# Housebreaking overnight hours



## Lucy419 (Jun 10, 2013)

I get to pick up my little girl tomorrow and am so excited. I've been doing a bunch of research on training and housebreaking.
However, I can't seem to decide what my policy will be for overnight hours.
Once I put her in her crate for the night, and let her settle in, should I set an alarm for every 2 hours to let her out to pee? Or should I wait for her to whine to take her out. I don't want to reward her for whining, but it seems as though a lot of your puppies only wake up once or twice a night and I would like to maximize the amount of sleep I get! On the other hand, by setting the alarm, I am not reinforcing the whining=out of crate, and I decide when she comes out.

What did you all do/what would you suggest?


----------



## narci (Sep 6, 2011)

One thing i would suggest is to not give her water after 8pm and have her go potty at least once before bed.


----------



## Tia (Nov 28, 2012)

Hello. Yay how exciting for you.

Generally they will sleep through the night maybe waking once or twice. They will generally let you know during the night when they need to go. Where is her crate going to be during the night? Is it in your room. If so you will have no drama hearing her. Also by keeping the crate shut it will avoid her from waking up and finding a spot in your room to go.

Sent from Petguide.com Free App


----------



## Tia (Nov 28, 2012)

Also ask the breeder if atm she is holding throughout the night so you know what to expect.

Sent from Petguide.com Free App


----------



## SJ1998 (Feb 4, 2013)

With my lab I set the alarm, got up and took him out. It worked fine. 

I got my hav puppy in January and asked the breeder what to do. She suggested that I wait for him to cry versus proactively getting up and when he does, take him out for bathroom purposes (no light no talking etc). Once he goes, put him back in and ignore for at least two hours. This method worked for us. One thing I did learn though was to make sure they have time to do both things if they need to...so when you take them out of the crate and they do one thing, give them a little but more time to make sure they dont have more to do!

When i took my dog out during daylight hours, I would praise him like crazy but at night I didnt say anything. I wanted to convey at night it was all business, he wasnt waking me up to play or whatever. 

The other thing we did was alternate who had nighttime bathroom doggie duty. If you're single this isnt an option, but if you arent, you can switch off so that you're both not getting too sleep deprived. The person who wasnt taking the dog out wore earplugs and tried to get as much sleep as possible!

This time period (getting up) doesnt last too long. I cant quite remember but I think it was maybe one to two weeks.


----------



## jabojenny (Sep 18, 2011)

My breeder said "Don't wake a sleeping puppy!" I didn't wake Timmy up and he did just fine. Remember when she does wake up it's not fun time . Tell her to go potty, quick quiet treat then back to bed. No excessive excited praising.

Sent from Petguide.com Free App


----------



## Ruth4Havs (May 13, 2013)

First two nights, Chester was yelping, whining and barking past midnight. Before that, no water from 8/7ish. We gave him two brief visits so he know he is not abandoned, but the rest of the time we lay sleeplessly on our beds.:lalala: Chester's last potty break is at 8:30ish and goes to bed at 9:00/:30ish. He did great from day three and on.


----------



## Tom King (Aug 2, 2006)

These dogs are so easy to train that people don't realize they're training them with everything you do. I'd advise not to train it to wake up every two hours, or whatever the alarm schedule was.


----------



## Lucy419 (Jun 10, 2013)

Thanks all for your suggestions!


----------



## Laurief (Nov 7, 2006)

I found night time quite easy. Several of them slept thru the night right away. Always take them out right before bed. If you have her in a crate, on a table, next to you at night, you will hear her whine if she needs to potty! 
I kept a pee pad in my bathroom and simply put them on the pad if they needed to potty in the middle of the night. I didnt do a lot of talking or praising, once they were one, they went right back into the crate and back to sleep. 
Once they consistantly slept thru the night - the potty pads were gone!

Good luck today - I cant wait to see pictures!!!!!


----------



## Suzi (Oct 27, 2010)

Lucy419 said:


> I get to pick up my little girl tomorrow and am so excited. I've been doing a bunch of research on training and housebreaking.
> However, I can't seem to decide what my policy will be for overnight hours.
> Once I put her in her crate for the night, and let her settle in, should I set an alarm for every 2 hours to let her out to pee? Or should I wait for her to whine to take her out. I don't want to reward her for whining, but it seems as though a lot of your puppies only wake up once or twice a night and I would like to maximize the amount of sleep I get! On the other hand, by setting the alarm, I am not reinforcing the whining=out of crate, and I decide when she comes out.
> 
> What did you all do/what would you suggest?


 I took Maddie outside when she woke up at night. Probably about two times. She was only 8 weeks old when I got her. I never limited water I think if they are thirsty they should be allowed to drink. I have to get up myself in the middle of the night so I got lazy with Zoey and because I got up she got up and had a piddle pad in the bathroom. But she is the one who thinks my bath mats are piddle pads. If I was to do it all over again I would use something with a plastic texture for the potty area. 
Both mine sleep much better when I just had them sleep in the bed with me.


----------



## Gibbs Mom and Dad (Jun 3, 2013)

We chose not to bring Gibbs into our bedroom and chose a "hybrid" method. We confine him to his Den overnight, which is a gated off foyer about 6 feet long and 4 feet wide. At the one end of his Den is a travel crate where he sleeps with the door open. At the other end, 6 feet away, is a puppy pad for him to use if he can't make it the night.

We take him out to pee and poo before putting him in his Den for the night, and wake up every morning at 6:00am to take him out again. We picked him up 3 weeks ago when he was 9 weeks old. Our experience is as follows:

1. He has never soiled in the crate, and uses the puppy pad if he can't hold it until 6:00am.
2. He has needed to poop on the puppy pad about 3 times in the 3 weeks we've had him.
3. He has had to pee on his puppy pad about 8 times in 3 weeks.
4. All the other times he waits for me with his tail wagging and greets me with a happy "Good Morning" sigh when I take him out to relieve himself at 6:00am.


I'm not sure what the experts would say because this isn't really "Crate Training" because he's not locked in his crate, but it suits Dana's and my needs.

He is really good at pooping outside. Aside from the 3 overnight poops, he's only pooped in the house about 3 other times, and always on the Puppy Pad.

He, Dana and I need to do a better job regarding peeing. Aside from the overnights, Gibbs pees in the house about 3-4 times a week, hitting the puppy pads only about 50% of the time. The other times are usually on the ceramic tile, but he has had about 2 accidents on the mat in the foyer (outside his Den), and about 5 times on the family room carpet.

I have no idea if this is good or bad.


We don't restrict his water before bed, except for the fact that his water bowl in not in his Den.


----------



## DebW (Jun 11, 2013)

My puppy comes home to me in about 3 weeks. Here are my plans - we'll see how it goes.

I have an x-pen in the LR during the day, with access to a doggy potty that uses artificial turf.

At night, I plan to have him in a wire crate sitting by my bed, where I can touch him and hear him. One of us will wake the other up in the middle of the night to go to the bathroom, where I plan to have another strip of artificial turf in the walk-in shower.

It's my current plan to maintain that turf-in-shower routine as a back-up potty option to augment walks (I live on the 6th floor of a condo building in cold Minnesota). I don't know if it will work, and I'm thinking through other options as well. But right now, it sounds like my best bet if I'm able to train him to use it.


----------



## krandall (Jun 11, 2009)

Gibbs Mom and Dad said:


> We chose not to bring Gibbs into our bedroom and chose a "hybrid" method. We confine him to his Den overnight, which is a gated off foyer about 6 feet long and 4 feet wide. At the one end of his Den is a travel crate where he sleeps with the door open. At the other end, 6 feet away, is a puppy pad for him to use if he can't make it the night.
> 
> We take him out to pee and poo before putting him in his Den for the night, and wake up every morning at 6:00am to take him out again. We picked him up 3 weeks ago when he was 9 weeks old. Our experience is as follows:
> 
> ...


This is pretty much what we did with Kodi when he was little, except his "bedroom" was an ex-pen, and he had a litter box rather than a pee pad. I have RA, and REALLY need my sleep. Most nights he didn't use his litter box, and always slept quite happily in his "bedroom". But on the few occasions when he needed to pee or poop, he had what he needed right there to keep from making a mistake. (He also had a water bottle attached to the side of his pen so he always had access to water too)


----------



## krandall (Jun 11, 2009)

DebW said:


> My puppy comes home to me in about 3 weeks. Here are my plans - we'll see how it goes.
> 
> I have an x-pen in the LR during the day, with access to a doggy potty that uses artificial turf.
> 
> ...


The only problem that I see is that I'll bet you dimes to donuts that you won't be able to stand the smell of the artificial grass for long I don't know ANYONE (including me) who has tried it and been able to find ANY way of keeping it odor-free enough to tolerate inside the house. I know a few people who use it on a deck or balcony. I'd choose a different potty system if I were you.


----------



## DebW (Jun 11, 2013)

Thanks for the warning! I'll give it a try and if I have the same experience, maybe I'll try washable pee pee pads in my walk-in shower. We'll see - grand ideas but no experience yet.


----------



## Suzi (Oct 27, 2010)

DebW said:


> Thanks for the warning! I'll give it a try and if I have the same experience, maybe I'll try washable pee pee pads in my walk-in shower. We'll see - grand ideas but no experience yet.


 I don't understand why people don't just use newspaper anymore? The shower idea is great I wish I had one. I would use news paper in the shower.:ranger:


----------



## krandall (Jun 11, 2009)

Suzi said:


> I don't understand why people don't just use newspaper anymore? The shower idea is great I wish I had one. I would use news paper in the shower.:ranger:


Two reasons I can think of right off the bat... The ink gets all over the dog for starters. Also, newspaper isn't very absorbent. The pee tends to run across the top, and right onto the floor. YUCK!


----------



## KimmPuppy (Apr 21, 2013)

Laurief said:


> I found night time quite easy. Several of them slept thru the night right away. Always take them out right before bed. If you have her in a crate, on a table, next to you at night, you will hear her whine if she needs to potty!
> I kept a pee pad in my bathroom and simply put them on the pad if they needed to potty in the middle of the night. I didnt do a lot of talking or praising, once they were one, they went right back into the crate and back to sleep.
> Once they consistantly slept thru the night - the potty pads were gone!
> 
> Good luck today - I cant wait to see pictures!!!!!


That is exactly what we did with Benny. It lasted less than a week. He is still sleeping as I type this :laugh:


----------



## DebW (Jun 11, 2013)

My previous hav also slept through the night right away. Then again, he was 11 weeks when I got him. I suppose those couple additional weeks can make a big difference.


----------



## Lola :) (Nov 20, 2012)

I would definitely wait for her to wake you to let you know she needs to go out. Good luck and congrats!!


----------



## krandall (Jun 11, 2009)

DebW said:


> My previous hav also slept through the night right away. Then again, he was 11 weeks when I got him. I suppose those couple additional weeks can make a big difference.


That was true with Kodi, but he was 11 weeks too. I do think that extra couple of weeks makes a big difference. It's almost 1/3 of their entire lifetime!!!


----------



## Pucks104 (Aug 16, 2012)

Leo came home at 10.5 weeks and his brreeder had started him sleeping by himself in his own crate the week before he came home. He hasn't fussed at all during the nights. He got up twice the first night, once a couple other times but mostly sleeps from about 9:30 pm to 5:30 or 6:00 am.


----------



## Lucy419 (Jun 10, 2013)

Quick update:

Lucy cries about 3-4 times per night for the potty. Her crate is next to my bed. Bedtime Is around 10, but she typically falls asleep on the couch by 9. I don't know why she has to go so much when I restrict her water/food intake after 8. Also, its strictly business when i bring her to her pee pad. Last night was the worst. She woke me up nearly every hour crying. I either ignore her crying or will take her out for the potty (no excessive attention). I don't know what her deal is. My husband is out of the country for the next couple months so I am a single mommy right now and going nuts from the lack of sleep. If I take her out should I wait another 2 or 3 hours to respond to the crying? I'm walking a delicate balance between teaching her to hold herself for sometime and her having an accident in her crate. It seems as most people who have pups at 8 weeks old only need to take them out once or twice a night. 
Thanks in advance!


----------



## misstray (Feb 6, 2011)

If I recall correctly, Lucy is tinier than the average Hav at the same age. I'd suspect that was the reason. I might be totally wrong, but it's what I'd figure.


----------



## Lucy419 (Jun 10, 2013)

misstray said:


> If I recall correctly, Lucy is tinier than the average Hav at the same age. I'd suspect that was the reason. I might be totally wrong, but it's what I'd figure.


You're right. She is smaller than the average Havanese. I can never tell if she is crying in the middle of the night to get out of her crate or to go to the bathroom. Either way, 99% of the time she does use the pee pad when I take her there. As soon as I put her back into the crate she cries and whines again, and eventually goes back to sleep only to wake up an hour or two later to do the same thing again. I wonder if she's not getting enough exercise before bed to knock her out since I have limited her outdoor activity until she gets her vaccinations next week. Patience is key right?


----------



## Pucks104 (Aug 16, 2012)

I wonder if rather than having her sleep in her crate you set up an expen just big enough for a bed and a pee pad or two if she would be able to go in the night when she needed to and you would be able to get some sleep?


----------



## Lucy419 (Jun 10, 2013)

Pucks104 said:


> I wonder if rather than having her sleep in her crate you set up an expen just big enough for a bed and a pee pad or two if she would be able to go in the night when she needed to and you would be able to get some sleep?


Good idea! I tried it on night 2 (just to see), and you are right...I got way more sleep! However I like to keep her in the room with me and the x-pen takes up too much space. I'm wondering though if dogs will eventually sleep though the night using this method. My ultimate goal is to keep her in the crate at night. But It seems as though many use the x-pen method. Hmm


----------



## krandall (Jun 11, 2009)

Lucy419 said:


> Good idea! I tried it on night 2 (just to see), and you are right...I got way more sleep! However I like to keep her in the room with me and the x-pen takes up too much space. I'm wondering though if dogs will eventually sleep though the night using this method. My ultimate goal is to keep her in the crate at night. But It seems as though many use the x-pen method. Hmm


They absolutely do. I have RA, and just wasn't able to get enough rest to stay healthy with (very) early morning potty calls. Kodi did well by normal puppy standards, and was about 11 weeks when I got him. He was easily able to go from 11 to 6 without a problem, but _I_ can't live on that schedule. We started just leaving his crate open in his ex-pen with a litter box, and no more problem. He took care of potty business by himself.

As an adult, he goes up to bed with me around 8:00, snuggles with me until 9:00, at which point, he wants to go into his crate. (he also INSISTS that someone close the door for him ) So he is without potty break from 8PM to 6AM when my husband gets up. He lets him out to pee and feeds him his breakfast, then he gets back in bed to cuddle for another hour until I get up.


----------



## krandall (Jun 11, 2009)

Lucy419 said:


> You're right. She is smaller than the average Havanese. I can never tell if she is crying in the middle of the night to get out of her crate or to go to the bathroom. Either way, 99% of the time she does use the pee pad when I take her there. As soon as I put her back into the crate she cries and whines again, and eventually goes back to sleep only to wake up an hour or two later to do the same thing again. I wonder if she's not getting enough exercise before bed to knock her out since I have limited her outdoor activity until she gets her vaccinations next week. Patience is key right?


I suspect that she has an immature system, all the way around. She's probably just not ready to go all night without those breaks. Sort of like a premature child. I'm sure she'll get there, but I think you're right, patience is the key. Puppies take LOTS of patience anyway... this one may take a bit more!


----------



## Lucy419 (Jun 10, 2013)

krandall said:


> They absolutely do. I have RA, and just wasn't able to get enough rest to stay healthy with (very) early morning potty calls. Kodi did well by normal puppy standards, and was about 11 weeks when I got him. He was easily able to go from 11 to 6 without a problem, but _I_ can't live on that schedule. We started just leaving his crate open in his ex-pen with a litter box, and no more problem. He took care of potty business by himself.
> 
> As an adult, he goes up to bed with me around 8:00, snuggles with me until 9:00, at which point, he wants to go into his crate. (he also INSISTS that someone close the door for him ) So he is without potty break from 8PM to 6AM when my husband gets up. He lets him out to pee and feeds him his breakfast, then he gets back in bed to cuddle for another hour until I get up.


Thanks! Ill give the x-pen another try and see how it works for me. You may be right that she's just immature with her size. Its good to know eventually I could transition her to just a crate again. That's the goal!

I'm going crazy and getting a bit crabby without my sleep! So this must be an early introduction to what its like raising children. Good practice for the near future! Lol


----------



## Lucy419 (Jun 10, 2013)

The xpen idea was a success. I woke up feeling refreshed! Lucy had 2 "temper tantrums" during the night when she woke up and realized she was confined to her x-pen. She cried whined and howled for awhile. Somehow she ended up on top of her crate! How she got up there is beyond me. The temper tantrums were ignored and when she got a little too loud, a loud SHHH and tap on her crate settled her down a bit. 

I think this will be what I stick with until she's a little older and can go back in her crate for the night.

Hopefully the constant crying for attention stops soon! My little Lucy is definitely a diva


----------



## TilliesMom (Sep 30, 2010)

did she pee on the pee pad???


----------



## Lucy419 (Jun 10, 2013)

TilliesMom said:


> did she pee on the pee pad???


Yup! And we had breakthrough last night. She didn't wake me up ONCE crying. She did her business on the pee pads and went back to sleep. Hurray!


----------



## Pucks104 (Aug 16, 2012)

Lucy419 said:


> Yup! And we had breakthrough last night. She didn't wake me up ONCE crying. She did her business on the pee pads and went back to sleep. Hurray!


Wonderful! Everything should seem rosier with everyone's needs being met and you fully rested!


----------



## Lalla (Jul 30, 2013)

Really helpful thread; I worry that it must be confusing for a puppy to be asked to use outside some of the time, litter box at other times?? That's what I am doing, and mostly it seems to be working. It certainly helps in horrible weather or during the night. My puppy took to the litter box immediately, but uses outside when given the chance. BUT....all of that only works if she has no bedding available....has anyone had a puppy that seems happiest when peeing on his/her bed? I can't give Cuba a bed because she pees there for preference, which makes a bit of a mockery of the whole premise of crate training! It's a worry if fabric is attractive - at the moment (she is four months old) I don't ever leave her anywhere near bedding or carpets or anything fabric-y. I've looked on the internet and this doesn't seem to be at all unusual; has anyone had anything similar with their puppy?


----------



## krandall (Jun 11, 2009)

Lalla said:


> Really helpful thread; I worry that it must be confusing for a puppy to be asked to use outside some of the time, litter box at other times?? That's what I am doing, and mostly it seems to be working. It certainly helps in horrible weather or during the night. My puppy took to the litter box immediately, but uses outside when given the chance. BUT....all of that only works if she has no bedding available....has anyone had a puppy that seems happiest when peeing on his/her bed? I can't give Cuba a bed because she pees there for preference, which makes a bit of a mockery of the whole premise of crate training! It's a worry if fabric is attractive - at the moment (she is four months old) I don't ever leave her anywhere near bedding or carpets or anything fabric-y. I've looked on the internet and this doesn't seem to be at all unusual; has anyone had anything similar with their puppy?


MOST puppies who are kept in very clean conditions by their breeder, really want to avoid soiling their bedding. If she doesn't care, or worse, preferentially views fabric as a potty place, you are doing exactly the right thing keeping her completely away from it until she learns, from habit, the RIGHT surfaces to potty on. Honestly, this may take you many months at this point.

As far as indoor and outdoor options confusing them, it certainly didn't with Kodi. He PREFERS going outdoors, and started to show that preference quite early. But uses his box when there aren't any options. (heavy rain, snow storms, etc.) From what Tom King has said, the puppies they have bred that seem to take the longest to completely potty train, and who have the most accidents are those where the owners do NOT give them an indoor potty option.


----------



## Lalla (Jul 30, 2013)

Thank you SO much, Karen (and Kodi); it's reassuring about the litter box alternative being a positively good thing. Cuba is super-quick to learn so I'm hopeful she might be equally quick to unlearn, re the bed mistakes...hmmm! It is so helpful to have this forum and to know that there are other owners out there willing to share information. I'm new to Havanese ownership, though have had Cotons for a long time, and I'm sure that I have a huge amount to learn. Cuba is a total joy in all respects other than the bed-peeing, so I'm not going to get too anxious about it...yet! Many thanks.


----------



## DebW (Jun 11, 2013)

I originally set up Sheldon's ex-pen with a crate - he peed in it. I swapped the crate out for a bed - he peed on it. I swapped the bed out for an elevated cot - so far so good!

I also worried that my desire to continue with an indoor potty option (as an alternative for bad weather or midnight urges) would make potty training harder, since perhaps the line between "indoor good potty" and "indoor bad potty" is not as distinct as between indoors vs outdoors. And Sheldon is not reliably house broken yet. He knows where to go, but he doesn't yet comprehend where NOT to go.


----------



## Lucy419 (Jun 10, 2013)

DebW said:


> I originally set up Sheldon's ex-pen with a crate - he peed in it. I swapped the crate out for a bed - he peed on it. I swapped the bed out for an elevated cot - so far so good!
> 
> I also worried that my desire to continue with an indoor potty option (as an alternative for bad weather or midnight urges) would make potty training harder, since perhaps the line between "indoor good potty" and "indoor bad potty" is not as distinct as between indoors vs outdoors. And Sheldon is not reliably house broken yet. He knows where to go, but he doesn't yet comprehend where NOT to go.


I am also in the same situation. However, Lucy has never soiled in her crate (thank goodness). I had Lucy primarily going on pee pads until she got her 2nd vaccinations and was able to go outside. She's 99% with peeing on them and about 75% successful with pooping on them. She prefers to poop on my carpet if I am not providing the appropriate supervision. Upon several attempts to get her to go potty outside, it is proving to be very hard at this point. She will occasionally poop outside (only 3 times so far in the last 3 weeks) but refuses to pee outside even though I know she has to go! She holds herself for very, very long (even if we are outside for hours) until she gets to go on her pad indoors. Even if I put the pad outside, she refuses to go on it. I also haven't been consistent with bringing her outside because we don't have good lighting outside my house for late-night potty trips, and the mosquitoes have been SO awful. I think when I move in 2 weeks, I will start fresh with her going outdoors. Sometimes, life circumstances make it so that the dog needs to go outside and I am afraid the longer I wait, the harder it will be to train her to at least be able to do both.


----------



## Lalla (Jul 30, 2013)

krandall said:


> MOST puppies who are kept in very clean conditions by their breeder, really want to avoid soiling their bedding. If she doesn't care, or worse, preferentially views fabric as a potty place, you are doing exactly the right thing keeping her completely away from it until she learns, from habit, the RIGHT surfaces to potty on. Honestly, this may take you many months at this point.
> 
> I think I might have found a way to begin to get Cuba used to NOT peeing on fabric....She has a large (almost as big as her) dog-toy rabbit in her night-time quarters, alongside her litter box; she's using the litter box well, and snuggles up to sleep on the fabric rabbit - there's no bed in there since she has shown a predilection for peeing on beds, as mentioned in an earlier post. So my plan is to carry on letting her have a large fabric toy to cuddle up on as a sort of semi-bed, little by little hoping that she will make a lasting association that fabric isn't for peeing on. Next step - one of those toys that don't have stuffing in them - perhaps if she learns it's a toy first, then a toy that she can sleep on....and eventually the connection might be made that even a bed is for sleeping on! Well, it's worth a try, and so far she hasn't peed on the rabbit. I live in hope. I realise that it will take time but she's quick to learn so maybe she can be quick to unlearn a bad habit? I know unlearning is far harder but she's still very young and the habit can't be too massively ingrained. I hope!


----------



## Carol Short (Oct 26, 2006)

I always tell my new puppy owners to only let them out once at night. Do not pay a lot of attention, but watch to see if they go potty. Put them back in the crate until morning and tolerate some whinning. It will soon stop and they will be sleeping all night.


----------



## Lalla (Jul 30, 2013)

So far so good for the rabbit - it hasn't been peed on yet! She's fine in her ex pen with a litter box, and will pee in the box if she's desperate; she asks to go out at about 5am which is fine, and I take her and she poos outside. If, however, I put her and her litter box in a larger room - it's a sort of conservatory with a tiled floor - she'll sometimes pee in the box, sometimes on the floor....she's four and a half months old now, and I guess I just have to be patient and realise that perhaps it's too soon yet to give her more space? She seems happy in the ex pen and is taken out of it frequently to play in the garden with my other dog, or to roam around in the conservatory if I'm there to watch her, so I don't think I'm being unduly restrictive??


----------



## Lalla (Jul 30, 2013)

The rabbit remains pee-free; better still, I remembered I had a raised bed that Tycho, my Coton, doesn't especially like - it's like a frame on legs with nylon fabric stretched across it, bears no resemblance to any bed she's ever had before, and last night she slept on it for the first time, with the rabbit for company; and I'd moved her downstairs to sleep in her ex pen with a litter box next to the raised bed. Tycho was with her but free in the room. She didn't whimper or cry at all when I left her, or during the night. At five a.m. when I got up she hadn't either peed or poo-ed in the night, did so the moment I took her outside, and happily went back to sleep on her new bed. Triumph! Hooray! I know it could all go wrong again, but so far so good.


----------



## DebW (Jun 11, 2013)

That's great! I tried a similar "cot" with Sheldon, thinking that it was different enough from a normal bed that perhaps he wouldn't be inclined to pee on it.

Wrong.


----------



## Lalla (Jul 30, 2013)

DebW said:


> That's great! I tried a similar "cot" with Sheldon, thinking that it was different enough from a normal bed that perhaps he wouldn't be inclined to pee on it.
> 
> Wrong.


I think Cuba has been talking to Sheldon; I've had to remove the 'cot' since coming down to a small lake on it on night three. Drat!! It was worth a try, but my optimism was misplaced. So it's back to the floor and the rabbit - so far the rabbit seems to be a pee-free zone. She is, however, lasting out at night until I come and take her outside at 4:45ish. And if she can't last the night, and as long as there is no bed in her pen, she will accurately use the litter box. So all is not gloom and doom, although it is certainly FAR harder than I ever had with my Cotons.


----------



## DebW (Jun 11, 2013)

Same here. Sheldon seems happy enough without a bed in his ex-pen, so that's the current design. May try the cot again after a couple more months of maturity.


----------



## Lalla (Jul 30, 2013)

Look forward to hearing how you get on! It's not easy, is it; I've never had to deal with this particular issue. I think part of the problem is that we humans like the thought of giving our puppies nice, cuddly, cosy warm places to curl up on and it seems horrid to make the poor little things sleep on a hard floor....but I don't suppose they much mind - it might even be cooler and nicer in summer?? I just hope Cuba can unlearn the bed-peeing habit for when it gets cold and I feel even horrid-er if she is on a cold, hard floor!


----------

