Night Time Toilet Training

[~Aimee~]

We have a 4 month old cav puppy and at first she was sleeping in a basket inside a wire puppy pen at night. We covered the floor with newspaper in case of any accidents but she became really good at holding on until morning. The last 2 weeks we used the pen she had no accidents at all so we started letting her sleep on our bed at night. She was really good until the last week or so. Instead of holding on until morning she'll jump off the bed in the middle of the night and go down the hall to do her business. I don't even know she needs to go until she is whining to get back up. It's driving me nuts having to clean up her accidents every morning. Why is she now going to the toilet at night when previously she was able to hold on?

How do I get her back to being able to hold on during the night? I'd prefer not to use a crate as they are quite expensive and I'd only plan on using it until she is fully toilet trained anyway. After that, it would get no use so seems a waste of money to buy one.

[persephone]

What has changed?

Different walk/feedtimes? temperature changes? Different food/water?

If all is as before- get her to a vet to check for a urinary tract infection.

Also- put her back in her pen, perhaps.

Poor girl is trying to get as far from bed as possible... and she is still only a baby .. .

[Bellatrix]

Hrm.. Aimee I cant really help you because Lucy never really did that. I always made sure I made her pee literally just before bed time. Id make her pee on command and then take her into bed and when she needed to pee during the night (which is hardly ever now) she would whine to be let off the bed and then I would take her down. I must say she is really good now and her last accident was 3 or 4 weeks ago! Im not really sure what you could do, just take her to pee just before bed and if you do wake up during the night, take her for a pee then too before she goes.. I hope it gets better for you!

[percyk]

back into the crate or tether her to your wrist so that you know she has moved and you whisk her outside before she has a chance to get down from the bed

be careful - they will start going on the bed too if youre not careful

[The Spotted Devil]

Apart from a health check.....I think she might be a little young to start sleeping on your bed. It's possible that when you move in the night, you are actually waking her up and suddenly she feels the urge to toilet. I love cavs - she sounds gorgeous

Crates are actually really handy for plane or car travel or even holidays so are never a waste

[ellz]

Would like to add a couple of things.

Firstly, completely endorse the advice to go back a step and put her back in the pen. Obviously the training she has had thus far is working, but she is apparently a little confused at having complete "liberty" so young.

Secondly, I would be concerned about allowing her to jump off the bed at this age. She could do untold damage to her joints or even worse, could sustain a greenstick or torus fracture in young bones.

Lastly, even if you think you'd never use a crate again, they aren't an expense, they are an investment. You never know if you will need one in the future. You may be travelling and need to confine her. You may have a non-doggy visitor and wish to keep her out of criticism's way. You may visit a non-doggy person who is willing to allow her to visit as long as she is kept in her crate. Anf many dogs actually LIKE their crates which they come to see as their own little den away from the traffic of everyday life. Just a few occasions where crate training and a handy crate can be of immense benefit.

[~Aimee~]

Thanks for your replies so far.

What has changed?

Different walk/feedtimes? temperature changes? Different food/water?

If all is as before- get her to a vet to check for a urinary tract infection.

Also- put her back in her pen, perhaps.

Poor girl is trying to get as far from bed as possible... and she is still only a baby .. .

Nothing has really changed in regards to walk/feed times/diet ect so I'm not sure why she has regressed.

Would like to add a couple of things.

Firstly, completely endorse the advice to go back a step and put her back in the pen. Obviously the training she has had thus far is working, but she is apparently a little confused at having complete "liberty" so young.

I will be putting her back in her pen tonight and will see how she goes. I expect she may still wee and poo in there but at least it will be easier to clean up. When we were training her using the pen early 80% of the time she'd wake us up when she needed to go buy crying but occasionaly she would have an accident in there also.

Secondly, I would be concerned about allowing her to jump off the bed at this age. She could do untold damage to her joints or even worse, could sustain a greenstick or torus fracture in young bones.

I'm not sure how I can really prevent her from jumping off the bed, couch ect as she's so quick, she has jumped off before I can stop her.

Lastly, even if you think you'd never use a crate again, they aren't an expense, they are an investment. You never know if you will need one in the future. You may be travelling and need to confine her. You may have a non-doggy visitor and wish to keep her out of criticism's way. You may visit a non-doggy person who is willing to allow her to visit as long as she is kept in her crate. Anf many dogs actually LIKE their crates which they come to see as their own little den away from the traffic of everyday life. Just a few occasions where crate training and a handy crate can be of immense benefit.

Do you think 4 1/2 months is too old to start using a crate? Trying to toss up whether or not it would be worth it buying one. Just a lot of money that's all! I've never really liked the idea of crates. They look too much like a cage to me but if it will benefit her in the long run it may be worth it? Just don't know if I'd really use it after the toilet training stage.

[ellz]

I will be putting her back in her pen tonight and will see how she goes. I expect she may still wee and poo in there but at least it will be easier to clean up. When we were training her using the pen early 80% of the time she'd wake us up when she needed to go buy crying but occasionaly she would have an accident in there also.

If this is the case, then you have confused her totally by allowing her her freedom way too soon. They need to be reliably trained to hold on before being allowed their freedom, unless you are there to take them outside yourself and supervise their toileting.

I'm not sure how I can really prevent her from jumping off the bed, couch ect as she's so quick, she has jumped off before I can stop her.

Easy, don't allow her up there in the first place.

Do you think 4 1/2 months is too old to start using a crate? Trying to toss up whether or not it would be worth it buying one. Just a lot of money that's all! I've never really liked the idea of crates. They look too much like a cage to me but if it will benefit her in the long run it may be worth it? Just don't know if I'd really use it after the toilet training stage.

As I said, you will probably be surprised the use that you WILL get from it if you keep an open mind and lose the prejudice about it looking like a cage. And no, 4.5 months is not too old to start.

[~Aimee~]

When we allowed her to sleep on the bed she had been reliably trained in her pen without any accidents for over 2 weeks. It was before that, that she was having some accidents occasionally. I thought after 2 weeks of no accidents that she had got the hang of it.

[ellz]

When we allowed her to sleep on the bed she had been reliably trained in her pen without any accidents for over 2 weeks. It was before that, that she was having some accidents occasionally. I thought after 2 weeks of no accidents that she had got the hang of it.

At 4 months of age, 2 weeks is a nanosecond. They've barely got control of their bladders, let alone reliably at that age.

[~Aimee~]

At what age can I expect her to be reliable?

[ellz]

At what age can I expect her to be reliable?

That is a "how long is a piece of string" type question. Much depends upon how long you're asking her to hang on, how big the area is that she is confined to, her breed (which I know, so don't jump on me, I just have no experience with them! ) and even the size of her bladder. All of these things can play a part.

I personally don't think the "average" puppy can be considered remotely reliably trained until after 6 months, sometimes later depending upon the individual and their maturity. And that is only in one of my breeds, in another of my breeds, I think myself lucky if they're reliably trained at 9 months.

What has your pup's breeder said?

[Erny]

IMO you're allowing your cavvy too much freedom too early, and your expectations of her are too high. I crate trained my current 5 month old pup and for the last couple of weeks have been 'weaning' him off needing the crate. He sleeps on his own cushion on the floor next to my bed, but I use the crate to block him in. I still don't trust that he would stay put all night and probably will not permit him more freedom until he has shown me he can be reliable inside the house on a general day to day basis. I'd rather keep precautions in place longer than necessary than open the window of opportunity for too much room for error and hence having house training go backwards.

[TeamSnag]

My pup sleeps on my bed at nite she is 4 months of age.. she has never pee' on my bed .. Her last wee for the nite is around 11pm then again at 5am.. she is very good with her bladder control

But at 5am she goes into the crate for the rest of the sleep (as i like to sleep in) she wakes us all up to early.. i dont hear boo from her when she goes into her crate then, she is really good in her crate

Duing the day i take her out every 30mins to an hour for wee run.. and after every meal, also when she has a drink of water

What im doin seem's to work.. but anything could change