katie97

Hi just wanted to ask some advice, we have a beautiful new puppy 12 weeks old, we have had her for 1 week, she is really cute but I cannot get her to piddle outside, I guess it is too cold for her!!!!! Has anyone trained a puppy in winter. I have pee pads down which she sometimes uses, is this the best way?

Any help would be appreciated

Happy New Year

ann m

We picked our puppy up one year ago today. Pee-ing outside was not on the agenda!!! Mind you - yours is a few weeks older than ours was - what has he been doing at the place he was living?

We ended up with newspaper and pads placed strategically by the back door. A complete failure for about a week - then he finally got the idea and it was relatively successful. January was somewhat chilly (!) so for about the first 4 weeks we had him, he literally just spent a few minutes at a time outside. The pee-ing was hit and miss! As we got to Feb and March and the temps upped a bit, then things got better - but to be honest, until we were able to leave the door open a lot more in May and June, let's just say things weren't entirely successful.

Lesson to self - if you ever get another puppy ann, don't get one in the middle of winter in Canada Wait till the spring and the training will probably be done in a week or three.

In the meantime, good luck and enjoy - and take lots of photos.

G586

My puppy hated it outside full stop as it was cold & so we abandoned trying to train her to go outside straightaway. We are using puppy pads which are pretty good and it's only now a few weeks later (she's 15 wks now and her control is much better) that we are attempting outside more.

It's also easier now she is having more walks outside & she is beginning to like outdoors. The 1st 4 weeks were tedious as we couldn't walk her & as she spent the 1st 8 wks, she lived next to an Aga and has very little fur as a result.

Piff Poff

I would put the puppy pads by the door and encourage peeing there. When you see pupster going to the pad, then open the door and try to encourage the pee outside.

I will also recommend taking lots of puppy photos. I thought I took lots but in reality it was only a few and I missed a lot of puppy stages. I would also suggest getting some boots and introducing them at puppy stage - that's assuming you have a dog type that will still expect his morning and evening constitutionals, whatever the weather

Juswus

oh gawd, I remember those days We too got a dog in winter...doh! Puppy pads didn't work as he would eat them

You just have to keep on it, and then one day they get it.....she's still very young. Repetition is the key. Also use a word to associate with the pee, and when she does it outside say "good pee" or whatever and treat her. She will then be eager to go outside and get the treat Then just treat now and then, and then stop them, or just treat very occasionally. Remember puppy brains are a bit stoopid, you have to keep telling them what you expect of them .

We've just got a new dog and although this one isn't a puppy, we are still applying the same principles to get him to know where we expect him to do his business.

Good luck!!! Got any piccies?

Cookie

We got our new Wheaten Terrier puppy Toby about 6 weeks ago when he was 19 weeks old. He was newspaper trained for toileting by his breeder. (Newspaper cost us nothing extra - the flyers come in handy too )

The younger the puppy the more often they have to 'go', usually every 1-2 hours during the day. Our breeder told us to watch the puppy carefully. If they start pacing or looking unsettled, then it's time to take it outside on a lead. Be ready to get out quickly. We always say 'Walkies' so he knows he is going out.

Always take them out late at night before bedtime and be prepared to go out early in the morning as soon as they waken up. Always take them out 5-10 minutes after eating or drinking as this is when they usually want to pee/poo. If you are going out without him for up to a couple of hours, then take away his food and water.

Our breeder also suggested putting newspaper down in the garden so the puppy would recognise the 'area'. Didn't really work for us though but you might have more success.

Toilet training will be very bit hit and miss for at least 2 weeks but you should soon notice that they will pee or poo outdoors more often and their indoor toileting will reduce. Always praise when they are successful outside. Never shout at them for messing indoors or they may try and wee/poo in hidden corners.

We noticed a huge difference by week 4. Now for us at the 6-week point, we rarely have any 'mistakes' indoors and if he has one it's our fault because either we either stayed out a little too long or we never removed his food/drink.

Our puppy has brought us so much joy in such as short space of time that we could not imagine being without him now.

Enjoy your puppy and good luck

christmasoompa

We've had numerous foster puppies over the years and I have to say I think using puppy pads/newspaper just draws the whole process out!! All ours have learnt much quicker without as otherwise it's v confusing for them - it's ok to go to the loo inside but only in certain areas must be a bit much to get their heads around!

Tips I can think of off the top if my head - take her out at least once every hour (after each meal, after waking, after a play etc), if she goes inside don't ever scold but just take her straight outside and use your 'cue' word to reinforce the message, if she has an accident use biological washing powder to clean the spot (removes any trace of scent so will stop it happening again), if she wants to play when you take her out then take her on a lead so she learns it's not play or training time, lift her water in the middle of the evening to give her a better chance of going through the night and crate train her if you're not doing already.

The only other thing that really helps is if you can get up in the middle of the night to take her out - yes, I know it's cold and you're warm in bed but it will make a massive difference and could take months off the training time! Depends on how much you like your sleep though I guess!! I just put an alarm on for say 3am to take pup out, if there has been an accident I set it for slightly earlier the next night, and if no accident I set it for 15 mins later, gradually increasing the time until it's not necessary to get up.

Hope that helps, good luck! What breed is she? Enjoy her.

ann m

This doesn't translate to -22 with a windchill though (for me or the dog)

Wearsider

Link words to going for a wee such as "hurry up".

Keep saying these words even when the dog is having a lag on your sofa!

Eventually hoy the dog out in the snow at every opportunity and say "hurry up". Do not let said dog in to the house until a bowel movement has taken place.

destinationnovascotia

We got a new puppy in September and he is not yet fully house trained. we have got over the peeing everywhere, he just tends to go near to the back door if we don't noticing him "lurking". We have a crate for him at night and he wil cry when he wants to go out so as long as we wake up quickly we have no wet bedding (only unsually have to get up once at about 5-6am).

Crate training will really help in winter as dogs usually prefer not to soil their beding and so will get used to letting you know when they need to go, just make sure that the crate is small so that the puppy can't pee away from the bed area. You should also take the puppy out every couple of hours in the day as the bladder is really small and it will need to void frequently. It will catch on to the outside thing...honestly, in the short term small treats after doing the right thing can help a little but I know that some people don't like doing this.

I think that the worst thing is that generally people have puppies many years apart and you kind of forget what happened last time so you don't really know how well you are doing. Remember that different breeds take different amounts of time to train so look the breed up on the internet to get info on what to expect. Just google dog breeds and you will get loads of sites such as this one http://www.dogchannel.com/

Good luck with it all.

Wearsider

If this fails- Give them back and call them pissy pants!

destinationnovascotia

That was my OH's idea too

Piff Poff

Another suggestion - go onto a breed specific forum, as Destinationnovascotia says every breed is different. For example my chow was toilet trained before he left his Mum and Dad at 8 weeks (and he was trained to go at the end of the garden, not just anywhere) and the only 2 times he pee'd in the house was human error - the poor thing had asked to go out.

Grah

Do you use a kennel\ cage \box) you lock him in?

They wouldn't pee or poo in their small den area unless they are really busting. so put the little fellow in there ) keep it dark like a blanket over a bird cage. You then take them straight from the "Den" to outside only coming back in once the business is done. Play for a while to tire out indoors then back into the den. With small bowl of water and food. After an hour or so take him outside.

Walking the little critter over the same toled area until his scent reminds him why he's there helps.

Someone said if you start making them pee and poop in the same part of the garden this will save cleaning up everywhere later.

we had only a couple of days of accidents, normally when we weren't watching.

The Den lasted for about 5 months before our girl started sleeping on her bed and that might have been because we had one for her to grow into and the divider fell on her so she wouldn't go in it again

Purley

I agree with what others said about the size of the dog. When I got my golden retriever she was about 12 weeks old and so long as I took her outside (and admittedly it was summer when we got her) she could hold it all night. I am sure it would have been the same in winter. It never seemed to make any difference to her whether it was 30 above or 30 below - she liked being outside.

However, with my shih-tzus it was not the same. I got two of them in the dead of winter and each slept in a crate, but they whined in the middle of the night and I put them on newspaper spread all over the floor of one room so they had no choice but to go on the newspaper. I am sure that they could not wait all night.

So, now they are older - the oldest one - well he doesn't have too much smarts. He sleeps in an ex pen because although he is about 8 - I still cannot trust him at night. He won't go in the ex pen though. The other two are fine -- the youngest one - he is about three - I have to make sure he goes out often. He sometimes barks at the door to go out. But I am not sure I can trust him 100 percent - in the winter. The middle one is the only one I can trust 100 percent. If he has to go out in the middle of the night, he goes to the door and whines! Good job I am a light sleeper!

They all hate going out when its 30 below.