love2driveinct
Well-known member
Overall things have been going great with Lucky since we brought him home. At the breeder's house, the pups were trained to go on pads, so it was wonderful that he knew how to do it from the moment we brought him home. But we also wanted him to learn to go outside, so we started taking him outside to go, too.
His basic routine is to be in his crate for short-term confinement during the day -- I let him out, take him outside to do his business, we play for awhile or I let him just run around, then he goes back in. Then at night he is in a larger pen with a little bed and a potty pad, and he's really good about going only on the pad. At what age do you think he should be able to hold it all night? We have such a good thing going, putting him down around 10 or 11, and then we don't even hear from him until around 7/7:30 (although I try to get him before he barks if possible). I don't want to put him in a crate at night until he's really ready. Anyone remember when their Cavalier was able to hold it all night?
My second question is about going on the potty pad inside during the day. Lately he's really not wanted to go #2 outside. He had a few accidents before I got smart and put a potty pad down and now he's been going on it for a few days. The weather has been pretty bad here -- there was snow, then we had an ice storm. Maybe he just doesn't want to go outside? Am I messing with the long-term success of pottying outside by letting him go on the pad? Or should I just stick with this until the winter weather breaks and not worry about it?
His basic routine is to be in his crate for short-term confinement during the day -- I let him out, take him outside to do his business, we play for awhile or I let him just run around, then he goes back in. Then at night he is in a larger pen with a little bed and a potty pad, and he's really good about going only on the pad. At what age do you think he should be able to hold it all night? We have such a good thing going, putting him down around 10 or 11, and then we don't even hear from him until around 7/7:30 (although I try to get him before he barks if possible). I don't want to put him in a crate at night until he's really ready. Anyone remember when their Cavalier was able to hold it all night?
My second question is about going on the potty pad inside during the day. Lately he's really not wanted to go #2 outside. He had a few accidents before I got smart and put a potty pad down and now he's been going on it for a few days. The weather has been pretty bad here -- there was snow, then we had an ice storm. Maybe he just doesn't want to go outside? Am I messing with the long-term success of pottying outside by letting him go on the pad? Or should I just stick with this until the winter weather breaks and not worry about it?