[Rsoares10]

Hey guys, this is Ricardo, from Lisbon, Portugal! I'm 27 and I just got a black lab puppy (his name is Ozzy) with my girlfriend (it is my first dog ever). If i'm posting this on the wrong forum, please let me know and I'll change it to the correct place.

So, I've done plenty of research, some books and lots of youtube videos on how to take care of the puppy, train him and play with him. But, it's his 4th day in his new home and my questions and doubts list just keeps piling and piling. I've been potty and name training and its going well (slowly, but well).

But I really need help and tips on mainly two subjects (for now):

1. His "home" is the kitchen. Its where his bed is, where his toys are, where his floor diapers are (sorry, i don't know the name in english, but its where he needs to poop and leak) and where he eats, sleeps and plays. So, my first question is, how do I teach him to stay in the kitchen at night? I was avoiding of closing the door shut during the night, only to hear him cry and cry. But leaving it open gets him to come to our bedroom and cry, piss and poop on the hallway, etc. every two hours. I can't really sleep because only sleeps for 2 hours max, so I need to wake up, play a bit and then he falls asleep again. What is my option here, since he's really young (8 weeks and 3 days)? Do i shut the door and let him cry out or is there any other way?

2. Recently we have shown him the hallway and let him stay there during the day. The hallways doesn't have anything, we emptied before letting him out there. The problem is, when we are playing in the hallway, he tends to leak and poop on the floor there, instead of going to the kitchen (forgot to mention that, when he is on the kitchen, his success rate on pooping and leaking in the right place is over 80%). How do I make him understand that he needs to go to the kitchen when his bladder is full?
Also, i've come to notice that when we are playing, when i run into the hallway he follows me running, but when i do the opposite (run to the kitchen) he doesn't follow me and stays there on the hallway?

Thank you very much in advance!

Kind regards,
Ricardo

P.S I forgot to mention that since he got to his new home, I started working on the kitchen (i work from home since covid) to make him some company. Am I doing this right? Because my place to work is our second bedroom, which is off limits for Ozzy.

 

[3GSD4IPO]

A puppy that is 8 weeks old needs to be taken out at least every two hours to pee and to poop (including at night.. set your alarm!). This means at night too. They also need to be taken out when they wake up, after they eat, during play and any time it has been awhile since they have gone. This is a baby and babies cannot 'hold it.'

The rule of thumb is that for every month of age, the puppy can 'hold it' for an hour. 8 weeks is two months old, so two hours tops..

You need to get a crate and the puppy should be in the crate at night. He will probably cry.. let him.. only let him out when he is quiet. Feed him his meals in the crate and shut the door. The crate can only be big enough for him to stand up and turn around. Too much room and he will use it as a bathroom and you need to be vigilant about getting him outside.

So, buy a crate and use it. It can be in your bedroom if you want. As he grows you will need to increase the size of the crate.

It is also important for your puppy to spend some alone time and learn how to handle this.

It takes anywhere from 8 months to a year to have a dog reliably house trained. There are "sticky" notes on this forum that discuss potty/bathroom training at length. I think one is "Enough with the Potty Threads" or something like that.

 

[Lodeto]

Most puppies don’t want to poop and pee where they eat and sleep. Take him out every 1-2 hrs during the day, after playing, after sleeping, drinking, eating, etc. He’s going to be able to hold it for a longer period of time once he gets older. I don’t crate my puppies, but I work from home and watch them like a hawk until they’re reliably potty trained. Good luck!