poo training...big problem

[monterosa]

I feed her Affinity, by April, chicken flavour, for puppies. Neither the cheapest or the most expensive on the market.

She sleeps with the other dog in the kitchen, either in her own bed or cuddled up with him in his, and generally poos as far away as possible from where they sleep.

last night I let her out for the last time around 12.30. She did a pee and came running for praise, then went off and did poo and came running for praise, and then off again for another poo, and I thought great! In the morning there were 2 fingers of poo on the floor, and she was with her 'I've-done-something-you're-not-going-to-like' expression and posture, which normally in the mornings she doesnt have. When I picked her up to clean her eyes, I smelt poo, I checked her paws, and saw nothing, but she smelled. When I looked under her tail, there was a squashed, dried finger of poo, matted into the hair, where she'd obviously sat/slept on top of it in the bed. So I had to cut it off, there was no other way, and wash her.

This is the first time she's done it where she sleeps, so I'm thinking is the crate idea going to work?? Would I get a crate just for her to sleep (small) or a larger one so they can both sleep together?

[Freedom]

If you do a crate, it is just for her BUT it is large enough for her to have her bed and then papers. So she can get up, use the papers, and return to her bed. The bed should be next to the door, so when you open it she can get out without walking in her mess.

Even without a crate, you can corral her or gate her in a small area. This will start to paper train her. Once she has that, you start moving the paper closer and closer to the door, then right outside.

It sounds like she IS getting it, if she runs to your for praise! Praise, praise PRAISE. And if she knows she did something you won't be happy about, that is a good thing as well. Hard to do, but don't scold her when she has gone in the house. Clean it up, you can make noises of disgust, they DO understand that.

Oh, you had asked if you can train them to use one area in your yard. YES! They return to where the scent is to pee and poop. So you need to hose down the rest of the yard and not the area you want them to use. Again, if you paper train her, then you can move the paper to the section you want her to use.

[monterosa]

If I put paper next to her bed, in the crate, Im telling her its ok to poo over night, which is what I want to discourage. Moving the paper closer to the door and then outside, is ok for during the day, but I can't leave the door open at night.

What you refer to as the yard, is in fact grass, so its not a question of being able to hose it down. Ideally it would be great if both the dogs would do it round the back of the flowerbeds, rather than all over the grass.

She feeds around 9 am and then at 5 pm. If I give her the second feed later, do you think the poo that is coming out during the night will not be due until the following morning?? What would be the maximum hour that a puppy should feed at night?

[Freedom]

I don't think she is old enough NOT to poo overnight. In your initial post, you had mentioned she will pee on the paper, but not poop. So I was addressing that bit. Sorry if I confused things!

When I say moving the paper, I eman it stays in one place for 3 or 4 days, then it move 3 inches. Stays there 4 days then moves. Always moving in the direction of the door. When it moves outdoors, no, you don't leave the door open. At that point, the "ideal" is that she lets you know she needs to get to that paper!

Grass holds scent. My dogs go outside and I tell them, "do your busies!" (business) They will sniff around to find a scent and pee. So you need to remove the scent from all of the area except where you want the dogs to go.

They also see "pee poles" which are like a stake. You put that in the ground and the dogs will only pee around the area of the pole. It is another training tool for outside. Or you can make one. Get a sturdy stick / branch, rub it with some of the urine from the newspaper to transfer the scent, and put that in the ground where you want them to go.

If the pee is killing off the grass, another option is to go around and pour 1 point of water on the spot they pee on, immediately after they pee. This will dilute it enough that the grass won't die off. With 4 dogs, I can't do this. But I have 2 friends, with 1 and 2 dogs and they do this - their grass is always green.

So there are many ways to get to the point you want.