Owners who don’t/can’t crate, how do you trust your puppy at night?

[jrm36]

@irishsteve Puppy pads ultimately teach them that going potty inside is ok, which is why people are against them. If it worked for you in that now your dog is trained to go outside & not use them now/as mature dogs you are in the minority. Generally, if you want your dog to go outside, puppy pads are detrimental. And honestly, disgusting imo. In 20yrs of dog ownership, I've never used puppy pads except for medical issues or old age and easily crate trained all 6 puppies I've had.

 

[jdharrison37]

@jrm36 I have a very small Chihuahua (he's only 5lbs now at 5 years old) and when he was a baby he was less than a pound! I couldn't find ANY collar or harness that fit him until he was about 6-7 months old. We also didn't have a fenced yard back then. Because of all this, he was trained on pee pads until he was that age. Once he had a harness that fit, he learned to potty outside very easily. Every dog is different.

 

[jonelle]

@jrm36 I wouldn't say minority at all - also in the UK and it's common practise to use puppy pads and then transition them to outside and no one I know or have known has ever had an issue.

 

[irishsteve]

@jrm36 Puppy pads first then transitioning to outside has worked for the dogs I’ve had over the years, and all my friends/family who have dogs have used puppy pads first, but every dog is different I guess. Honestly, I am jealous of you. I wish I’d been in a position to not need puppy pads, but my current pup wasn’t vaccinated at all when we got him, and we are in a high risk area so our vet told us to keep him inside.

 

[irishsteve]

@mj_1969 During the day, I worked from home so could take him to his pads when he looked like he was going to wee. He was mostly toilet pad trained by the breeder which I think helped us.

 

[righteousnessishisbelt]

@mj_1969 This is my hesitancy. The only accidents he's had in the house have been outside the crate, so I don't feel great about trying to have him sleep outside it.

 

[steve_h]

@royalking My guy sleeps in bed with me so this may not be the most helpful answer for your situation, but I just have a gate up blocking the door. It's got a little door in it that can be locked shut and so at night I just close him up with me and go to sleep.

 

[mj_1969]

@steve_h Does he not have any accidents in your bed? We tried to watch a movie with our guy in bed last night and it took him less than 10 minutes to pee in it he had just gone out too and is semi-potty trained so we were shocked.

 

[steve_h]

@mj_1969 Nope, it's never been a problem!

He's comfortable using a pee pad but prefers going outside, so I just keep one available at the foot of the bed in case he does have to go at night.

He's around 9 months right now and has slept in bed every night since he came home at 4 months.... He is an uncommonly chill and well behaved guy - he's currently allowed free roam of the living room while I'm working since he just lays in the windowsill all day.

 

[mj_1969]

@steve_h Dang! Ours is 3.5 months but I think being in an apartment has made him not understand potty training very well. He will immediately go potty when we are outside and knows he’s supposed to, but when he’s inside and has to go he’ll just squat and go wherever he’s standingwith zero indication he’s gotta go

 

[alexbd89]

@mj_1969 It will get better. Mine did that until about 4 months. At 5 months I don’t have to watch him like a hawk, he comes to bug me when he needs to go. When he suddenly NEEDS my attention (jumping, licking, nipping) that’s his signal he wants to go out.

He’s 6 months now and no accidents in over a month (knock on wood).

 

[steve_h]

@mj_1969 My fella is a rescue who came pee pad trained but kinda made up his mind on his own that he would rather go potty outside on a walk he has the occasional genuine accident if he gets carried away playing and doesn't realize he has to go, but otherwise he's doing really good at his scheduled potty times

 

[tomm57]

@mj_1969 My dog has never had an accident in our bed. He slept with us from 4 months old, and was still having random accidents at that age.

 

[ronia]

@mj_1969 Puppy things. Probably got overexcited to be in the bed and couldn’t help it

 

[gydarose]

@mj_1969 Same here. First few nights no issues, but yesterday he did it. Gonna have to wait

 

[chekwube]

@steve_h My pup sleeps with me too. First couple weeks, he would have accidents. Now, he wakes me up to take him toilet. He’s pretty good about it however, if I’m not watching him, he’ll go under my bed to go potty -___-

I’m like, bro… you’re doing so well … why would you do this!?!

 

[sewnsew]

@steve_h I use the same gate. It’s easy for people to go through and opens in toward you or outward. I close the doors to other rooms. I enjoy that he comes to sleep with me or cools off on the floor as he likes.

 

[kjvbeliever87]

@steve_h Same here, and my bedroom is completely puppy proofed. Well, my "puppy" is already over a year old, but still. She only had accidents in the bed exactly twice, as a very little puppy (the first one of the accidents was the very first night I had her, so understandable).

 

[kmonie]

@royalking My dog sleeps in my bed and will come wake me up to take her out. We were getting up at 3-5 am for potty times but now she’s old enough to hold it most of the night and has even had a few days she let me sleep past 9 on weekends. If I take her out for the last time at a late enough time. Sometimes I do need to nudge her to get up around 730 for potty.

 

[cnystrom]

@royalking Safe, penned area in living room. I *technically* crate (her bed is in the crate, crate is in the pen, she does go there at night), but also technically not because I don't close the door. She gets hot and it's not unusual for her to plop out of her bed and sleep on the floor for a couple of hours, then go back inside to finish the night.

I've started letting her sleep on the couch for the first few hours of the night while I read or watch TV, but she often puts herself to bed inside her crate when she decides she's done for the day. It's been the biggest development of the last month (she just turned 10 months) and it's been lovely. We went from tantrums about not wanting to sleep in her crate, to her choosing to go to bed herself and basically telling me "I'm tired, you go to bed whenever you feel like it". Pretty cool sign of maturity.