puppy questions

[Denisemomof4]

I rescue most of my animals and it's been so long since I've had a puppy that I don't know what to expect as far as night time routines go. Dh tells me I'm crazy for taking on a puppy at the moment, I think it's the perfect time to add one after all dd has gone through. She's never had a puppy, and getting the puppy now will allow us to start training more over the summer. If we wait until spring, I think the puppy will be too young to start to train. We will be training it to herd animals mainly.

 

Anyway, I can handle anything the puppy will do during the day. I know it will need to be crated when we leave the house, it will have to be let out constantly so it doesn't have accidents in the house, it will chew and we need to provide plenty of chew toys, etc. My concern is how often will we have to wake up at night to let it out? I was thinking I could to go bed between 12:00 - 1:00, let puppy out, then dh could let it out around 5:00. Is this reasonable?

 

We will be driving to IL to get a blackmouth cur! Instead of taking dd away for the weekend for her birthday, as we always have, we will go to get a puppy! I hope they still have some available.

 

:bigear:

[bbkaren]

I'd let her out when the last person is headed for bed, then crate her in someone's bedroom at night, and she'll let you know when she needs out.

 

Of course she'll also let you know she's lonesome, bored, etc. too...

 

If you don't hear anything, let her out as soon as you get up (first thing!) and praise her for going outdoors.

[RoughCollie]

An oft-cited rule of thumb is that a puppy can hold it for the number of hours it is months old, plus one. So if you get an 8 week old puppy, it can theoretically hold it for 3 hours, unless it is very small.

 

Aidan weighed 7.5 lbs. when we got him, and he could not do this. I slept on the living room couch for 2 months (he was in his crate), and the night he slept for 6 hours straight was cause for celebration. He gradually increased being able to hold it over time.

 

Our collie could make it for 2-3 hours at night when we first got him at 8 weeks old, 13 lbs. After a week, I let him out at midnight and at 4 a.m. for a few weeks. He was like clockwork, whereas Aidan was like a mosquito - all through the night buzzing around needing to go out.

 

It helps to teach the puppy a command, which you reward with a small treat the instant he obeys. Aidan learned the "go potty" command quickly. The middle of the night excursions were all business. The first night, I succumbed to playing with him (he was so cute *and* playful), but that was a mistake I did not repeat.

 

I housebroke Teddy by taking him out on a leash, even though we had a fenced yard. That way, I right there to teach him the "go potty" command, and to eliminate in an area I chose. I hung sleigh bells on the doorknob and he learned to ring them when he wanted to go out.

 

I was stuck in the LR so Aidan would not wake up DH.

 

Puppies are a lot of work. After Aidan, I will never get another one, mainly because I am not going through sleep deprivation again, if I can help it.

Edited November 14, 2011 by RoughCollie

[SonshineLearner]

My advice with pups is to "tomato stake" them to you until they are with you for quite a while. Even for my adult puppy (about 1.5 when I got him) I kept him leashed to me for a minimum of 2 wks, but all the time when my cat was out, for 4 wks. Helped with nipping problems. :)

 

:)

[Danestress]

We got him at 9 weeks. I think the first night or two, he may have gotten me up in the night, but after that, it wasn't a problem to go 5 or 6 hours. When I took him out of the crate, though, I picked him up and made a bee line for the door. The goal is that they dog never even has a chance to pee inside. We didn't meet that goal, but it was pretty much the priority of our lives for a couple of months.