Hi! We have just got a west highland terrier puppy last week. He is 9 weeks old and we are persevering with toilet training. I know it can take up to six months but at the moment, he soils the crate so we have abandoned the idea of shutting the door! I would be grateful if someone could tell me if I am doing the right thing:

I get up in the morning at 6AM and put him out, praising and treating him when he goes outside, saying "busy boy, good boy!". I take him out after feeding, sleeping and playing and the funny thing is, he will now go outside and do his business and look at me for a treat so it seems he is getting the message but I want to discourage him from going INSIDE as he does this very frequently, especially over night or if we are out for any perod of time, even if he has gone outside beforehand. I think he might have some separation anxiety as it just takes 5 minutes out of the room and he cries and wets the floor. However, he doesn't cry for very long. I have put puppy pads down on the floor, just to make it easier to clean up if anything! He tends to mess on the pads but occasionally he will go in the middle of the floor. He is confined to the kitchen and will sleep in his crate sometimes. He has gone three hours without messing if we are around but it's when he is alone when it all goes to pot! I have even left my t-shirt with him which helped for one night but despite renewing my scent every time, the effect has worn off!

Any tips?

hi and welcome
he is still very young i have a ckc she is 18 weeks and clean day and night(only done this in last weeks) it is all about routine and patience and some pups are faster learners.as for the crate never used one so can not realy advice you on that ,i have 5 dogs so mine all go out together,but after her jabs i would put her out soon as she woke,after eating,first thing in a morning,from your thread you are doing all thisthey click when they are ready ,my dog was clean in the day first night time took abit longer ,so dont worry you are doing fine

hi and welcome to the forum,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

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hi and welcome to the forum.
he is still VERY young trust me he will get there.i found traing pads a great help with my 2. good luck

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Hi he will get there eventually!!! Bailey took quite a while to get the toilet training bit and now he still looks for a little treat every time he goes he he!!! As with the crate he did the same the minute we closed the door he'd soil or wet so gave up in the end and managed without it by confining him to the kitchen with a baby gate. You just have to persevere and it all comes together in the end. Never thought we'd get there but we did and now going to go through it all over again in few weeks with new puppy (Oh Joy!!!!!)xx

Hi and welcome,
Your puppy is very much a baby and does not have any control over when he needs to relieve himself,as you rightly said this can take up to six months maybe longer.
You are dong the right thing by praising and rewarding him after he has been in the right place,I would only use one word though not both busy and good,maybe just "busy".

Have you thought of taking the crate into your room at night so you can take him outside if the need arises say at 3 am,going all night is too much to expect off such a young puppy.
I did this with both mine would put them out last thing 11pm,settle them in their crates in our room and if they cried during the night would take them out to relieve themselves extending the time by a few minutes each night.

When he soils in the wrong place pick him up place him outside and clean the area with bio washing powder to get rid of the smell.I tend not to use newspaper or training pads as I think it's takes longer to train a puppy as you are giving the signal it's ok to go indoors.

Remember young puppies need to go out,every half an hour to an hour,after play,feeding,sleep etc.

Good Luck!

agree with is i have always put mine outside so they start as they mean to go on paper and mats are saying it is ok to wee and poo in the house

Hi.

We have an 18 week old westie boy who we've had since he was 8 weeks old.
It is only in the last few weeks that he is getting better at toileting outside. He still has the occasional accident indoors but he will stand by the door if he needs to go out.

I think it was a good idea to abandon the idea of shutting the crate.We have never shut ours in his crate. Besides at 9 weeks, he is far too little to be able to hold himself for long, especially overnight.

We did a chart once of our westies toilet habits for a day. This was when he was about 12 weeks. He did 16 or 18 wee's in a day!

The reason why he is probably still messing/weeing indoors is because pups like to do their business in a safe and secure place.

That's why it takes agesssssss for them to wee or mess when out for a walk.

This is something that I'm afraid you'll have to persevere with and have the patience of a saint

hi & welcome to the fourm

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Hi and welcome

mazzi xx