House Breaking At Night

[cavaliers4eva]

We are choosing our cav puppy in 3 - 4 months CAN"T WAIT!

not sure about housebreaking at night though. I'm quite a heavy sleeper

and i don't think i'll be able to notice if the puppy is stirring (not many things wake me )

is there a way to know when to take him/ her out? i was wondering if i should

take it to a different toilet at night and outside in the day.

How can i get the puppy to ring a bell when it needs to go the toilet because i don't think i can

install one

I go to bed at around 9:30-10:00pm and wake up at 6:30am so maybe i need to set an alarm?

really confused :p

thanks in advance!

cavs 4 eva!

[Rebanne]

set an alarm, I've done that with all my pups, it is only for a very short while.

[koalathebear]

Your puppy definitely won't be able to ring a bell in the beginning so you're going to have to go with the indoor puppy pads option or the one that's hard work i.e. go outside with him during the night.

We got Elbie at eight weeks and we took him outside to toilet after every meal and drink.

At night, we crated him and we woke up every two hours to take him out. We took turns at "dog duty" - for some reason it was always cold and rainy when it was my turn ;) We set an alarm.

Then it was every 2.5 hours/3 hours. Then it was 4am and 8am. Now he sleeps through the night - sleep at midnight and he's taken out at 6.30am when I get up for work. He actually sleeps for another couple of hours after I leave because it's still dark and we trick him into thinking it's still night-time _{That's because he's spoiled and gets a hot water at night to snuggle up to and at 6.30am we make another one for him so he thinks it's still night-time ...}

A lot of people laughed at us for getting up so frequently but Elbie's very trained now. He toilets on command, he goes to the right spot and he barks once to be let out for his toileting Just have patience.

Also, there's no weirder feeling in the world than standing out there waiting for your dog to wee/poop and praising him effusively for it :p Then again, my OH used to be the biggest squeam in the world and these days like me, he's expert at cleaning up poop, commenting on its consistency and so forth...

Congratulations on getting a new puppy soon

Edited July 14, 2010 by koalathebear

[puppyluvr]

i'm wondering that too!

Edited July 14, 2010 by puppyluvr

[shellbyville]

I have a 12 week old Bernese Mountain dog at first at 8 weeks I put her in a crate in my room. I am a light sleeper so didn't have to set the alarm just woke when she stirred and took her out. It was usually at about 10pm before I went to bed, then again at 1am then about 4am. It was very tiring at first, but she slowly learned to hold and now she goes in her crate around 10pm and we take her out at 6am without any accidents. She is out of my bedroom now as well, because I am such a light sleeper I wake to any movement.

It is tiring at first, but definitely sets up good habits for later. However she still does have the occasional wee accident inside during the day! She just doesn't seem to get to the door in time.

[aussielover]

It depends on the puppy. My puppy did not have an accident overnight from 8 weeks old. She was able to hang on from 11-7am , so we were lucky. But there are many puppies that won't need to go during the night, especially if they are good sleepers.

I would personally leave some puppy pads/newspaper on the first night and see how puppy goes. If there is an accident and you have slept through, then set your alarm for every 2-3 hrs then next night.

I wouldn't get up to a puppy if it is not neccesary as they may come to expect to be let out every couple of hours. Obviously you can train them out of this, but why do it if you don't need to.

Most puppies will bark to be let out, but some are happy to sit in their mess

If your puppy barks, you will be able to hear, put the crate in your room and I would be amazed if you slept through!!!!

Edited July 14, 2010 by aussielover

[aussielover]

I have a 12 week old Bernese Mountain dog at first at 8 weeks I put her in a crate in my room. I am a light sleeper so didn't have to set the alarm just woke when she stirred and took her out. It was usually at about 10pm before I went to bed, then again at 1am then about 4am. It was very tiring at first, but she slowly learned to hold and now she goes in her crate around 10pm and we take her out at 6am without any accidents. She is out of my bedroom now as well, because I am such a light sleeper I wake to any movement.

It is tiring at first, but definitely sets up good habits for later. However she still does have the occasional wee accident inside during the day! She just doesn't seem to get to the door in time.

you lucky thing! I love berner puppies!