Hi,

Our 9 week old Staffy pup is totally adorable and soooo good in many ways, but we have a particular problem with him.

He poos in his crate every night, and when we get up he needs a bath as he sits in it.

Wees are fine- he goes on command and apart from the odd accident when we don't get the timing right he is dry at night ( we have been getting up in middle of night to let him go out and lengthening the time each night) He never cries in his crate and settles down happily.

The owner we got him from was not a breeder- she had a litter 'accidentally' from her two Staffies. She was a single lady who worked, and so the pups were crated all the time and the whole big crate was like a 'bed'. So to the age of 8 weeks they had not been able to do toilets apart from in their bed and when she let them out twice a day. This obviously interfered with the natural instinct to leave the bed when going to the loo.

We are concerned as our pup does not seem to have any objection to doing it right on his blankets- we have split the crate into a section with paper to give him the option of keeping clean, but no luck. He never whines to go out.

We are not telling him off as we know this does not help.

We need to crate him as he will still wee on the floor and run around in it if not supervised. Which is worse- the whole kitchen floor to clean each morning or the crate and puppy?!!

Would appreciate any one with similair experience or good advice for us-
thanks very much,
Staffygirl.

the dogs only 9 weeks old intime it will grow out of it
its just a matter of time.

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mia the Utonagan

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http://www.carolscaninecare.co.uk[/size]

[size="5"]new babies are here born on 16th oct /SIZE]

Hi try not to give him his last feed to late, and make sure your not feeding too much , given his previouse home and conditions he wont know any better just yet , but in time he will realise pooing is for the garden .Most young pups will need to poo about 10 - 20 mins after being fed so no dinner too late in the evening make sure you associate going to the loo in the garden with something possative , either play with a toy or a tip bit , praise the good behaviour ignor the bad ( as much as poss ) and stay with him in the garden last thing at night to make sure he does a poo and make a big deal out of it big praise . Leave no food in his crate over night but do leave water , He will get it honest .

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Thankyou for the replies -

Last night was good as we got the timing right and he did both in the garden at 5am- then was settled until 7am.

Taking my patience pills!

SG