I have bells on my Patio door too and use to jingle them too I bought mine @Pet Supplies Plus and they work like a charm!:)

Ooooh, I love this! Definitely gonna try it. =D

And yeah, he loves to chew. My roommates bought him toys and he chews on them for a while but then he'll randomly run off and grab my one roommate's furry pink slippers. :lol: I chase after him going, "Ah ah eh eh eh ah ah, no!" He seems to respond to the weird noises. :lol:


@Roo2 I'm having a hard time enjoying it at the moment just because I haven't gotten him trained yet. He's a sweet little thing but I de-stress by listening to music with my earbuds in. If he is trying to nap and can hear it, he looks up at me like, "Shut. That. Off." And I'm like, "This. Is. My. Bed. No." :lol:

I'm so nervous, I know when I go home he'll have pooped or something. It stresses me out more than it probably should but I can't really help it. I took him out two or three times this morning and he played for most of the morning so I'm hoping he wore himself out enough to nap until I get home. He sleeps a lot as it is...at least one of us can. -_-

We've been going out for potty breaks in the snow so he'll be well-adjusted to cold weather by the time he's trained.

I'm happy to report that I left the house at 8:30 this morning. Got back by 1:30, walked in my room cringing, expecting the smell of puppy poo to knock me over...only to find nothing. He didn't poop!

Now, whether he peed or not, I dunno... I'll have to wash his bedding just to be sure.

He peed outside, ate, played, peed again and pooped, then I put him in his crate with puppy treats. I'm really hoping he'll train fast, he's a smart little guy.

Lots of praise when he stays clean and when he does "it" outside. Do you give him a command to do his business? I've always used "Find your spot "and then "Good find your spot!" after they go. It seems a bit classier than "Go pee" or "Go poo!" I've worked as a dog trainer with.www.tpoc.ca and on and notice that most people forget the praise after the dog has done what was asked.

I praise like crazy after they poop, I am sure they must be thinking, "Well if it makes her so happy I guess I will just have to poop!" Right after the poop comes the treat. I wouldn't put treats in the crate. They shouldn't be learning the crate is for food.

I say, "Go do your business". Got that one from Mom. :lol:

The issue I'm having is understanding when he needs to go. He sniffs around so much, I just tend to stare at him thinking, "Is he being a dog or is he looking for a place to pee..." This morning, after I took him out and put his food down, he started kind of whimpering. I kept asking him what he wanted and I even picked him up to see if he just wanted attention. I eventually caved and took him outside but he didn't do anything...so after a minute or two, I came back in. I still don't know why he was whimpering because he didn't want held either...

I read that if you feed them in their crate - which I no longer do - they won't associate only negative things with it. So when he's done going to the bathroom the last time, I praise him and then put him back to bed and hand him a few tiny chews that are just barely bigger than your average sized pill. He seems to be okay with it now, he just lays there and looks at me like...I dunno where you go Mom but fine, I'll go back to sleep. :lol:

I remember when we first got Hershey, he had to go out every two hours. The husband and I took turns and he knew when to go out about the second day he was home. He never went in his cage because we would put toys in there and little treats, he knew it was his safe spot..crying was an issue. We would take turns sleeping on the floor with one hand stuck in with him so he wouldn't cry..

Until he was about a year old, we had my mom come over and let him out for about 4 hours and play with him each day and made sure he ate and did his business and that he had water..is there someone to do that for you?

How's Kota today?
Roo2:carrot::carrot::carrot:

He's doing well. I'm doing less well. :lol:

Tuesday night, he woke me up at 2:45 to go to the bathroom. I was like okay...hiccup in the system, let's go.

Then he woke me up last night at about 1:30. Now I'm scratching my head wondering what is with this sudden need to use the bathroom after I was sure he had thoroughly gone number one and two before bed. I very distinctly recall him going twice within an hour or two before bed... And he'd stopped eating at 7:00 so...

I'm driving home after work to surprise my parents. The trip is 5 hours so I'm a little curious how this is going to go. He was good on the car ride to my house but it was only 40 minutes. He just napped. So I'm wondering how far we can get with him napping... I think I'll also bring his pig ears and hand one of them to him, that keeps him occupied for quite some time. :lol:

I figure I'll pull over to give him a potty break every 2 hours or so.

Hang in their girl :hug:
Cheyenne our Golden would need her 2AM potty break...and later out grew it.
They are like having a Newborn and 8 weeks is so young ...a lot of breeders now do not let pups go home until 9-10 weeks old ...a change from what it was years ago.
It is good that he is letting you know he needs to go outside.:carrot:
Cheyenne came with accessories LOL a Stuffed Dragon with her mother's scent on it that she still sleeps with in her crate at night...she will go upstairs and put herself in the crate when she wants some me time.
Dakota either sleeps on the floor by me or on the bed.
Chance our Handsome boy sleeps on the floor or in his crate at night.
I always took time off work for a week or two to make the transition easier.
Also I had a cover over the Crate at night to make it dark and found that was helpful too!
Good luck on your trip also I used a Doggy Harness to keep them from bouncing around in the car and placed a blanket or large towel down on the seat.
All of our dogs love to ride in the car.
Enjoy your time with your family:hug:
Roo2:carrot::carrot::carrot:

If he'd been doing it since I got him I'd understand. This shift is throwing me off and has me so confused. I'm just thinking...he's only so big...where is all this coming from? :lol:

My roommates are kind of frustrating me with it, too. The one girl in particular just keeps saying in a baby voice, "He's only a baby!" Yes. I understand this. I'm the one waking up to take him outside, I'm the one who takes him outside literally a dozen times a day. I'm the one feeding him puppy food, I'm the one who invested a small fortune in him, I'm the one who watches him like a hawk, I'm the one who cancelled a date to stay with him so I could put him to bed properly worn out. I'm aware that he's "only a baby". I'm just failing to understand what this has to do with putting him on a schedule and training him. Should I be waiting until he's older and has already established bad habits?... I never said I expected him to be perfect, I'm just trying to analyze his behavior and correct it early.

To me, this is the time to act. Chewing? Break him. Still working on that one... Biting too hard during play? Break him. Still trying to figure that out, too... He's crate trained already, he doesn't really cry anymore. Leash train him, put him on a schedule, do it while he's young, not after he's already doing everything wrong. And yeah, okay, so I get frustrated sometimes but that's normal. I'm trying to lose weight and my body is refusing to go under 136 for more than a day at a time. I think it's the fact that I'm tired and stressed. It's a vicious cycle and it's taking a toll on my health. Last night, I got maybe 6 hours of sleep. I woke up sore from my workout but still had to take him outside for his potty break. Yeah, I think I get that he's a baby...

In addition to all that, I'm trying to train Kota not to eat cat food. He's got puppy food right there. He knows better, too. I come out, catch him, and go "Ah ah ah, no!" He immediately stops and goes back to his own bowl. Sometimes he goes back before I even get to say anything like he's thinking, "Crap, Mom caught me!" So this morning, her cat - who eats on top of the refrigerator and leaves cat hair all over the counters and dishes - knocked her bowl of food on the floor. My roommate, instead of sweeping it up, purposely sweeps it into a pile on the floor and says she'll leave it there for my dog to "clean up". I have no idea if this impacts his doing number two or not but I'd really rather just keep him on dog food either way... I can't watch him all the time so naturally he did eat most of the cat food before I caught him...

Mind you, he's allowed to "vacuum up" her cat's messes - she's not exactly the most responsible owner sometimes - but she won't let him play with any of their toys. They've got two dozen toys and she puts them away just to keep my dog from playing with them. But he can eat their food when she doesn't want to clean it up...very nice. If it's even possible to train a dog not to play with certain toys, I've got a dozen things to teach him, that isn't very high on the priority list...

/rant

Being home should help, my parents love animals and I won't have to pick his crap up because they're in the country. :D

:hug::hug: pups can be a lot like babies they have times when they don't always stay on the schedule we have made.
Just take it in stride...and have patience, just like losing weight it does not follow a linear path.
I have found through all my many many animals I have had a positive approach is best.
I set-up my dogs for success and I always leave training on a positive note.
This is actually the easier part of dog training the majority of dogs that are in the shelter are given-up during adolescence because they can be a handful.
Make sure your puppy does not eat Cat food it is not good for him.
Kota will enjoy being in the country and having some room to play.
Enjoy your time with the folks .
Puppies like children can be a handful at time ..but they are definitely worth it.
Unlike children you can crate the dog!
If you ever feel that you are becoming irritated with the pup ..place him in his crate where he is safe.
There are critical times in a puppy's life ,go to the library and get the wealth of information out there.
Your pup will give you emotional growth...just think everything parents go through when raising children.
You have a New Best friend and it takes time to work and develop a relationship that works for both of you!
Good Luck ,and tire that little guy out!
Roo2:carrot::carrot::carrot:

Thanks, Roo. =)

He's getting better, I even had him out of his crate for most of the night. I kept waking up to check on him because I was scared :lol: but he slept all night. He just kept tossing and turning, he loved the space, haha. He'd turn one way, turn the other, change locations, you name it.

My parents' dog doesn't really like him but she's mean. She hasn't done anything, she just isn't overly friendly. He's sort of just chilling out on their couch looking around. xD

Dogs are notorious for turning around several times before lying down, usually at the same place they started,
I agree about the cat food, dogs should not be eating cat food it is bad for them. Do not leave the cat food where he can get it.
He is very young to be separated from his mother so if he is not crying all night that is a major miracle.

I don't have any advice for you as my dogs have all been adopted as senior citizens vs. puppies but I wanted to say I loved every post in this thread. I know doggy poops and pee-pees aren't supposed to be smile-inducing but they sure did. :) Love love love puppies.