Keeping Baby Puppies Out Of Pooh

[sandgrubber]

I love baby puppies in almost all respects. One thing I do not love is having a troop of them mob me when I'm cleaning up poohs, getting themselves disgustingly dirty, ans spreading the mess everywhere. I try to scoot them away, swear a bit (not harsh tone of voice), growl, etc., but with the present litter of nine at six weeks, it really doesn't help much. This is not a problem of letting the poohs sit around. This litter is living in the master bedroom and ensuite -- cause it's been too hot to put them outside and I don't have a more appropriate air conditioned space. It's rare for a pooh to sit for more than 10 or 15 minutes, and often I get mobbed on cleanup when I'm on the spot for immediate pickup. It's almost like' 'picking up poohs' has become a collective game for the litter.

Does everyone have this problem? Does anyone have a successful routine for keeping the little buggers out of pooh?

(I considered putting this in Breeders', but decided it better to use General cause Breeders seems to be dominated by litter announcements, and because I think it right that the general population appreciate some of the not-so-fine points of the first eight weeks).

[kelpiecuddles]

Are they old enough for some puppy kibble? If so i'd be throwing a handful of it around to keep them busy for a few minutes.

[dancinbcs]

Yes, everyone has the same problem if they are inside and I know what it is like for it to be too hot for them to go out. The only solution normally is to have them outside on wood shavings. Stops the mess, smell and flies and poos can easily be collected with a pooper scooper but it isn't a solution for inside.

[espinay2]

http://m.dogbreedinfo.com/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.dogbreedinfo.com%2Fbreedingdogs%2Fpottytrainingpuppies3weeks.htm#2836

I have used something like this method reasonably successfully. By 6 weeks the pups were asking to go outside to poo too. Took a bit of effort but cleanup was a breeze.

[WreckitWhippet]

I get mine going to the toilet outside early and if they are in the kennels or yards I distract them with a chicken carcass.

I teach them that by going straight outside or onto the lawn there is a treat waiting, rather than trying to clean up around them.

[persephone]

Maybe change what you feed ..... poos can be nice firm little ones, which hardly smell and do not spread, so that there is almost no mess :) How hot is it there ? Pups in shade, with large frozen water bottles to drape over, and paddling pool should do OK ...

[kelpiecuddles]

We were possibly moving to Florida at one stage, to put it in to Aussie perspective climate is similiar to North Queensland

[Steve]

Sorry I think 6 weeks is way too old for puppies to be trapped inside and not able to get out into the yard to go to the toot .

How hot is too hot ? At 6 weeks they can regulate their own temps and puppies cope well here in up to 45 degree temps at that age.

[indigirl]

Mine start going outside at 5 weeks of age into a puppy yard, and I have a toy sized breed. When they are outside is when I clean up the mess indoors. Everyone who has a litter inside is knee deep in puppy poo I think it's unavoidable. Your large litter size means lotsa poos.

I find summer litters difficult due to the heat out here. It gets so hot that pups are stuck indoors quite a bit. Much prefer to have litters at other times of year.

[Rebanne]

why can't they be outside early morning, early evening, or even overnight?

[Steve]

Cant you put them somewhere where they can come and go> Puppies are born with a natural instinct to keep their nest clean and avoid walking in poop.If you keep them locked up you over ride that instinct and they become much harder to house train and live with when they go home and who needs the mess and work in their home ?

What happens when they go to their new homes / this isn't getting them ready for what comes next in my opinion and labs easily cope with hot weather if they have shade.

Sorry mate the idea of having a litter of six week old pups of this size locked up inside my home is not for me.

[brintey]

My litter of 7 Leonbergers have just turned 6 weeks. Like yours they are inside most of the time, but after each meal they go outside to romp for about an hour (basically until they start to fall asleep). All poohing basically gets done then and most of the puppies will scream if they are inside and need to go, so I know to let them out.

SInce you cant have them outside one suggestion might be to call in mother dog and have her stand in the opposite side of the pen while you clean up, my puppies still think Mum is a rock star and she is mobbed whenever she comes close!

[sandgrubber]

Thanks everyone for suggestions.

My intent was send the pups outside for increasing amounts of the time starting at 4 weeks, as I always did in Australia (puppy pen in the 'carport' worked great). I built them a yard and put a shade sail over it. Hasn't worked. It is simply too hot after around 9 am. 95% humidity and often 35 C. They are getting ant bites in the grass (as do I) and there are lots of other biting insects (mozzies and flies). Cement would be better with respect to insects, but hotter than grass. It's my first summer here, and I underestimated the heat. I won't have another litter -- at least not in summer -- until I have a proper concrete kennel with air conditioning. But for the meanwhile they're in the master bedroom.

They have plenty of room: around a 12 sq m, all tiled. I've put down some squares of carpet so they have slip-proof surface, but they do all their sleeping and most of their playing on the tiles. They spend an hour or two in the grass in the morning. By the time the sun is fully up they start complaining and I have to let them in. The bedroom is bedlam city, with a full complement of juice bottles, old socks, tennis balls, and squeaky toys decorating the floor.

.

They have worked out their own way of staying clean indoors . . . their enclosure includes about half of a huge bedroom plus the full run of the ensuite bathroom. They have decided that the proper toilet area is under and around the (human) toilet and on the shower floor, which makes cleaning easy. Easier than cleaning up the mess in the grass. I keep a quality mop and bucket in the bath tub and it's no trouble mopping down.

The problem isn't toileting arrangements, so much as the group enthusiasm for helping with cleaning. I go around with a spatula and some toilet paper and shovel mess into the toilet. This morning I had about six pups hanging off the arm with the spatula, and another three biting my feet.

p.s. All my puppy buyers say they expect their dogs to live mostly indoors. Going in the yard is fine. But not staying there. Given a choice, my adult dogs seldom spend more than 15 minutes outside during summer heat. So I guess it's not so awful that they're not getting fully acclimatized.

Edited September 20, 2013 by sandgrubber

[WreckitWhippet]

They need to be encouraged outside for toilet breaks every couple of hours if you are going to keep them locked in the house. I'm not sure how happy new owners will be with pups that have no idea where to toilet and think the bathroom is an acceptable place to go.

[minimax]

Can you close the door between the bathroom and bedroom so they can't get to you while you are cleaning their poo?

[OSoSwift]

I would be taking them outside for a toilet break every hour. It was very cold here so mine were inside more than I would have preferred, but they went outside often and if they had to be locked in they had a big puppy pen with fake grass to toilet on. By 6 weeks all toilets were outside or on the fake grass

[piper]

They need to be encouraged outside for toilet breaks every couple of hours if you are going to keep them locked in the house. I'm not sure how happy new owners will be with pups that have no idea where to toilet and think the bathroom is an acceptable place to go.

I had a litter last summer and we had a run of 40 degree days. The pups were pup outside at about 6am and left out there until about 9 or 10am when they were brought inside until about 8pm. We braved the heat with an outside toilet run every hour or 2. Within a couple of days they would go immediately when out side and run to get back in and escape the heat. They were about 4 or 5 weeks at this stage. Granted there were only 2 of them but more would not have changed what I did as they all followed me when I went out like I was the pied piper anyway.

Once the sun went down they stayed outside until we went to bed at which point they were put back in "their" room. During the day they had the tiled living areas of the house.

[Dame Aussie]

Can you close the door between the bathroom and bedroom so they can't get to you while you are cleaning their poo?

I thought this too, can you have them in the ensuite while you clean the bedroom and vice versa?

I remember cleaning pens of puppies

[Leema]

I have puppy pen near their toileting area.

When I clean poo of the toileting area, I just scoot the puppy pen over the top, fencing it off for the clean up, then putting it back to the side. Works for me.

[tdierikx]

Baby gate or some other barrier between you and the bubs while you clean up their messes. Simples...

I had a litter of 9 large breed rescue foster pups during winter here a couple of years ago - had to keep them in the lounge room with the heater on low. The mess they made was phenominal, and they were also very play oriented when I wanted to clean up. I have a few crates - travel and cage - that I would pop the naughty little buggers into when I had to clean up.

T.