Potty Training and Extreme Cold....

[rlrobinhood]

Hi all,

Just thought I'd throw a post out there. Its -10 right now and the high tomorrow is -17 (yes, Fahrenheit!). So, I have a new Brittany pup (Trigger) and he is 9-weeks old. Its been extremely cold and windy since we brought him home. Poor guy gets blown over sometimes while he trying to do his business. Anyways, in these temps he really doesn't like going out side and its making potty training slower than I've had in the past.... On the bright side, he's figured out the garage doggy door and makes a B-line for it. Figured that one out on his own when he saw a barn cat go through, lol.

The challenges on this are two fold. One, he doesn't want to be out there. Two, it takes a couple minutes for us (owners) to get suited up for these temps, so there's a delay between catching him getting ready to go and actually getting him outside on the ground. With all this being said, we might be having 3-4 accidents a day.

What do you think? Are we on track for this age? Any suggestions?

[Sharon]

9 weeks - I wouldn't be overly concerned. What can you do in this weather? You'd have to spend your day dressing and undressing to avoid any accidents. To morrow is March 1. Hopefully things will start to get back to 32 degrees soon.

[ultracarry]

Should have got a bigger dog.... You can always just toss him out the door and watch from the slider...

[GmanHawaii]

Can you set up some kind of temporary shelter in the area you want to train him to go? This would make it easier on both of you, and yet still get him going where you want him to go.

[atothek]

What about using one of those turf potty mats that has a plastic basin under it? You could put it in the garage. It worked well for my pup.

[rlrobinhood]

All good comments. Thanks guys. I think I'm going to just keep on keeping on. Just a little frustrated that he is showing no interest (or behaviors like going toward the door or whining) in going outside to potty. I think if we didn't keep eagle eyes on him, he would go inside all the time. Should start warming up soon.....

[Big bloc]

I got my pup 2 years ago in January and yes my wife and I hated it. I keep her inside a crate at night and first thing in the morning took her out. I bet she didn't have 2 accidents in 1 week. I think the cold speeds up the process of potty training. She had it down in less than a week. Good luck

[roaniecowpony]

I had my female lab come into heat right after getting her (1 yr old) and no kennel. She was being kept in the backyard which has 4 foot high walls when we went to work. I needed to keep her secure from neighborhood dogs hopping the fence. My solution was to put her in the garage with a box I built using a full sheet of plywood framed with 2x4s and lined with some plastic sheet, then filled with redwood bark. It worked slick. I think wood shavings would be better but bark was available and cheap.

[Sodey]

In winter months, I've always tossed them a couple feet out the door every few hours while I wait at the door. Never waited for a pup that young to tell me when it was time. You may have a filthy walk way or deck for the next few weeks, but at least he's learning where to go. Soon enough the temps won't be an issue.

[DougB]

Do what I get to do. Put him on a leash, dress warm. Dog learns to go right away. Watch your feet.

[Karen]

House breaking in the winter stinks. We were contemplating our next litter (this coming September or next March). We've decided to wait until March, 2015 rather than deal with winter puppies again.

[tjsnipehunter]

I'm going through the same thing right now. I thought the end of Feb first of March was going to be great timing. It will be great in a few days as I agree with some of the earlier posters that cold seems to speed things up a little. In just two days he knows what to do first when we go out. But sometimes he just goes enough to make it seem like he's done and he heads back to the house, I've had a couple instances of him going in and squatting right away in the warm house. Not a big deal as long as it warms up soon and we can spend more time outside to correct that asap.
Lots and lots of quick trips outside for now.

I'm more worried that he just isn't emptying and could get an infection but I doubt a puppy could hold it that long at this age and stage of training.

Tim

[Runningdog]

In the same boat here quick trips...

[rlrobinhood]

....... In just two days he knows what to do first when we go out. But sometimes he just goes enough to make it seem like he's done and he heads back to the house, I've had a couple instances of him going in and squatting right away in the warm house. Not a big deal as long as it warms up soon and we can spend more time outside to correct that asap.
Lots and lots of quick trips outside for now.

Tim

Sounds like our pups are at about the same exact spot when it comes to potty training. Recently we've had just what you described.... I think what I'm finding is he knows exactly what to do once we're outside, but refuses to acknowledge he needs to "go potty" because of the cold. Luckily, my wife works from home and is very observant.

[Senah]

When we got our 8 week old GSP it was December 15th that year (we're also in Montana), and had to get him potty trained pretty quick as we live in a rental. He was actually pretty good about not wanting to make a mess inside. Walking 45 min-1hr a day was harder as he hadn't gotten his hair yet, but GSPs are SO energy filled that if we didn't get him out he went stir-crazy in the house (an inverse relationship between time outside and damage to your things does exist ). A couple of things helped:

1) It sucked, but we stood out in the yard with him every time, all winter. If he was going to go out in the yard (and not try to sneak a quick one in on the porch so he didn't have to get into the snow), we went too.

2) We put him on a schedule - every 2 hours whether he was whining at the door or not, we took him out. He got to come back in after he peed. This helped avoid accidents and made it not an emergency when we did get out. It also taught him that peeing is done outside - 90% of the time we were outside he was peeing. It was also helpful to be out there with him as we had some very interested coyotes and owls around the house.

3) We didn't punish him if he had an accident inside, but we rewarded him with praise when he went outside. This motivated him.

4) We took the water dish away a few hours before bedtime, so he was less likely to have an accident.

It is a huge commitment, but since he was 11 weeks old he has never had one accident, even when we have to leave him home for hours at a time (like if we go skiing). Consistency, in every training thing we have done, has been key.

[marysburg]

I live a ways north of you, and this winter has been just brutal. Twice we have had winter Brittany pups, and it sure isn't easy. I put an exercise pen (available in pet supply stores or online) in the kitchen and put newspaper on the entire floor area enclosed by the pen. Then I put a small dog crate in the pen with bedding in the crate. No door on the crate. The pups sleep in the crate and pee on the papers. I am not a fan of paper training, but this worked when it was just too cold for the pups to go outside, and it also makes it easy at night or when you need to go to town for a few hours from time to time. It takes the pressure off everybody. When possible, we did scoot outside with the pup, but you are right about how hard it is to "suit up" while the pup is looking for a spot to pee on the floor. I made more than one trip outdoors in rubber boots, housecoat and toque.

Another thing we did was take the bottom of the pantleg cut off mens sweat pants, and make a little dog sweater out of it for the pup. Picture the elastic cuff around the neck of the pup, with holes cut in it for the front legs, and make the back long enough to hang down a little over the back of the rump. It will fit for a couple of weeks, then you throw it out and make a bigger one. It works in the kind of cold we have had this year. I don't remember a winter that was this windy. A sheltered area outside is a good suggestion too. Enjoy your pup and pray for spring.

[Sharon]

I live a ways north of you, and this winter has been just brutal. Twice we have had winter Brittany pups, and it sure isn't easy. I put an exercise pen (available in pet supply stores or online) in the kitchen and put newspaper on the entire floor area enclosed by the pen. Then I put a small dog crate in the pen with bedding in the crate. No door on the crate. The pups sleep in the crate and pee on the papers. I am not a fan of paper training, but this worked when it was just too cold for the pups to go outside, and it also makes it easy at night or when you need to go to town for a few hours from time to time. It takes the pressure off everybody. When possible, we did scoot outside with the pup, but you are right about how hard it is to "suit up" while the pup is looking for a spot to pee on the floor. I made more than one trip outdoors in rubber boots, housecoat and toque.

Another thing we did was take the bottom of the pantleg cut off mens sweat pants, and make a little dog sweater out of it for the pup. Picture the elastic cuff around the neck of the pup, with holes cut in it for the front legs, and make the back long enough to hang down a little over the back of the rump. It will fit for a couple of weeks, then you throw it out and make a bigger one. It works in the kind of cold we have had this year. I don't remember a winter that was this windy. A sheltered area outside is a good suggestion too. Enjoy your pup and pray for spring.

I've done that too. reminds me of the joke when the husband let the furnace repair man came into the basement to fix the furnace . A lady was doing the laundry with a football helmet on and her bathing suit. ( The ceiling was leaking.) As he left the man said, " I hope your team wins lady."

[GSP4ME]

I've always found it to be an easier task in cold weather than in warm. My most recent puppy being no exception ( just turned 4 months). I find that if they dont like being out there, they learn much sooner that going out is about taking care of business and the sooner they do, the sooner they get to return to the warmth indoors. I never wait for my pups to tell me when it's time. I just take them out every hour or so unless they're sleeping in which case i'm ready to go as soon as he wakes up. Right after meals, before going in his crate, and after a bit of playing. Some people think they need to have a few accidents before they can learn what not to do. I disagree. I do my best to never have accidents and get them to realize there is only one place they will do their business, and it's not on my carpet. I've done it this way for over 20 years and never had the need to rent a carpet cleaner, buy wee pads, put down paper, etc. IMO, the only downside to winter pups is having to wait so long to introduce them to water.