Advice Please

[moggy]

We have a gorgeous 3 year old Chihuahua, Tictac, who sleeps with us. We have a doggy door and he uses it day and night. We are lucky enough to be getting a new Chihuahua pup in a few weeks and she will be about 10 weeks old. The problem is we don't want to put Tictac out of our bed while housetraining the new pup, and we don't want to leave the new pup in a bed on its own. BUT if the new pup sleeps with us we are worried she might wet the bed. I know it won't take long to toilet train her as she will copy Tictac (from previous experience many years ago with two dogs).

Any advice would be appreciated.

Thanks in advance.

Moggy

[caffiend42]

If you're up for both dogs being on your bed - there's no "might" about it Little puppies WILL pee on the bed.

The key is to be vigilant, and consistent. Outside for wees after every meal, every nap, every play time, and every time you think of it after these three are catered for

Get one of those plastic backed picnic rugs and put it over your bed. And get extra washing detergent

Even if you're there and vigilant, sometimes you'll get a defiant little brat that will pee on your pillow while looking at you, knowing they're doing the wrong thing. Harsh words are required. Pup will get what's acceptable, eventually

Good luck

[Poodle wrangler]

I'd be tempted to crate train pup and have her next to your bed overnight. It would be worth it to avoid lots of cleanups. A cat-sized crate would do and you could always sell it afterwards. I'm guessing that size is cheap. Ebay?.

For toilet training crate should be only big enough for pup to stand up and turn around (pretty tiny for a chi ) but you can get ones with a partition or just put a box in there to make it smaller. Is handy for car trips, trips to vet, and while pup gets over car sickness, too.

[mypets]

Toby was 12 weeks when we bought him home and he sleeps on the bed and we've never had a puddle on the bed or anywhere else at night. You may be lucky to.

[caffiend42]

I wouldn't be trusting luck

Crating's a good idea. Not that we did it! But we were just prepared for clean ups and night time wee walks.

[Poodle wrangler]

By the time you buy a decent waterproof mattress cover for your bed, a small crate is cheaper. I have been through all this malarky with a child who wets his bed.

I wouldn't bank on no accidents. Pups have small bladders.

[Spoodygirl]

Hi There, i have 3 dogs 16 months 9 months and 13 weeks, all have slept on my bed fromthe moment we got them they were 7 & 1/2 weeks 6 weeks and 7 & 1/1/2 weeks old when we got them and in that time have had 2 accidents on the bed, only wee. My oldest decided at about 8 months he would sleep on the floor just before we got our second dog so that was great, and he never had an accident on the bed. My middle dog she was still sleeping on the bed at 8 months when we got the pup now 13 weeks and we thought the same thing and also how do we stop them playing on the bed so we can sleep. (9 month old still very puppyish) but it has all worked out fine we put new pup onthe bed and middle pup decided after the second night that it was too crowded so she took herself to her bed on the floor next to the big fella, but occasionally comes back to the bed for the night. Now the pup has decided she would rather not sleep on the bed so she sleeps in our ensuite and that works fine, she has a little play onthe bed when we go to bed and then just sits on the side of the bed and thats my cue to put her in her own bed.

I dont know if anyone has tried the plastic backed picnic blanket but we did and let me tell you not a good idea, we have central heating and the house is warm but in the morning the top of the bed under the rug was soaking wet and the body heat does not escapeso it turns into condensation so we learnt the hard way!! I too thought it was a great idea at the time.

Good luck.

[moggy]

Thank you all. I have a waterproof mattress cover, so will try for a night or two and see what happens. Can't wait to bring her home on October 26th. Marking the calendar, lol.

Will keep my fingers crossed for a smooth transition.

Moggy

[Kobayashi]

Toby was 12 weeks when we bought him home and he sleeps on the bed and we've never had a puddle on the bed or anywhere else at night. You may be lucky to.

We were lucky too. We actually found it easier from 8-12 weeks to have her in bed, because then we KNEW when she woke up and needed to go out for the toilet (remembering that alot of younger puppies CAN'T hold it for more then a couple of hours). Now she sleeps through the night, and knows to do her toilets when i get up at 6am Pretty soon that will be walking time too, come on daylight savings!

[Rhi*Jak*Ed]

Crates are a wonderful idea :-) Jak peed on everything the rat, and she was one of those pups that would do it whilst looking at me, all the while knowing that it was wrong (like someone has already posted).

She can now sleep on my bed the entire night and when she moves, it's only to find a better position, which is usually a little closer to me for some cuddle time :-) She now waits until I let her outside of a morning before she pee's. It was a long process though.... but well worth the wait.

That being said, they say that dogs aren't meant to pee where they sleep, which is why crating is such a good idea. Jak peed in her crate for the first two weeks but then suddenly stopped and hasn't done it since.

[sas]

We have a gorgeous 3 year old Chihuahua, Tictac, who sleeps with us. We have a doggy door and he uses it day and night. We are lucky enough to be getting a new Chihuahua pup in a few weeks and she will be about 10 weeks old. The problem is we don't want to put Tictac out of our bed while housetraining the new pup, and we don't want to leave the new pup in a bed on its own. BUT if the new pup sleeps with us we are worried she might wet the bed. I know it won't take long to toilet train her as she will copy Tictac (from previous experience many years ago with two dogs).

Any advice would be appreciated.

Thanks in advance.

Moggy

Might be a really great idea to crate train your new puppy, this will also give your current dog the space it will probably want to adjust to the new addition.

Crate training is great for toilet training. You get a crate that is big enough for the dog to stand up and turn around, if you can't get one small enough you can block a portion of the crate off. The reason for this is that the puppy won't want to toilet in this small space, it will typically cry to let you know it needs to toilet, to start with it may be 2-4 times a night until it gets a bit older.

You can have the crate in your room next to your bed. Golden rule though is to ignore the whining, crying and screaming and to only ever give the puppy attention or open the crate door when the puppy is quiet

[badboyz]

I really worry about pups of any age sleeping on beds. I've heard of too many accidents where pups have been seriously injured jumping off. Not something I could ever risk. Anyway the cat owns the bed and generously share's it with us. I doubt she would extend an invitation to those lowly canines.

[moggy]

Thanks again. Will try the crate training beside my bed. Actually she will be over 3 months old when we bring her home, so hopefully her little bladder will be able to hold more than a young pup.

We are so looking forward to getting her.

Moggy

[sas]

Just be strong through the screaming and crying and whinging, it's hard and you may not get much sleep for the first week, but it's worth it in the end.