toilet training advice please?

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ernikins

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Hiya - I have a 13 week old puppy and just wanted some advice on toilet training - we have been doing everything by the book, she goes out in the garden at least every hour, as well as when she wakes up, eats, plays, etc etc. She has a little obsession with the cat so when she is in the garden she can't concentrate on anything else, but she is not too bad about going out and doing her business out there. Over night it varies from clean one night to a complete mess the next but I understand that as she is on her own and she can't hold it yet obviously. The problem is she will be out in the garden with us for ages, and then will come in and if we take an eye off her for a second she will go in the house. When this happens we put her straight outside but is there anything we are doing wrong? Am I being too hard on her as I know she is still young, but she seems to be getting worse and I want to try and stop it sooner rather than later. Any advice appreciated - I have not had a puppy before and don't want this to develop in to a big problem.
 
No but when we are out she is in the kitchen with a baby gate, our house is really tiny and we don't have room for a big crate. She is not very good at being on her own, at first she used to cry and cry if I even went to the toilet but now she is getting better.
 
hmm, i would say it would be easier if you could find space for a crate, although they are bulky and difficult to squeeze in anywhere! She's more likely to learn to hold if she has her own little space. They're less likely to mess on their own bed space, but i'm sure you already know all this....
Do you have paper down? sometimes they almost naturally go on paper, once they use the paper when they are caught short, you can start moving it towards the door and hopefully a habit develops where they go to the door when they need to go. hmm hangover is impairing my grammer, hopefully you get what i mean!
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I'll stop now
 
I know it sounds awful but I am worried about changing anything, it took her so long to settle where she is, and when we changed the slightest of thing we were back to square one, and had crying all night - would it not be too stressful for her to change now? (for both me and the puppy!!!!)
I have puppy training pads down, and paper - but she doesn't use these she does things like go on the bottom of the curtains which drag on the floor a little - white ones!!!
 
OOH dear! white curtains and puppies dont mix very well! haha! Hmm im probably not the best person to give you advise, i'm sure someone on here will give you far batter advice. It's difficult without knowing the situation really, i'm sure it'll sort itself out. You're doing the right thing taking her out as much as poss. It's possibly to train dogs to go on comand (obviously she's still v.young)

Just out of interest, what breed is she?
 
Patterdale terrier - she is gorgeous in every way and so good natured!! And yes.. white curtains not such a good thing!
 
I think terriers may be harder to house train - our JRT was a record breaker! We used a large cardboard box to contain her at night in the end, something tall - ours was a box that a fridge had been delivered in. If you can get one of those, and keep her in it at night, she might not soil her own area. You are obviously doing everything right, some dogs are just more...playful than others!
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OK, I'll try and help you. What do you do when she does perform outside?
What are her feeding routines and what do you feed her on?
How long is she left on her own?
13 weeks is still too young to expect her to be clean overnight. Some pups manage it but the majority do not have strong enough bowel and bladder muscles to control it overnight at a young age.
Its important you are consistent in your approach to training and that everyone does the same thing in the household. When you take her outside to toilet make sure you have some really yummy food like a piece of sausage to reward her immediately on performing for you.
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It could also be an anxiety thing if she is messing when you are not there she could have probs with seperation but I'd need to know more before I could say for sure.
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I assume you are ignoring her when she messes inside and reward when she does it outside?
 
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