# Toilet training query



## Mogdog (Feb 6, 2011)

Hi. I'd love some advice about nighttime toilet training if anyone can help? Bess is 7 months old and has taken quite a long time to toilet train - she has been reliable during the day since Xmas which is great  but generally goes on the kitchen floor at night. This is probably my fault as she has not been in a crate (she wanted to sleep with Maisie), but before crates were popular, dogs must have been trained to hang on(?)

Anyway, we have booked a weeks holiday and will be leaving her with a lady on a farm ... and it would be good if there was something I could do to get her out of this habit.

I expect most people have crate trained, but I'd appreciate any tips/advice you can give.

Thanks, Sue


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## DONNA (Jan 7, 2011)

Im not sure Sue but i can remember when i lived with my mum and dad and their dogs would always leave us a puddle in the morning and they werent crate train ,because as you said hardly anyone did thenso i think once they get into that habit it may be hard to stop.
What did you do with Maisie or has she just never done that?


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## Mogdog (Feb 6, 2011)

Thanks Donna. Maisie went in a crate initially but when we realised she was ill (parasite infection which caused diahorrea) we left her in a bed with newspaper by back door ... this worked well for her. When she was better, which took a little while, we stuck with the bed instead of crate. She was trained quickly during the night and day though ... she was my first dog so I didn't realise how good/easy she was in that respect.

Bess has taken longer but we've got there now during daytime. With hindsight we should have crated her for longer (she was in there a few weeks and would always soil on newspaper in there) ... we then let her sleep with Maisie, as she obviously wanted to.

They are quite different on walks too ... Maisie disappears into the bushes or off to the side to do her business ... Bess just stops in the middle of the path and does it, so maybe she is less aware/bothered about it.

Oh well  .... any tips appreciated!

PS. she is a wonderful dog in all other respects so we are very lucky!


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## wellerfeller (Jul 12, 2011)

Hi Sue, perhaps it would be worth trying to reduce the amount of space she has over night. Using a puppy pen or something to barricade her with Maisie in their bed area.If Maisie happily stays in her bed all night then hopefully reducing their space won't be a problem and then the theory is that Bess will learn not to mess in her bed area?


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## Laura(L)Izzie (Sep 9, 2011)

It's strange that she hasn't just learnt to hold it during the night now, i'm afraid I don't have any advice as we tried crate training Poppy at first (as we had with Izzie as a pup), however for almost two weeks she howled & cried & messed in her crate -at least a wee if not sometimes a poo as well, we ended up letting her come upstairs with Izzie as well as sleep in our bedrooms as since then she's been brilliant toilet wise, she always holds it until morning as Izzie always has done...

BUT with the toileting on walks I can partly relate lol, Izzie always waits until we get to the fields before going for a poo & she goes off into the long grass at the sides, whereas Poppy sometimes will go in the longer grass but ther other day just stopped in this ginnel we were walking down & did a poo in the middle of the path! Right at the beginning of the walk as well haha. Poppy doesn't seem bothered about doing it wherever, but Izzie does.

Anyway, sorry I can't help, just thought i'd highlight how things went with mine just to give an idea, hope you can sort it out! x


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## Mogdog (Feb 6, 2011)

wellerfeller said:


> Hi Sue, perhaps it would be worth trying to reduce the amount of space she has over night. Using a puppy pen or something to barricade her with Maisie in their bed area.If Maisie happily stays in her bed all night then hopefully reducing their space won't be a problem and then the theory is that Bess will learn not to mess in her bed area?


Thank you Karen, great advice. I was thinking along these lines but am now decided I will give this a try. Do pet shops sell puppy pens? I have never seen them (admittedly I've never really looked). I'll put beds and vetbed in there for them and make sure there's no newspaper or toileting space (!) ... and hope for the best. Thanks again ...  x




Laura(L)Izzie said:


> It's strange that she hasn't just learnt to hold it during the night now, i'm afraid I don't have any advice as we tried crate training Poppy at first (as we had with Izzie as a pup), however for almost two weeks she howled & cried & messed in her crate -at least a wee if not sometimes a poo as well, we ended up letting her come upstairs with Izzie as well as sleep in our bedrooms as since then she's been brilliant toilet wise, she always holds it until morning as Izzie always has done...
> 
> BUT with the toileting on walks I can partly relate lol, Izzie always waits until we get to the fields before going for a poo & she goes off into the long grass at the sides, whereas Poppy sometimes will go in the longer grass but ther other day just stopped in this ginnel we were walking down & did a poo in the middle of the path! Right at the beginning of the walk as well haha. Poppy doesn't seem bothered about doing it wherever, but Izzie does.
> 
> Anyway, sorry I can't help, just thought i'd highlight how things went with mine just to give an idea, hope you can sort it out! x


Thanks so much, Laura, all information certainly does help. Maybe your two are good because they are upstairs in bedrooms with carpet and they don't associate that part of the house with toileting. My two sleep in the kitchen and Bess generally goes near the back door .... she obviously thinks that's her nighttime toilet area Anyway, I will invest in a puppy pen and make a cosy bed area for them.  x


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## JulesB (Mar 6, 2011)

wellerfeller said:


> Hi Sue, perhaps it would be worth trying to reduce the amount of space she has over night. Using a puppy pen or something to barricade her with Maisie in their bed area.If Maisie happily stays in her bed all night then hopefully reducing their space won't be a problem and then the theory is that Bess will learn not to mess in her bed area?


This is what i did with Betty. She was in her bed in my room but i barricaded her in with cushions so she couldn't get out of bed and wander round. For the first couple of months i left a puppy pad down which rarely got used, then eventually a blanket on the floor with a puppy pad under it in case she had an accident or was ill, but touch wood she was fine so the pad went!!

Good luck with Bess, she'll get there in the end.

x


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## Mogdog (Feb 6, 2011)

Thanks Jules. I'm feeling positive about this now ... will go in search of a puppy pen tomorrow! xx


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## wellerfeller (Jul 12, 2011)

Sue, I don't know if somewhere like pets at home stock them, I have seen them online but obviously that involves a wait. I would try Mothercare if you have one near you, baby pens, doggy pens all the same


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## caradunne (Nov 29, 2010)

Hi Sue, I hope you manage to train Bess but the bad news is at the other extreme Izzy is still not completely reliable at night at 20 months old! Until about 2 months ago she would leave a puddle every night! I tried taking up her water at 7.00 pm (recommended by Victoria Stillwell) as for pooing on walks - anywhere will suite Izzy, usually right bang in the middle of a busy road as we are crossing or at someone's gate, but we love her! xx


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## mandym (Jun 5, 2011)

I remember watching an episode of its me or the dog and one family had the same problem and she lifted the water in the evening,she said it was a bit like a child who wet the bed,you would limit the fluid intake at night for a child.xxx


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## lola24 (Aug 14, 2011)

Izzi was always a nightmare on a night- she used to be on dry food and i found that if i gave her some wet (or now she is on RAW) she didn't have a problem. I think she used to eat her tea and then drink a lot which made her need to go. So, depending on what you feed them, try some wet too or add water to their tea which might make her need to go before bed.....

I think some dogs just have that frame of mind- maggie and lola would do anything not to 'go' in the house and would hold it all day long. Izzi doesn't think the same way- she can hold it but sometimes will leave a puddle- she doesn't seem to be concerned about going inside. Whether it makes a difference or not, i don't know but maggie and lola were raised in the house, izzi was raised in an outdoor kennel.......


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## Mogdog (Feb 6, 2011)

Thank you for all your helpful comments.

Funnily enough we went to London yesterday, the traffic was terrible and the whole trip took took longer than anticipated. Dogs had a long walk beforehand and were ready to settle when we left, but all in all they were left for 6.5 hours ... they have never been left for this long before. We were certain we would come back to puddles, but ......... clean and dry! Bess rushed to the back door and I let her out for a long wee!

To cap it all, she was clean and dry last night .......amazing! This has only happened once or twice before, which I've assumed must be a fluke! Maybe she heard me talking about puppy pens :laugh:

I still want to sort this out properly, but it just shows she can do it!


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## ali-s.j. (Jun 6, 2011)

Fingers crossed then Sue 
Izzy just seemed to suddenly click with toilet training, although when it's raining I try to be extra vigilant and make sure I let her out frequently!


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## Laura(L)Izzie (Sep 9, 2011)

Mogdog said:


> Thanks so much, Laura, all information certainly does help. Maybe your two are good because they are upstairs in bedrooms with carpet and they don't associate that part of the house with toileting. My two sleep in the kitchen and Bess generally goes near the back door .... she obviously thinks that's her nighttime toilet area Anyway, I will invest in a puppy pen and make a cosy bed area for them.  x


No problem, althugh sorry I couldn't be of much help :/ Although I will say that we used to leave Poppy in the kitchen when we went out (but Izzie was in the lounge because she has been for about a year - but we didn't trust Poppy at first), anyway not for the last month or so now, but she used to generally leave us a puddle in the kitchen for when we got home (for the first month of so she left quite a few poos as well!)

We were worried this was going to be a problem, however all of a sudden she seemed to just stop doing it so the last time we left them alone (we went to the hosptial anf for a meal so about 4 hours!) we left them both in the living room together & everything was fine 

I agree though maybe they know my room is carpeted so she now knows not to gon on carpet, but mums floor is laminate so not sure why she doesn't wee in there?

Anyway thankfully we've not had accidents in a while & they both seem brilliant toilet wise  Fingers crossed it stays that way & I hope you can manage to sort this out with Bess & glad she went all dy & night! That's really good  Maybe it's a start to something new


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## Pollypiglet (Oct 22, 2011)

Have noticed Hattie can hold it for around 6hrs overnight, this may be controversial but because she sleeps on my bed I know if she needs to go out! We both have a toilet break then get quality sleep until wake up time! Hopefully this will get later and later. My terriers would happily sleep with me after nights untill 2pm and my cairn would go out with my neighbour then come back up to bed if I was working nights.


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## Mogdog (Feb 6, 2011)

Pollypiglet said:


> Have noticed Hattie can hold it for around 6hrs overnight, this may be controversial but because she sleeps on my bed I know if she needs to go out! We both have a toilet break then get quality sleep until wake up time! Hopefully this will get later and later. My terriers would happily sleep with me after nights untill 2pm and my cairn would go out with my neighbour then come back up to bed if I was working nights.


Lucky Hattie sleeping on your bed ... yes, I'm sure she will wake later for a wee as time does by. I didn't want to go down the route of dogs sleeping upstairs as I've had enough years of disturbed sleep from children! x


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