Hello everyone!! I am so excited to have found this forum and learned so much from all of your postings. I just adopted the new addition to our family Chloe. She is 9 weeks old and so adorable, today was her first day with us and she is such a sweetheart. She is not potty trained and I really want to get her used to pee pee pads, we work long hours and would not be able to stay home with her and train her to go outside. Does anyone have any suggestions or tips?

Since tonight is her first night i have started to crate train her but it breaks my heart to listen to her cry inside the crate. Do you recommend leaving her in the crate all night and just getting her used to sleeping all night or should i take her out of her crate if she starts to cry? My husband is a light sleeper so I can't keep her in my bedroom so she has her own room right next to ours. I would really appreciate any suggestions that you may have. Is a puppy xpen a good idea for during then day when I am not home or would you recommend leaving her in her crate so that she can avoid accidents? Anyone have suggestions on what kind of xpen I should her for her?

I am a crazy mommy that is very excited and nervous at the same time, just want to train my little Chloe right from the start.

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Welcome!!! Chole is such a cutie. Congrats. If you are going away for a long time xpen is better the crate with pee pads in the xpen also. I am sure some of the others who have had puppies grow up with in the last year will chime in. Can't wait to see more pictures of your little girl.

Welcome! Chloe is adorable!!!

We've had our Lola for 2 weeks now (she's only 10 weeks old) & we are continuing to use the crate to train her.

Our Lola wakes up once during the night & I immediately get up and take her to her pee pad as she has to use the facilities!!!! She's too little to hold her bladder all night, so my guess is, if you leave Chloe in her crate all night to cry, she will inadvertently wet/poop it and you will have a mess to clean in the morning- mind you, she would be too miserable sitting in that stuff to let you sleep!

Our crate is a small size, and we've even added a divider to make it super cozy where she won't dirty the bed as there's no room to move. So her cries are what signals me that she has to go potty. Her crate should not be large as it will encourage her to use it as a bathroom. The crate should accommodate her size and be a "haven"/bed where she feels safe.

So far, it's working like a charm. We go potty and as soon as she's done, it's back to the crate to sleep.

Hope this helps somewhat!

When we brought Augie home at a little over 8 weeks, his breeder told us not to lock the door on his crate as he would not be able to hold it all night long. Was Chloe started on potty training at all by the breeder? Does Chloe use a pee pad now? Are you going to be able to hear her in the next room so you can let her out to potty during the night? If not, do you have an ex-pen set up so that the crate can be put in there with the door open with a pee pad in the ex-pen as well so if she has to go during the night she can? You don't want her to go potty in her crate, but she will if she has nowhere else to go. I would say the same thing for during the day, if you are gone for long hours at a stretch. Be sure she has a place to go potty. Or are you able to go home every few hours at first to let her out or have someone who can go in to let her out.

Our kitchen is about the size of an ex-pen (slight exaggeration but not by much!) and we blocked off both sides of the kitchen, put the crate in there with the door open and a spot with newspaper on the floor as that is what the breeder had been training him to use. When he had to potty, he would just go on the newspaper. We later transitioned him to a Ugodog tray. Hopefully, others will weigh in on what worked for them. I slept on the couch in the family room for the first few nights so he would not be downstairs all alone. But the kitchen is the only place in our house (besides bathrooms) that is not carpeted and is centrally located.

Welcome to the forum!

Oh my goodness, I feel hardly able to comment on this since I have only had our Ceylon for 2 weeks, and even though I know there are other puppy parents out there that have done what I am doing, I know that I am in the minority, as most puppy parents put their puppies in crates or xpens at night, and that seems to work really well for them... and I also know that every puppy is different, so what works for our puppy may not work for yours. In other words, I do not necessarily recommend what I am doing, but I think I would be remiss not to mention it.

After hearing Ceylon cry for a couple of hours his first night home, I relented and took him into my bed. Since then, and despite (many!) housetraining issues during the day time (which may or may not be affected by my decision to take him into my bed at night, I can't say), he has slept in my bed every night for 2+ weeks without waking up or having to go potty, except for the first night when I was still setting my alarm to get him up every 2 1/2 hours, and he went pee the first time on the first night when I got him up. Since then, he has never had to go at night, and I gave up on the alarm after the second night, and he has not had to go, nor has he had any 'accident', since then - at least, not at night (daytime potty training is a whole separate issue, lol! We have been having a LOT of trouble with daytime potty training...)

Ceylon is just over 10 weeks old now btw - he was born on Dec 22nd. Again, I do not necessarily recommend my method, but for people that are willing/wanting to let their dogs sleep with them (like me!), and for dogs can sleep all night without, somehow, having to go the bathroom (like, apparently, Ceylon!), this is an alternative that might be able work.

Good luck, whatever you do, I am sure that Chloe will do just fine!

I imagine your puppy is very lonely in a crate in a room all by herself- so she will probably cry. I always put the crate on my bedside table- put your fingers through the crate to reassure her she is not alone. Give her a LARGE stuffed toy to snuggle with as puppies are used to sleeping piled together. She may surprise you and sleep through the night if you try this- or she may just cry if she has to go potty. I've never had a puppy cry much at all when I've done this.

I left chloe in her crate and she cried all night, i woke up this morning and she had an accident pooped and peed in her crate, i think maybe i left her space a little to big for her.

Unfortunately, I can't let her sleep in my bed as my husband doesn't like get her used to that. He is a very light sleeper and does not like to be disturbed at night, so i have to keep her in a seperate room. She cried all night and i tried not to go to her as I don't want to encourage that kind of behavior for attention. I woke up this morning to her cry and she had gone potty and pee pee in her crate, i took her out cleaned her up and then gave her some food waited for her to go to the bathroom but she only peed so i put her back in her crate. I left her int here while i cleaned her mess of course she is resistant and cried the whole time, i went back and she had pooped again in her crate. The second time around i made her space smaller thinking that she had too much room previously but i don't know what to do anymore. I don't want to leave her in an xpen and have her poop all over the floor and she really hates her crate and cries all the time, i'm so torn and already frustrated but of course love her so much regardless. If anyone has any advice please share.

i forgot to mention, Chloe is 9 weeks old, she was born on 12/30/2010. I don't know if the separation from her mom was maybe too early for her. I didn't get Chloe from a breeder but a woman who had adopted a dog that ended up being pregnant and she could not take care of them herself.

First of all, welcome! The way I see it is your light sleeper husband is not getting much sleep with all the crying. Your puppy is not feeling secure yet
and at that age, the crate won't keep them from going to the bathroom when they need to go. I am also a light sleeper. When we got Sophie I put her in her crate beside my bed.I got a stuffed dog that had a battery produced heartbeat. I also put a bully stick in there. The first night she wimpered just a little at first. Then she got up once and I took her out at about 3 am.That was the only time. Since then she has slept from 11 to 7.
She's never gone potty in her crate. She still sleeps beside me in her crate, and she doesn't make a sound. I no longer give her a bully stick at night because she used to wake up in the middle of the night and chew. Young puppies do not like being alone. They miss their mother and littermates. And crates can help them learn to hold it, but it can't keep them from going when they need to. I'm sure you will work it out. Good luck. Cloe is adorable!

I too am a VERY light sleeper AND my husband ALSO will NOT let Tillie sleep in our bed... so right from the begining, we set her crate up in our closet, which is on my side of the bed, maybe 3 feet from me... she whimpered the first night, I clapped my hands harsh and loud and she has never made another sound since. We've had her since September. These dogs WANT to be with you and if they aren't they are distressed and they WILL cry. I suggest you talk to your husband, because I am willing to bet that if he will just TRY the crate in your room Chloe will quite down because she KNOWS you are there, you can cough lightly, rustle your sheets, she will KNOW you are there and that is what she wants and needs right now.