Lucy - puppy pad training and crate training

[soootiff 0]

So Lucy is home and seems to be adjusting well. I took her to the vet on Saturday (picked her up Friday evening).She checked out well and started her shots and de-wormer. I also got some fleat treatments because the poor girl was covered.

After the vet I decided to take her to the groomer for a flea bath - they also trimmed her nails, hair around her eyes and afew other essentials. She looked and smelled a million times better and did GREAT getting it done. They put bows in her hair and I was even more in love with her.

OK on to my questions

We are pad training her and have the pad and holder in the living room area so that we can see where she is and what she is doing when she's going potty. She has used it once or twice and gets her treats for doing so. I've left a pad with a small pee spot on it already there so she can smell it and hopefulyl get used to the idea, but it doesn't seem successful. What's the best method to getting her to understand? After she goes elsewhere should I put her on the pad right away? Any other suggestions?

She is in her crate at night and wasn't having it the first night, which is to be expected. On night #2, I slept on the floor next to her crate and she did good. Woke me up at 2am and went potty, and then I put her back in her crate. She is getting better with the crate and I don't have to lay next to it, instead I just pet her once she's in pet her for a few and then she goes to sleep. She still wakes up crying once or twice during the night and I let her out so she can go potty. Do you think this is the wrong way to go about it since she is crying?

Sorry this is so long - I just wanted to give the details of what I am doing and see if anyone had any suggestions.

Thanks!

Tiffany (& Lucy)

[Lissa Tzu 0]

I had no luck with pad training at all, they just wanted to rip it to shreds. Sorry No help with the pad training here

BUT congrats on bringing her home

If little Lucy is under 12 weeks old it might be safer that you give her a bath at home using Dawn dish soap. For some reason this kills the fleas without being too strong for puppies.

[soootiff 0]

Thanks! She is under 12 weeks, which the groomer knows, as they are friends of ours. We tried the Dawn and had no luck with the fleas...which is why we took her to them.

[Seastar 44]

I would immediately advise the breeder that your puppy was infested. That's terrible.

[emmasmom 14]

Ditto on that!

And congrats again on your new baby! She's adorable!

[mileysmom 2]

ditto.

And also, i think that your right on for letting her get up when she lets you know! that way shes used to letting you know when she has to go! whining will just be her "sign"

shih-tzus are really hard to potty break... so keep doing what you are doing! Because thats how they learn. it sounds like your doing the right thing.

some of them learn it really quickly, and some of them it takes years to learn.

So just keep truckin!

[Luna 8,676]

Ditto as well. Get a comfortis tab from your vet - it will kill all the fleas on the dog within 24 hours. Then in 48 hours, give her a single treatment of Frontline Plus. This should take care of the flea problem.

The only consistently successful housetraining method I've come across is crate training. It works like this:

Puppy "goes".

Puppy is allowed to stay out to play for a half-hour.

Puppy gets crated for 2 hours.

Puppy is taken to the "go" spot. Once the "mission" is "accomplished", Puppy is praised and treated, then allowed to stay out to play for a half-hour.

Repeat for seven days.

After 7 days, Puppy can stay out for an hour at a time. Another 7 days, 2 hours. Etc.

At night, Puppy "goes" and then goes to bed. Puppy gets up when YOU get up, not when he/she says it's time to get up.

I know that sounds absolutely heartless, but I have never had a puppy that wasn't trained within 2 weeks. My dogs sleep in their crates at night - we just say, "Bedtime! Crate up!" and they do. They get up when we get up. There are so few "accidents" they aren't even worth mentioning. I should probably add that all the crates have coated wire flooring with thick, cushy pads on top so if the dog absolutely can't hold it they just push the pad aside and go. Dog stays clean and dry and I just have a crate to clean up.

Another bonus to this method is that the dog becomes comfortable with the crate, so if they must be put up for some reason (visitors that are allergic, painting, etc.) they just go to sleep.

[soootiff 0]

Pam - that method sounds great, if only I didn't have to work

I have been doing some research online and I am going to try this method:

I will block off an area in our tiled hallway with the baby gate and line the area with puppy pads. Whenever she just wakes up, is done eating or playing (usual times puppy's have to use the restroom) she will be put into this area. As she gets used to using the pad I will slowly remove one pad from the area until she gets used to using the more limited space and will continue this until the one pad is left in the area.

She is doing so good at night in her crate and didn't wake me up at all last night. But, I also took her water up earlier.

Another caviat is that my boyfriend works nights, so someone is always home however he is *trying* to sleep during the day. Luckily, so far Lucy has been good with sleeping during the day too after a long play time in the morning before I leave for work and before he gets to bed. yesterday was a rough day of him sleeping as she didn't want to be in the crate. As she gets better, morning walks will also happen.

Our carpet was ruined in the past from a boxer who had severe seperation anxiety. We really don't want to go through that again and we are really hoping the pad training ends up working for her to make it easiest on all of us. I do have to keep reminding my boyfriend that she is only just over 2 months old and it will take time, we haven't even had her a full week yet, so she needs a little slack. I did tell him (boyfriend) that I'll get rid of him if it becomes too big of an issue lol

[Luna 8,676]

I do have to keep reminding my boyfriend that she is only just over 2 months old and it will take time, we haven't even had her a full week yet, so she needs a little slack. I did tell him (boyfriend) that I'll get rid of him if it becomes too big of an issue lol

Glad to see you've got your priorities in order! When my DH and I were dating, he laughed at a bumper sticker I have on my big tack box: "Husband and dog missing, reward for dog". I told him not to laugh as I slapped that baby on when I got rid of my former husband...