Hi Anleigh,
Congrts on your liitlun
We have Roxy who is 8 months old and I wouldn't want to tempt fate by saying she is completely house trained but we haven't had an accident in ours or anyone else's house for 2 months now. We are fortunate that we have a dog flap where she is allowed to come and go as she pleases. She doesn't go out during the night anymore, she's clean and dry throughout the night now too.
I would disagree slightly with your breeder about not going down to see her. If she has made a mess in the crate she is obviously upset about it (similar to babies, they cry and get upset). It is easier and much nicer for the pup for you to go downstairs cleanup, and pop her back in the clean crate to go back to sleep. We used to, and still say the phrase "bedtime" and popped her back in her crate. When we got Roxy for the first month or two we went down 2-3 times a night but generally she would tell us by crying if she had been "busy". We also taught her in the first few months to get "busy" on a puppy pad which she managed with really well. Every day we would move the pad a little closer to the back door and she soon got the hang of where to go. After 5 months we didn't need the pads anymore as she would go outside or tell us that she wanted to go by sitting at the back door and giving a tiny squeek. There is defdinately no time frame on how long it takes i'm afraid. A lot of it is lots of positive training and encouragement. They do get the hang of it...Promise.
I hope this helps a little and look forward to hearing updates on your puppy.
Best wishes
Claire & Roxy. x
