Hello everyone...1st time pet owner.

[Eric & Joey]

Hello everyone, my name's Eric and my wife and I made the fantastic choice to get a 9 week old F2 female labradoodle. We've had her for about 4 days and her name is Charlie. So far my 5 year old daughter and 1 year old son are really enjoying her...she's soo cute (I'll post pictures soon)!!

I'd love to get some feedback from this group on some key topics (which it sounds like are not unique to our experience).

My wife Joey stays home and we have Charlie confined to the Family Room via baby gates and we also have a small crate in there that we'll put her in when we can't be in the room with her. She used to rest on a big comfy dog bed pillow, but after reading more about crate training we took that bed out and are encouraging her to rest in her crate.


House training is our biggest struggle right now.

• When in the family room with us, she needs to go potty every 30 mins or so...usually we can tell when she's about to squat and get her out in time. We go to a common place in the backyard and reward her with enthusiasm and sometimes a treat. We're afraid we're teaching her to not hold her bladder...should we be having her in her crate more during the day with us?
• At night, we had to move her to a crate in the basement (nicely finished on ground level) because she was waking up our children when she was in our room. She usually always wines & barks when we put her in any crate and leave the room...lately she's been able to settler herself down after 5 or 10 mins.
• We have her on a 6am, 12pm, and 6pm feeding schedule with water available as she needs it.
• Should she be able to make it through the night without peeing in her crate? She can't...I've been setting the alarm to wake up with her at 2am and last night she peed in the crate as I was taking her out. The other nights, even with a middle of the night trip outside, she is peeing in her crate (has done this every night -- we thoroughly clean the crate with natures miracle put new bedding on, etc..).
• We've tried a small travel crate (that she came in) and that did not work either. Last night we put her bed that she loved from the family room inside of a big crate with a divider. So I don't think it's from the crate being to large.

Sorry for the very long message...but wanted to give as much detail as possible. We're open to any and all suggestions.

Thank you all very much.
Eric, Joey & Charlie

[GiGi&CeCe]

Congrats Eric & Joey!!! Get ready to fall totally in love, these dogs are really special. Sounds like you guys are trying really hard to be great puppy parents. I have a 7 month old and I am by no means a pro but I will tell you what I think. Remember she is tiny with a tiny bladder so she will potty very often. I set my alarm for 2 or 3 potty visits for several weeks when CeCe was tiny. She never used her crate to potty but I don't think I gave her a chance. I know that you won't get much sleep but it will be worth it in the long run. I think that I put her in about 11 pm, got up around 2, and then 5 or 6. It is much like having a human newborn, but it does pass faster. As far as the crate is concerned you should probably decide on one to make her special home. CeCe seemed to prefer the wire crate where she could see me. You might try the one you have with the divider in place and add a tshirt or blankie that has your scent. Don't worry about taking her out too often as her body will soon be able to hold it longer! Hope this helps a little, I know that I would have been lost w/o this forum! Be sure to post pics cause We love baby photos! Even tho I haven't learned how to do it myself! Good luck and enjoy!

[GiGi&CeCe]

As an added tip, when you take her out to potty during the night it should be all business.
No talk except go potty, or whatever you say, and no play, just potty and back to crate.

[Nikkiey]

Congratulations on your new family member!! Getting a puppy is exciting, stressful and fun all at the same time! And don't ever think your alone in your troubles because I know I've been there.

This is part of a post I had in another topic but it relates to the potty training:

"We brought Juneau home at 8 weeks and we started crate training right away. For the first week we set our alarm to wake up every 2-3 hours with him and let him out for a pee break. (We had heard that if a dog starts soiling in their kennel it can be hard to break so we wanted to avoid this.) We didn't wait for Juneau to wake us up because we wanted him to learn that when WE say it's time to pee it's time and if not then he had better cross his paws.
For week two, we were able to make three night time pee breaks turn into two and as time went on we made it into one. After having him for about 3/4 weeks we no longer woke up with him and he could make it through the night (usually 8 hours) without a problem.

As for the first night he was with us, my husband or I slept with our hand in between the kennel bars because he cried - alot. On the second night I put the shirt I slept in the night before in his kennel with him and that seems to keep him content for the most part. He cried every once and a while but would eventually settle down."

And know that just because we woke up ever few hours in the beginning with our pup that it will not necessarily be the same for yours. Yours is 9 weeks and one week can sure make a difference in bladder control.

My suggestion for you regarding the Family room is purhaps taking her out more? Or try a bell. Juneau used to have random accidents in the house (@ 3 months) because he would never bark to go out side so we invested in a bell. We would put a treat on the bell and when he would go and try and eat it he would ring the bell and we would put him outside. Now he's almost 9 months old and will run down the stairs, ring the bell, and wait for us because he knows we're coming.

[Eric & Joey]

Thanks so much GiGi and Nikkiey. Charlie is getting better and better by the day. No family room accidents in 2 days!! We're starting on the door bells with her (great advice thank you) and she's arleady used it twice!! These dogs are really smart.

We're still working on the best overnight schedule as 2 nights ago I set the alarm at 1:30am and 5:15am and she did perfect, but last night at the same schedule she soiled her crate when we went down for the 5:15am take out. We'll try moving that one forward to 4:00am.

We're having an electric fence installed tomorrow -- we have no plans of using the shock feature until she's 5 months, but figured we'll start the training now with the audible signal. Also considering an in-home dog trainer to help "train us".

Thanks again for the responses. I'll keep everyone posted.

Eric, Joey & Charlie

[Riverkatie]

Thank you for the photo. Charlie is soooo cute, and the two little munchkins with her are pretty cute too!


A brilliant book, that covers toilet training, and chew toy training is 'After you get your puppy'

which is free for download on the net here, third book down I think.

Free Downloads | Dog Star Daily


Have fun!

[Eric & Joey]

Thanks Riverkatie. Started to breeze through the book and it does look excellent -- amazing FREE resource.

Also, just posted more pics in the photo gallery...I can't believe how fast she's already growing!!

[Daisy'sMom]

Congrats!! Charlie is ADORABLE!!!!!! Love that sweet little puppy face and her coat color. Sounds like you are doing so great! The only comment I have is that we would always put our Daisy in her crate during the day off and on. She slept in it every night but we also utilized it during the day. This way she would rest and I would also get a much needed break However, Daisy was already 14 weeks when she came home to us so she wasn't peeing or pooping in her crate at all, even overnight. I knew she wouldn't go potty in her crate even though she wasn't housebroken. She just knew that was her one special place that was all hers. Oh, and we used a wire crate so she could see us and we also used the divider that came with it and extended it as she grew. We probably didn't need to use the divider but we wanted to make sure she didn't suddenly start having accidents.

Good luck, keep up all your hard work, it will absolutely pay off!!

[deepnite10]

pups just want to play and interact with their new families..they ll mature quickly right befor your eyes and their needs will change..

potty training is really a big hurdle to get past..at time s your praying that you ll do anything to get past it..and befor you know it..it s done and another hurdle will need to be addressed..

their growing into a stage now where they really want to please..and it s not very easy..you ll need to talk dog to them..

for Toby..his potty training was much like anybodys..thinking you have everything under control and then suddenly a accident occurs..and you think you ve got to go back to first base..

the most difficult period was..umm..every night when he was nt train d..
out every hr during the day to potty..or when i saw him circling and sniffing..and at night he was in his crate and out every 2 hrs..i lost alot of sleep the first 2 weeks..but, it paid off when he started going out on his own using the doggy door..

their are so many happy times we went thru together..and each day is full of joy seeing him grow..and he s still so cute when he begins to act like a little puppy again..