AT WIT'S END

[hallswel]

House training can be difficult at any age. I bring my litters to work with me to help get a jump start for the new owners. I have the pups in an expen in front of my desk and it has newspaper on one side and bed on the other. The pups like to keep the bed clean and try hard to get to the paper. It amazes most of the people who come and watch them they are amazed that at 5 weeks old they try to get to the paper. We don't always have all four feet on the paper but just close is fine by me. I keep dry paper down when it needs it.

The deputies come in and watch and are in awe how smart they are but I think they like to be clean. Now I do have a girl at home and when she hit 10 months we had a few issues but for the most part I try to clean up and move on.

[i_love_my_puppy]

Hi KitsOwner - just wanted to say, I feel your pain lol! I FULLY understand your frustrations but glad to hear you feel you should just relax about it a bit more. I'm in the UK and "crating" is not common here, in fact I only heard about it from any American site i read so I can't offer advice on that part as its not something i'm familiar with nor is it practiced widely in the UK.

What I would like to emhasise to you though is what a lot of the other posters have said about how long this is gonna take...FLynn is now 5 months and still not 100% trained (but almost there). Having read all the responses here it sounds like this is quite 'normal' so please, take your time, catch your breath and just accept that you have a good few months to go yet (less if you're lucky).

After all, your wee pup is just a baby and can't hold it. When they gotta go, they gotta go - it's not personal, they just gotta pee! You'll get there but in the meantime just know that you are not alone, everything is normal xx

[photomom47]

I feel your pain. My Celia is 13 weeks old. We have had her since she was 8 weeks old. We are making a little progress, and I feel like we'll never get there. So for me to read all these posts and comment on them to my husband helps us both feel a lot better. Thanks everyone!

[azurwolf]

i have a 6 mo cairn, we have had her since 8 weeks old. We have followed the house training guidelines to the letter and this is the story so far:

I kept Shona in an old baby travel cot when she was a new puppy, putting a rectangle of cut linoleum in the bottom, then placing her bed at one end, paper at the other. This kicked off her instinct to keep her bed clean and she learned very quickly to go on the paper.

I let her out in the kitchen only and had paper in the corner by the door, and she used the paper, or at least had her paws on the paper when she went!

she was taken out ever two hours to pee:poo in the same place on the lead, and got the hangof this really quickly

however... at 6 mo, she will pee/poo when taken out, but if left to her own initiative will just find a corner of the floor and leave a puddle...

we keep up the work and hope she "gets it" soon!

az xxx