# It does get easier right?



## tashaA (May 24, 2011)

I'm having puppy blues.  I even thought of rehoming the jack russell pup due to all the stress I've been experiencing. She's really sweet but sooo much work. Hubby works all day and I work 20 hours a week in a job I hate so it's been pretty tough. Hubby wants me to give it a chance since we have only had her for nearly 2 weeks. It's a bit frustrating coming home for lunch to see pee and poo all over the kitchen. Sleeping has gotten better. she sleeps till 6:00 am. I wake up to poo and pee in her crate. :cryin: I put her back in after she does her business for an extra hour of shut eye. but all she does is cryyyyy and bark. I miss sleeping in. I miss hanging out with my hubby. 

I am trying to give this all a fair chance but living in a flat with a dog is hard and I kick myself for not thinking all this through. My husband wants to keep her and gets annoyed with me. lol. 

i guess this is just a vent. I'm just tired. maybe it will get better once we are able to walk her. 

DOES IT GET EASIER?!


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## pika (Apr 6, 2010)

It will get easier when you can get out and walk her. 

What size is her crate? It may be that it is too large so she is messing in it. 

How long is she left alone for whilst you are at work?

As a pup it is expected if left alone she's have to do her business, they only have very small bladders and have yet to develop the ability to hold. 

Be patient and stick with it and with time your pup will come around. Toilet training can be stressful, have you considered litter box training? Sounds silly but I live in a flat and did this with Skye - it was a life saver!


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## Amethyst (Jun 16, 2010)

It does get easier, but it takes time, she is still only a baby so lot's of hard work and investment needed yet ... sorry but that is the truth.

I found reading "The Perfect Puppy" by Gwen Bailey a great help. I am sure there are other good books around 

Really (in my opinion) small puppies need someone around most of the time for good house training. I would not leave a young puppy more than a couple of hours during the day. I also kept my pup in bedroom and got up during the night initially to let them out. Hard, yes, but it worked 

Get pup used to going in crate after her meals, she will sleep for an hour or so, you can then relax with hubby, have nice bath etc.


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## Guest (Jun 9, 2011)

It DOES get easier, but it also takes a little while, you can't expect for her to be perfect straight away. I live in a flat too and toilet training was honestly a nightmare, but I just kept reminding myself about the things that she was really good at (she wasn't nippy, she didn't chew, she loved everyone and was so cute )

She's still a tiny baby and she's going to take time and effort but it honestly is worth it in the end. One day not so long from now you'll wake up and realise that it's so much better than it used to be and you won't be able to imagine not having her in your life 

Hang in there


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## tashaA (May 24, 2011)

Her crate is definetly too big. lol. We got a travel play pen for her instead of a standard crate. Wish we hadn't though.. It's mesh so she tries to climb her way to the top. lol. We thought a large one would be better for her as more room for her while we are out. bad idea. 

She is left for four hours at a time. But I let her have the kitchen with her crate open. 

I have thought about litter training. Wilkinson sells cheap litter tray so might try them and see how she gets on with it. what kind of litter did you use? I don't want her eating the stuff.


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## tashaA (May 24, 2011)

LOL she nips and chews everything!


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## lucyandsandy (Apr 7, 2011)

I'm sorry your all be so nice but what did you expect!? She is a little puppy she can't learn these things on her own and it will take time and it will take longer as she is not being supervised 100% of the time.

I can sympathise with you I had my moments of "what have I done!" for the first few weeks but it does all of a sudden get easier. Unfortunately you will have to get up earlier with her for the first few months - years! 

It might be a good idea to get up at about 2-3am to let her out for a toilet break and then straight back in.

When she cries who will have to be strong and try and ignore her until she stops and reward her when she is quiet. 

I would not recommend litter training as it will prolong house training but each to their own but if she is anything like my puppy she would eat it!


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## pika (Apr 6, 2010)

tashaA said:


> Her crate is definetly too big. lol. We got a travel play pen for her instead of a standard crate. Wish we hadn't though.. It's mesh so she tries to climb her way to the top. lol. We thought a large one would be better for her as more room for her while we are out. bad idea.
> 
> She is left for four hours at a time. But I let her have the kitchen with her crate open.
> 
> I have thought about litter training. Wilkinson sells cheap litter tray so might try them and see how she gets on with it. what kind of litter did you use? I don't want her eating the stuff.


I'd suggest getting a smaller crate! Or adding something that will divide the crate to make it smaller.

I think at her age, being alone for 4 hours is a little long. At that age my girl had to go for her business every 2 hours.

We used newspaper as opposed to litter, it's easier to clear up.

With the litter tray just make sure it's big enough, otherwise she wont use it.

If you need any help on litter training tip's feel free to PM me, I've litter trained mine and a few friends - it really does help when you live in a flat, all the way into adulthood!

Especially considering your girl will have a season in future and getting her outside will be hard - the litterbox will be a lifesaver!


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## Amethyst (Jun 16, 2010)

I have to say that I don't understand why any puppy/adult dog should be litter trained 

If the owner is taking them out regularly, why train them to go indoors


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## pika (Apr 6, 2010)

lucyandsandy said:


> I would not recommend litter training as it will prolong house training but each to their own but if she is anything like my puppy she would eat it!


I just thought I'd add here, I agree, don't use actual litter, your pup probably will eat that.

Use newspaper if you do go for litterbox training.

I found with litterbox training after Skye reached about 6 months old I could leave her crate open at night and she'd wake up and do her business then go back to bed, which now enables me to lie in until 9/10 again.

I will however warn after litterbox training it can take a while for your dog to take to peeing outside, so unless you want to do continue the litterbox throughout the dogs life I don't recommend it.

I personally intended it to be a life long solution.

However from the age of 6/7 months old, she would do everything outside when walked, was fine to use a garden when we rented a holiday home with a garden and didn't bring her litter box.

So yes it does prolong housetraining, but at the same time, it saves you cleaning up from all over the house.

There are valid arguement from both sides of things but you have to weigh up what will be better for you


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## pika (Apr 6, 2010)

Amethyst said:


> I have to say that I don't understand why any puppy/adult dog should be litter trained
> 
> If the owner is taking them out regularly, why train them to go indoors


Bitch coming on season, living in a flat when young it can be difficult to get them out in time.

Depending on how young the pup is, how long you'll have to have them indoors before they can go out; patience can wear thin as in a flat you can't take the puppy out until it's had all it's shots so where else is it to do its business?

It after a while becomes a temporary solution.

I can say I don't use it as a regular thing anymore, but when my girl came on heat, got spayed, suffered anxiety, was a young pup it came in very handy living in a flat.

Each to there own , but there are arguments for both sides to litter training dogs!


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## Helbo (Sep 15, 2010)

I think even the most prepared owners sometimes get those 'what have i done?' moments in the early stages of puppyhood, when you miss cuddling upto your other half, not having to clean up poop every day and miss being able to leave something out without it being chewed! 

*It does get easier but as with everything, you'll get out what you put in*.

Don't go for shortcuts - i.e. litterbox training. Think what you could do to help with your pups toilet training instead. If you put in the extra effort now, you'll have less to do when they're older.

Everyone does it their own way, but I rarely had to clean up wee in my house and not once had to pick up a poo. I set alarms and got up twice in the night for toilet breaks when Charlie was young as you can only expect them to hold it for (their age in months +1) hours at a time. I never left him for long unless he had done a wee and a poo beforehand, admittedly this was achieved usually on a walk (although I know this is hard to achieve when you have to be at work for a certain time). And for the first few months of having him I realised there was no point taking my trainers off or taking the treats out of my pocket. I took him out regularly (leaving it no more than an hour between visits), only stayed out for a few minutes, and everytime he started to wee inside I picked him up and put him outside, and made a big fuss for the success, and ignored the bit of failure.

Dogs respond very well to treats and fuss  Its hard to have the energy sometimes but make a big fuss over everything your dog does right: toileting outside, chewing their toys and chews...they'll soon catch on.

I bet by 6-8 months old you'll start to forget how hard early puppy life was


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## Marley boy (Sep 6, 2010)

when i first got marley i was like omg i cant handle this i felt like it was to much responsibility (even though i already had a child lol) i stuck with it though and now i couldn't be without him. I can even lay in until 11  All he needs is to be fed twice a day, have a run over the field, and some cuddles and he is one happy chap oh yeah and have his ball thrown for him


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## tashaA (May 24, 2011)

I guess I just need more patience. I'm not used to this so it's all a bit OMG. I really really wish we had a garden for her. I would train her to go outside but since we live in a flat with no garden right in town centre, it isn't really an option for us right now as she is only 8 weeks old and not fully vaccinated. So litter train seems like the best option. It seems better then the puppy pad option.


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## Polimba (Nov 23, 2009)

I really understand where you are coming from, we even rang up the breeder to take our puppy back (there were other issues at the time which made it really hard). I was on my own (husband had to go away) from the 3rd day we had him, having never had a dog before.

Honestly it does get easier and you soon forget what it was like in the very early days.

We always shut the crate door when we were out, as I thought that was supposed to be one of the uses of the crate, it helps with house training? I'm not sure of the purpose of crate training if the door is open and your pup wanders out anyway? Anyway I think you said you had to leave her for four hours at a time, which I can see is a long period for a pup to be crated. I think we did 3 hours max when we first had him. 

I don't really have any other advice, as we didn't have a problem with toilet training but we do have a garden and had plenty of our problems! hang in there, it will be worth it.


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## kaz_f (Mar 8, 2009)

It is hard but it does get easier. I wondered what the hell had happened to my life when I first got my pup but it will get better, just got to stick it out and keep on with the walks and the toilet training. Once that's all sussed that will be an immediate improvement. You've got to remember they're only tinies and they're just learning about the world  part of that is biting at things as one of the main ways they expore is with their mouths - you may have to sacrifice some items along the way of course 
Best of luck with your pup I hope all goes well.


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## GoldenShadow (Jun 15, 2009)

Me and Rupert were at war until he was 18 months old. I just didn't like him.

It did get better for us, but I don't know generally. The issue I had with him is he was/is very opinionated and everything resulted in a negotiation of did he want to do it or not and me being impatient made it worse. But now we sort of get each other and there is a bit of give and take.

Probably sounds stupid, but its true.


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## Cassia (May 28, 2011)

tashaA said:


> I'm having puppy blues.  I even thought of rehoming the jack russell pup due to all the stress I've been experiencing. She's really sweet but sooo much work. Hubby works all day and I work 20 hours a week in a job I hate so it's been pretty tough. Hubby wants me to give it a chance since we have only had her for nearly 2 weeks. It's a bit frustrating coming home for lunch to see pee and poo all over the kitchen. Sleeping has gotten better. she sleeps till 6:00 am. I wake up to poo and pee in her crate. :cryin: I put her back in after she does her business for an extra hour of shut eye. but all she does is cryyyyy and bark. I miss sleeping in. I miss hanging out with my hubby.
> 
> I am trying to give this all a fair chance but living in a flat with a dog is hard and I kick myself for not thinking all this through. My husband wants to keep her and gets annoyed with me. lol.
> 
> ...


Awwww! I'm also having puppy blues but I'm lucky Dobby doesn't poop or wee in his crate. Although he does screech and cry every time he's in there!
It's like having a baby really! 
We also live in an apartment and my MAIN worry is although our neighbours are nice... I'm worried they'll get so annoyed with the constant screeching when I have to go to work (part-time, 3 days a week, 3-4hours max).
I also miss my time with My Fiancé Because he works ALL day and gets home at 9.30-10.00 at night... by the time he's home I'm totally zonked out and usually napping on the bed with Dobby lmao!

When people said "Remember, it's just like having a child" they wern't kidding!
But I'm so determing to keep on keeping on untill he's out of this awkward puppy stage.

I also hope it gets better. I'm scared he's got seperation anxiety.


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## Tarnus (Apr 5, 2011)

I can totally sympathise! For the first week with Izzy I was very sleep deprived and when she wouldn't settle down and couldn't be controlled I had plenty of crying sessions on my own while the OH was at work, wanting to return her etc

4 weeks later and I still want to return her sometimes, as she is really bad for nipping now when she gets excited (cannot wait to take her to our local dog creche for a few days of proper socialising - she'll soon learn to not bite so bloody hard) but ultimately the reasons I wanted rid originally have gone and I know now the reasons I want rid now will eventually go (probably be replaced by something else!) and one day without realising she'll have turned into the perfect dog(!)

My only advice could be that if you really miss your lie-ins, at weekends I will get Izzy up on Saturday and my OH gets her up on Sunday - at least that way we both still get one lie-in a week. We don't get to lie in together, but considering my lie-in consists of simply sleeping a few more hours I don't really care if she's there or not


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