and sleeps until about 5.30/6am I get up and let him out then and then he happily goes back to bed and sleeps until around 8am.

I plan to keep him in his crate by my bed until he no longer fits in it really, he has by far been the easiest and cleanest puppy we have had with regards to house training! Our first dog that was left in the kitchen at night was still pooing overnight until he was over a year old and we lived in a bungalow so the kitchen was opposite our bedroom and we would have heard him make a noise to go out, he just used to do it.

My 3 month old gets her last meal an hour before bedtime, she id on 3 meals.  She only does a small wee in the morning if I am too slow to get down to her.  I'm still using shredded paper in her crate so she doesn't get wet or dirty.

We are up until we fetch our daughter then we go to bed daughter winds down then everyone goes to bed.  Would a worming tablet from vet have caused all the poo cos this morning we got up to just a wee which is understandable.  Also I have been very brave and went out this morning and closed the crate door she was on her own for probably 15-20 mins and was fast asleep when OH got home,  I was so pleased he also found when he started mowing she went in there which helped me realise she feels safe in there so I guess my next step will be closing it for bed. 

Oh yes worming can have a major effect on poo.