Dirty Bertie from number thirty. The eagle has landed

[RowanandRachel]

Bertie has arrived home now at ten weeks old:D. Lots of excitement all round. He seems to know his name now (lovely breeder had been using it for a week before we picked him up) and he is settling in a treat. He seems to have found his feet rather well and has started causing havoc already!
In fact he has begun a scene from the Great Escape and made a good start on Tom and Dick in the nearest flower bed. Given the chewing that has started on our roses he is planning on constructing a raft as well! I have heard that a well aimed water pistol behind the ear when chewing precious/poisonous plants is a good plan??
And does anyone know why 2 perfect poos outside in daylight hours are then supplemented by three enormous ones during the night? We have taken Bertie out of his pen now so that he isnt sitting in the stuff (although he didn't howl to be let out for us to know in the first place). He had the run of the kitchen last night and duly deposited without wearing half of it (much better)! So do we continue to give him the run of the kitchen, or keep him in the pen to realise how unpleasant it is to foul in there in the hope that he will resist? I currently favour the former cos he looked like something out of a hard hitting RSPCA advert the other morning by the time he had finished covering himself in the fruits of his labours!   :shock:                    

[picklesmum]

Oh the joys of baby puppies and their poo!!!
Don't really have any advice, just sympathy  Pickle's pooing habits were so random when he was a baby - totally unpredictable, although there was always one in the middle of the night  :roll:  
When they are so little, there's not much you can do, but I'd say if he's shut in a crate at night, he'll definitely learn to tell you when he needs to go. Might take a while, but he will learn, as the vast majority of dogs do not like poo-ing in bed.
Have fun with him - the baby puppy stage goes past sooooo quickly!
Emma and Pickle xx                    

[taniac]

Congratulations on your new arrival, Bertie sounds like a proper cocker character (mine eat my Curiosity rose but it didn't kill him   )

It sounds like Bertie's pen gives him too much room at night to allow him to mess and sleep in there, most dogs will try avoid messing their sleeping area so it is good to have a pen/crate... where I think you may be going wrong is the not having a routine with Bertie.  

He's only little so may not be able to hold himself all night. Make sure you give him a chance to go out after eating and if he doesn't perform put him out every half hour until he does (you want to be there so you can go over board on the praise so he knows that he's done the right thing   ).  Try not to feed him too close to bed time either. I also restrict water to mine over night.

I would also set your alarm to get up every 3 hours during the night to let him out.  I would try not to go to him when he cries as he'll know he'll get your attention if he does this, but make sure you do see to him regularly.  As he gets older you can extend the time between each toilet break (by 10 mins at a time.  This may sound tiring but after a couple of weeks he should be able to hold it through the night.

Please take a look at the postings on this site, there's great advice already here and a recommended purchase in 'The Perfect Puppy' by Gwyn Bailey, which should be every puppy owners bible.

Best of luck, Bertie will get there in the end, and don't forget he's only a baby and it will get better!!!                      

[lizzy]

Hello and congratulations on the arrival of Bertie! He's adorable.


I would echo Tania's helpful advice and say definately lock him in at night,
he will learn much quicker if he can't mooch around the kitchen making a mess. The alarm clock idea is a good one, I know very tiring but who said having a puppy was easy!! :wink:  :roll:


Have fun

Lizzy Molly and Evie                    

[speedyjaney]

Helloo
Lock him in....he will learn very soon to alert you when he needs the loo. Feed him his last meal a couple of hours before you put him to bed to give it time to 'appear'....if he is getting a meal then straight to bed his little body will need to expell it in the night...Setting the alrm is a great idea then extend byt 10/15 mins a time...should take no more than 3 weeks to have him clean thru the night...well for poo's anyway! If you remove water just before bed he will start to be dry sooner too.
As for protecting your garden...we had to net the borders off...couldnt stop them diggin and eatin the plants...they just dig the lawn now :evil:
Cheers
Jane                    

[taniac]

As for protecting your garden...we had to net the borders off...couldnt stop them diggin and eatin the plants

Jane glad it's not just me who's had to do this.. I'm hoping the wire's not a permanent fixture with my latest baby, but it's still too early to tell!                    

[Laura]

As for protecting your garden...we had to net the borders off...couldnt stop them diggin and eatin the plants

Jane glad it's not just me who's had to do this.. I'm hoping the wire's not a permanent fixture with my latest baby, but it's still too early to tell!

Think we will be doing the same thing very soon - have a massive Ivy up the garage wall and would hate them to eat some of that :shock: !!  Digging though - we hide a load of little dog treats in the kids sand pit - they can dig in that all they want!!  Still got holes in the garden though - for now :wink:  Unless of course we have huge moles    Dirty noses and paws tell me NOT! :roll:

CONGRATULATIONS ON YOUR NEW ARRIVAL!!                      

[speedyjaney]

We have little grass seed filled circles on our lawn with netting on them where we have had to fill the holes in and re-seed it  :evil:
I think our netting is permanent fixture now...our pooches are one within the next month and would dig holes in a second or two if we didnt have the soil bits netted off....theyd have my onions out in a jiffy !  :shock:
Janey and two diggers x                    

[Laura]

So much for my sandpit - Bailey has dug a hole next to the house wall - think he was looking for Kangaroos or something else "Down Under"  :shock:  :roll:  It's a deep one!                    

[taniac]

So much for my sandpit - Bailey has dug a hole next to the house wall - think he was looking for Kangaroos or something else \"Down Under\"   It's a deep one!

It's always the little ones who dig the biggest holes!!!