Night time toilet

[James+Carly]

So we have had little Oscar just over two weeks now, he is ten weeks old. He is becoming very vocal and has started to bark when he is playing, is this normal?

When it comes to toilet training, he is doing ok, he generally goes outside, we take him out every hour or when we think he is about to go, however we have had a few miss-haps! He doesn't really associate our chosen phrase with going (wee wee), as he will run around the garden and try to eat all the plants before going, no matter how many times we say it. He does tend to get distracted a lot 

We take him for his last toilet about 10ish, we set an alarm for 3:30am, take him out of his crate and take him to the garden to do his business, which he generally does do, i then get up with him at 6:45am.

How long are we supposed to do the ''night shift'' as i don't want him thinking we will come down at 3:30 and 6:45am forever! He doesn't really cry in the night any more, he whimpers for a few minutes, then calms down.

Any advise would be great, as its our first puppy together and we have read soooooo much we are now a little confused as to what we should do?

Here's the obligatory snap!......



Thanks!

Carly

[MIN]

what a sweet heart. Long time since I enjoyed puppy hood but hold tight some one will be along shortly.  They do get distracted alot because everything is such a mystery to them. 

 

[twiceover2]

Oscar is adorable.  Barking when playing is very normal - he's excited.  If he gets too excited and too vocal, just stop the game and restart when he's calmer.

Re toilet training, for now you need to only say the word once he has started to go, so he begins to associate the word with the function.  You might want to choose a new word as it sounds like he is ignoring this one.  You'll need to consistently say the word over a few days once he's mid-flow before he gets the idea what the word means    Then try saying it as encouragement to go but don't repeat it or it just ends up as background noise.  If he doesn't go, it's because he has cottoned onto what the word means yet and you'll need to go back to the training stage again.  To be honest though, with a boy, you'll probably soon find he needs no encouragement to wee!

How long you'll need to get up in the night really varies.  Our cocker girl was dry all the way through very quickly but I remember having to get up for quite a few months with our first dog.  The best thing to do if you're a light sleeper is wait until he wakes up and then for the first few nights, take him out straight away.  We found it best to lift our puppies out of the crate and carry them down, especially our first as he was always desperate and would wee the moment he was let out.  Then you can start to leave it a few minutes before getting up and gradually extend the time.  I would think if Oscar is going out at half-three though, he could probably manage a bit later than 6.45am for his next toilet break.

[Murphys Law]

First things first, Oscar is a little cracker.

Some dogs are more vocal than others. Millie, my 5 month pup, is far more vocal than Murphy, who is 2 years old. She will bark to instigate play or to get attention. Murphy hardly ever barks at all apart from when he goes out into the garden and is excited. Oscar sounds perfectly normal.

Millie sleeps in a crate in our bedroom so we used to let her tell us when she needed to go out. By 14 weeks she could go from 10pm to 6am without needing to go to the toilet.

[lescef]

Hi. Oscar is beautiful!
Like has been previously said, you don't want to say the 'word'  until he's actually performing, eventually he will make the connection.
I can't really help with the night time trips. However,  I used to stay up much later when they were pups -11.30 so that their nights were 'shorter'. I also took their water away at about seven pm (although some people don't advise that and I didn't do it during hot weather)
Each dog trains at different rates and it sounds like you are doing well!

[bizzylizzy]

Ahhhhh!! What a gorgeous little boy!

[Finvarra]

Oscar 

As everyone above has said. We,ve had nine dogs before Dylan, and we used newspapers with them, night time training took much longer than the crate. With Dylaan we had the crate in the bedroom, and set the alarm for 3.00. Then we added 15 mins every couple of nights, and it was about two weeks til he went through til 6.00. If we heard him stirring we whipped him ,outside, carried him so there were no accidents. I don't sleep well, so it was fairly easy, plus it was summer and here in Scotland the nights are very light so it was fine. Take him out of the crate, don't chat or fuss, just get him in the garden and when he,s performed straight back inside again with no chat. I took his water away around nine thirty, and went to bed at 11.00, but let him have a drink in the early hours if he wanted. It was a month or so and he went til 8.00, oh joy a lie-in!! All dogs are different though, I think we were quite lucky with Dylan.

You sound as if you are doing everything right, but just use your chosen word (we use 'wee wee' and 'busy' for poos  ) when he is actually doing it (same goes for other behaviours - also a clicker reinforces the behaviour). Good luck with your lovely wee boy, I'm sure it won,t be long before you get a lie in 

Lesley and Dylan

[Markr64]

Hello, Oscar is a little beauty.

One thing to keep in mind is that he is only 10 weeks old and the progress you have made already is great. It will happen but not as quick as you want it to. We used the word "business" for both actions and as others have said we started using that word when he stared and repeated it a couple of times. He soon got the hang of it and now at 7 months we can call him before bed time and say "business" and he will perform his duties.
Going through the night is as others have said a timing thing. Set your alarm and wake him and take him, do not let him get distracted by anything. Straight to business and straight back to bed. We then moved the alarm by 15 minutes every 5 days and before you know it little Oscar will be going through the night.
Remember that when he has an accident you should clear it up properly with a suitable cleaner. Do not scold him as he will not know what he has done, if you catch him mid act then quickly pick him up and take him outside and he will stop and hopefully start again outside.

Have fun with the little chap as they grow very quickly. Mark

[James+Carly]

Thanks for all your advice everyone, good to know we are on the right track, although as i write this, he has just done a massive ''wee, wee'' infront of me.....oh dear!

He has taken quite a liking to a little gardening patch in our garden, it has a little wooden fence around it and he loves rolling around in the muddy part and chewing on the fence part, so much so that when we take him outside into the garden he runs straight for that patch and forgets to wee! He realises when he comes indoors he needs to go to the toilet and does it on the floor! He gets sooooo distracted by this, any advise on how we go about tearing him away from this, we thought about boarding it up until his older?

[Murphys Law]

You could start taking Oscar out on a lead whilst toilet training so he doesn't get distracted. Not ideal at this time of year but it could be your best bet.

[twiceover2]

It might just be a case of shutting the door and staying out there until he does it, however long it takes.  Then a big fuss and play with him, so he knows that he's done what you wanted.

[Mjjackson43]

He is a stunner! First bit of advice would be to use this group to ask lots of questions. The best advice comes from people who have Cockers. I would echo what everyone else has said. One thing to keep in mind is that often,when you think you are making progress little pups can regress and go a few steps backwards. Dont get discouraged or panic if he starts going toilet in the house when he hasnt before etc just be consistent, never really tell him off and use lots of positive reinforcement. My little one is 6 months old now and still barks when playing with our labrador. She used to bark all the time but doesnt anymore. She also used to constantly pick up twigs, grass, flowers in the garden but she has grown out of this. Enjoy your little one



Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Patp]

Ahh he is lovely x
I use the phrase "be quick" as others have said start by saying it when he is actually going to the toilet.  I wanted to use a phrase that if we were out and needed her to have a quick wee outside the pub I wouldn't feel daft saying.

I never set my alarm to get up during the night.  I could cope with washing floors after a good night's sleep.