First, I just want to say that getting ONE puppy is hard work. Night and day- you breathe puppy. The puppy is the most important thing for a period of time as you adjust yourself and him/her to you, you create a bond and figure out who the other is.
Now, you've just gone bonkers and gotten TWO puppies. That is just down right crazy. :yikes: :lol-sign: But, you have made this commitment and for any person with an ounce of honor and respect, you have got to see it through.
The first weeks are always the hardest as they adjust to me and I adjust to them.
Absolutely! We got Buddy at three months and we were cheated on the first week of his life with us as he spent it in an ICU at a pet hospital. But, when he finally did come home, it was a happy time....filled with letting him out to piddle, us taking him on out a leash to do his business, training, loves and cuddles and absolutely freakin' adorable puppy moments.
Annnnd, there were accidents in the house. These were not 'bad puppy' accidents, these were 'bad human' accidents. You must have the time to dedicate to proper house training (and training period) or you will not be happy and your puppies will not be happy. This is all adjustment!
I am not sure of the situation of the pups, but since they are 9 weeks, I am going to assume that you got them from a breeder.. these pups have gone from living the life with mom.. playing with their littermates, eating tons of food and peeing and pooping as they saw fit.
And now, all of a sudden, they are put in a pen, being praised to high heavens for doing natural things like peeing and pooping and they have a stressed out owner, living in a stressful environment.
[
I My guys do not sleep through the night. They need to pee every 2 hours.
They
need to pee every two hours or you are dragging your tried behind out of bed every two hours and making them pee?
What I'm not quite getting is if it's unreasonable to expect an 8-week old pup to be housetrained because they can't physically hold it, then it sounds like I'm setting them up to fail by trying to train them to do something they can't physically accomplish.
A puppy does not come with an adult sized bladder, nor the feelings/notions associated with how small their bladder is and oh! that means they have to piddle! Of course it's absolutely unreasonable to expect an 8 week old puppy to physically hold their fluids for a prolonged period of time. But, you
knew that and were just testing
our knowledge, right?
Are you also saying they should spend all time in the crate (save for potty breaks)? Should they not have a play area inside?
Of course not! We had baby gates and Buddy was only allowed in the main living area and kitchen. If we needed to go upstairs or leave the main living area, he was crated as that meant he was going to be left unattended. Being left unattended usually means trouble! lol And, that trouble may very well be peeing or pooping, eating something that you thought was puppy proofed originally, etc.. Crating is not just for housebreaking but that's another thread in itself.
What if I have to do something that takes longer to do than 2 hours? This is my biggest issue. Even grocery shopping can take 2 hours. Any other shopping definitely requires going over 2 hours as my town is pretty small and we have to drive everywhere. Every 30 minutes with even one puppy is simply impossible as I'd never get anything done, I'd never sleep, I couldn't work, I couldn't shop, I couldn't do anything.
Did you not know that having a puppy was
full time work? It's a little like having a baby... full time. There is a defenseless being that needs you.. trusts you and is depending on you for all of their needs. You have taken on the responsibility of being that person that they can turn to. Suck it up and take it like a parent.. because that's what you are now.
By about 8 months all the dogs of myself and my family have been mostly housetrained and by a year they're completely housetrained. You praise and encourage going outside but don't scold if they use the newspaper.
Why would you want to encourage or praise the behavior of elimination IN THE HOUSE? No wonder it took 8 months.. poor dogs were probably very confused!
The Weather Channel just had a vet on saying a puppy shouldn't go outside when it's under 25F.
How long does peeing take?
I'm not discounting what everyone is saying. You all have impressed upon me the need for a second crate and I
will do that. See? I'm not completely unreasonable
. Ian Dunbar has a picture of a crate pen in his book. It shows a crate with food and water in a small pen with a potty place. You crate train the dog to use the potty area for times you can't directly supervise the dog. When the dog is old enough to hold for substantial periods of time, you train for always going outside. He argues this sets-up the dog for success while allowing the dog to eliminate when it needs to when it's younger. That's the method that appears to work best for me. When I'm home and not sleeping, they go outside. They wake me in the morning and as soon as they do they're outside with me and then we go out every 2 hours until bed time. Times when I'm away for longer than 2 hours or asleep, I leave the crate open so they can use the newspaper.
I have always been under the impression and understanding- that a dog would never pee in it's den... I'm not discounting what Ian Dunbar says, I have a couple of his books, but again, why would a dog WANT to eliminate in their den?
Lastly, yes, folks, this post will indeed end....
Instead of thanking everyone for their replies and saying that they are helpful, I really suggest a
good look at all of them. Are you sure you're reading and understanding or are you being defensive in what you have done so far? You have some people on this here thread who have been dog owners for years and years.. you even got two very good trainers and a breeder doing their best to give you advice. I would not take that for granted.
Oh, and you've only had the pups for a few days.. saying that something is not working out is because you have given up.. things need time to work themselves out!
Now, I need some dinner and a nap.. that was long!