Any Advice??

Well we're bringing our pup home on Sunday and I'm so excited!!! I've done as much homework as I possibly can to ensure it will be as stress free as possible for her (and for us!!)....but I'd really appreciate any advice or tips you may have to make her transition to her new home as smooth as possible - and re:house training. We've opted for the crate training method as so many people have recommended it to us including our local dog trainer, but any other advice would be warmly welcomed!!! The pic to the side is our pup - Molly - at only 10 days old :luv:

Welcome and congratulations on little Molly! How exciting that you're bringing her home this weekend!

I assume you've gathered all the usual supplies and crate. Crate training is the absolute best way to go in my opinion. You'll never be sorry she's crate trained and it helps tremendously with house training. There are several threads here on house training with loads of advice (just do a search for "potty training" or "house training"). Also some great info in the library section of the forum.

Get ready, you're gonna fall in love! :luv: Please post pictures when you bring her home!

Hi!!

What have you decided to call your little one? She looks adorable:lotsaluv:

Basically housetraining is 99% observation! I would advise that you decide on a command you want to use to encourage her to do her "business" such as "Be Busy", then take her out when she wakes up from a long sleep, also about 10 minutes after feeding and also watch her when she is playing too, if she suddenly stops, pick her up and take her outside and give your command! Always praise her when she "performs", give a treat if possible as this will reinforce that business in the right place is worth while!
Also if she does have an accident and you do not see it happen, do NOT tell her off, she will have already forgotten about it! Just clean it up, if however, you do see her make a mistake pick her up promptly and take her outside and give your command firmly.

Hope this is of help?

Very Best of wishes and I look forwards to hearing more about your baby and also lots of beautiful :snap:

Hi Ali

Congratulations on your new family addition. Good on you for doing your homework, and going with the crate is going to be your very best tool for success.

Other than the advice you have already received & read about.... my big tip is "have a sense of humour & have fun". While teaching your new puppy the house rules, don't let it get to you when accidents happen, as they almost always do at least occasionally.

It was only the other day that I was thinking how easy it had been to house-train our Beau (now 7 months old). I was kind of congratulating myself when my eye caught something unusual on the floor. On closer inspection I noticed that he had discovered the join in the carpet & had diligently chewed & unravelled a patch of about 4cm wide by 16 cm long. What did I do? I laughted & called him a little rat and have covered the patch over so he can't get at it any more. At some stage, I guess I'll have to replace the carpet in that room.

So expect the occasional mishap & have fun.

My advice is don't scold your baby puppy if you see her having a potty accident in the house. Just scoop her up and take her outside immediately. If she finishes outside, praise and treat.

The reason I say don't scold her inside is because she may misunderstand and she may think it's wrong to go potty EVER. That just makes it harder on both of you.

Good luck! Sometimes I miss having a puppy around, even though it lots of work. Treasure every moment with little Molly!:luv:

Congrats on the new arrival Ali. Just love and cuddle your little furbaby, cant wait to see more pics. Hey, where in Meath are you from, I am from Killucan, Co. Westmeath

Thanks!

Thankyou so much everyone for all the tips and kind words I really am so excited to be bringing her home finally, the weeks seem to have dragged by!! Will definitely post pics once she's arrived. I've arranged for Tara (dog training Ireland) to come out and spend an hour with us after her first few days just to make sure we're getting things right!!!
Sue, I'm in Ashbourne in Meath - just moved here a few months ago from Castleknock
Look forward to being a member of this community, everyone seems so friendly - and I'm sure I'll be needing some words of wisdom lol

Congrats. On our new baby. We got ours last week. Be prepared to be tired!!! We spent so much time watching ours for when she wanted to "go" so we got her outside in time to prevent any accidents, we never got a moment to ourselves dont think we have watched a full tv programme yet!!!!!. They do sleep a lot when they are little and when ours sleeps she is out for the count for a couple of hours and this time gives you chance to get other housey stuff done!!! So far so good and we have done okay. At least 1 wee accident a day in the house. But no poos. We had it sussed in the first couple of days how soon after she ate, woke etc and she wanted a poo and you get to know the "trot round with nose down and tail up" search, that they are looking for somewhere to "go". Not so easy with a wee!!!. But the warmer weather has meant we can leave the back door open so she really can go a she pleases and has sometimes gone outside of her own accord for a wee. So some progress there. No cries in the night at all so far and think we are lucky so far with this aspect of her training. But enjoy and take loads of pictures. They are so much fun at this time and very comical.

Not sure if it's been mentioned but don't go into the house straight away. Show your pup the garden and let the first wee wee be outside. Praise and treats of course and attach a command as she does her business. I set an alarm for every 20 mins and took Dylan outside that often. He was house trained in 4 weeks, would have been less if the kids had kept a closer eye on him when I was not there.