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Hello Everyone!  

Though I'm not new to having dogs I am new to having a BC and raising a puppy. 

We picked up Chloe last week from a breeder and she's now almost 10 weeks old.  I think I've got a pretty good idea of what Border Collies are like and what to expect from them -- I've done a lot of research -- but what I didn't research is how to deal with a puppy.  Don't get me wrong, I love her to death.  She's so cute and fun to play with.  She's a silly, funny, and loving pup  -- a real sweetheart.  She's an indoor doggy and my wife and teenage sons love her as well.

One of the problems we're challenged with right now is potty training her.  We've only had her for nearly a week and I'll bet she's soiled the floor (tile & carpet) about a thousand times.  Well, not really, but she's deposited a lot of her biological waste in various places in our kitchen and connected family room.  We keep her blocked from the rest of the house right now.  I work from home and my sons are out of school for the summer so we have the manpower to be with her and take her outside every 45 minutes for a potty break. But, despite that, she still manages to save some for the inside.  I swear, that puppy pees every 15 to 30 seconds -- not really.  Her bladder must be the size of an acorn but the output would fill a tub.  

After the first three days of elimination freedom, we started to leave her in her crate for 45 minutes then let her outside.  She usually poos in the flower beds (no big deal, I clean it up) and pees on the grass.  After that, we play with her outside for awhile then back inside to her crate to start another 45-minute cycle.  Question: is this an effective method of potty training her?  Before we crated her she was a free-roaming pup, inside the house, and if we took our eyes off her for just a second she'd do her job.  We were going through Nature's Miricle solution by the keg. 

I really hate keeping her caged-up in her crate -- and she doesn't like it either, though she's getting used to it -- but I don't know what else to do.   We do have a pee pad in the house, not too far from her crate, and she uses it from time to time when she's not in her crate.  I wonder if that's confusing her.  Maybe we should remove it?

Thank you for reading all of this.  Any information/suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

 

 

 

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Welcome to the Boards, and congrats on the new puppy.

Were your boys toilet trained by the time they were about 2 years old? What did you do w/ them?

Patience and realistic expectations are the biggest things. If going out every 45 minutes isn't enough, then try every 15-20 minutes and don't bring her back in til she's gone. Continue crating her whenever she's inside and someone can't keep an eye on her every second. She's not any more capable of controlling herself than your boys were at 2 or 3.

Some puppies learn and develop control pretty quickly. My last puppy was over 7 moths old before he stopped having accidents. Like kids they develop at their own pace.

Patience and consistency are key.

 

 

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Do you make sure you take her outside every time she goes, even if she is already finished? Also, I always like to associate the words. I use "pee" and "poop". When a pup pees inside, I pick him/her up and take them out and say "pee outside". If she has gotten used to going indoors it may take a bit longer to get her trained, but you can never let her get away without being let know that you want her to go outside. And like GL said, some puppies just take longer than others, regardless of the breed. 

BTW, like you I've always been around dogs, but recently brought home my first BC. I can tell you that when she was 3-5 months old I was at my wits end. She was a headstrong little firecracker and I honestly didn't know if I was going to make it as a BC owner. But I stuck with it and gradually she began to calm down and settle in to her surroundings, and now at 18 months she is an absolute sweetheart. She still doesn't always come to me when I call her 100% of the time, but aside from that she is extremely well behaved. Don't be surprised if the next few months are a little challenging and at times frustrating, but in the end you'll have a great companion and it will have been well worth it. 

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1 hour ago, GentleLake said:

Welcome to the Boards, and congrats on the new puppy.

Were your boys toilet trained by the time they were about 2 years old? What did you do w/ them?

Patience and realistic expectations are the biggest things. If going out every 45 minutes isn't enough, then try every 15-20 minutes and don't bring her back in til she's gone. Continue crating her whenever she's inside and someone can't keep an eye on her every second. She's not any more capable of controlling herself than your boys were at 2 or 3.

Some puppies learn and develop control pretty quickly. My last puppy was over 7 moths old before he stopped having accidents. Like kids they develop at their own pace.

Patience and consistency are key.

 

 

Actually, I do have patience and realistic expectations.  I'm sorry if I came across as not being that way.  I'm convinced it will happen.  What I don't know is if I'm going about it the right way by keeping her in her crate and letting her out every 45 minutes.  Admittedly, we are frustrated that she's been using our floor as a latrine, but I know puppies don't automatically know they're not supposed to do that.  Thank you for reaffirming me that we're potty training her the right way.  It just seems cruel to keep her locked up but if I don't all it takes is losing sight of her for just a second and we end up with another accident on the floor.  By the way, my kids were all potty trained by 6 months.  Just kidding.  Thank you!

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53 minutes ago, Rush Fan said:

Do you make sure you take her outside every time she goes, even if she is already finished? Also, I always like to associate the words. I use "pee" and "poop". When a pup pees inside, I pick him/her up and take them out and say "pee outside". If she has gotten used to going indoors it may take a bit longer to get her trained, but you can never let her get away without being let know that you want her to go outside. And like GL said, some puppies just take longer than others, regardless of the breed. 

BTW, like you I've always been around dogs, but recently brought home my first BC. I can tell you that when she was 3-5 months old I was at my wits end. She was a headstrong little firecracker and I honestly didn't know if I was going to make it as a BC owner. But I stuck with it and gradually she began to calm down and settle in to her surroundings, and now at 18 months she is an absolute sweetheart. She still doesn't always come to me when I call her 100% of the time, but aside from that she is extremely well behaved. Don't be surprised if the next few months are a little challenging and at times frustrating, but in the end you'll have a great companion and it will have been well worth it. 

Thank you Rush Fan.  To answer your question, no we don't take her outside even if she's done her job on the inside.  That's a good point/good thing to do.

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28 minutes ago, Traveler5 said:

It just seems cruel to keep her locked up but if I don't all it takes is losing sight of her for just a second and we end up with another accident on the floor. 

I would never suggest that a puppy be kept in a crate all the time till it's house trained, so I hope it didn't come across that way. They need to be able to be out and about so that they can learn what's appropriate. I'd only advise crating the puppy when someone can't be watching her.

Another thing I forgot to mention is that when you're watching her, you should be able to learn the signals she gives seconds before she eliminates. She may suddenly stop what she's doing and begin to sniff around. And if you're diligent, you can notice the beginnings of her squatting and scoop her up and get her outside immediately. Even if you don't get to her quite in time, you may be able to interrupt the full evacuation so that she'll finish it outside where you can praise her copiously.

It's also helpful to know that puppies will have to pee when they've been playing and as soon as they've woken up from a nap, and poop usually about 15-20 minutes after they've eaten. Anticipating these needs will also help a lot. How soon in both instances will be something you'll have to learn by observation. But don't ever let a puppy play and then go off on her own. That's a sure fire way for her to have an accident. So take her out before her little body has the chance to sneak up on her and you'll be able to avoid a lot of the accidents, and each successful elimination outside is a big step in the right direction.

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1 hour ago, GentleLake said:

I would never suggest that a puppy be kept in a crate all the time till it's house trained, so I hope it didn't come across that way. They need to be able to be out and about so that they can learn what's appropriate. I'd only advise crating the puppy when someone can't be watching her.

Another thing I forgot to mention is that when you're watching her, you should be able to learn the signals she gives seconds before she eliminates. She may suddenly stop what she's doing and begin to sniff around. And if you're diligent, you can notice the beginnings of her squatting and scoop her up and get her outside immediately. Even if you don't get to her quite in time, you may be able to interrupt the full evacuation so that she'll finish it outside where you can praise her copiously.

It's also helpful to know that puppies will have to pee when they've been playing and as soon as they've woken up from a nap, and poop usually about 15-20 minutes after they've eaten. Anticipating these needs will also help a lot. How soon in both instances will be something you'll have to learn by observation. But don't ever let a puppy play and then go off on her own. That's a sure fire way for her to have an accident. So take her out before her little body has the chance to sneak up on her and you'll be able to avoid a lot of the accidents, and each successful elimination outside is a big step in the right direction.

Thank you GentleLake.  

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3 hours ago, Traveler5 said:

Thank you Rush Fan.  To answer your question, no we don't take her outside even if she's done her job on the inside.  That's a good point/good thing to do.

There is no question it will seem overly tedious at times. I always like to say there are two things you must be to successfully train a dog - consistent and persistent. Raising a puppy isn't easy, but also remember to take a step back now and then to enjoy her puppy days. They will be gone before you know it. :D

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Adorable puppy. She looks like a smoothie. Love the smooth coats.

At this young age, I will echo the advice to take her out immediately upon awaking, 10-20 minutes after she has eaten, right after she has played hard inside, right after you let her out of her crate if she has been in there for more than an hour, and at other times during the day. I have an almost 5 month old puppy, and she had been doing great for the last 2 weeks --- then 2 days ago, she and my other dog had a good, long wrestling match inside, and I forgot to get her outside. Yep, she pooped inside.  Bad mommy. Don't forget to take a treat or two outside with you and treat/praise her right after she eliminates.

If you think she is still peeing way too much/too often, I would have her checked for a UTI (urinary tract infection). These can just happen through no one's fault. Your comment about her going outside, and then coming inside and peeing again made me think about a possible UTI. It can be hard to distinguish between small puppy bladder, housebreaking training and UTI, but at least a urine culture can rule out a UTI and you can then cross it off your list of possible causes.

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21 hours ago, Rush Fan said:

There is no question it will seem overly tedious at times. I always like to say there are two things you must be to successfully train a dog - consistent and persistent. Raising a puppy isn't easy, but also remember to take a step back now and then to enjoy her puppy days. They will be gone before you know it. :D

She is a very fun puppy to have.  We all love her so much.  Despite the potty training frustrations, I know I'll miss her puppy times when she's an adult.  Thanks for the advice.

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20 hours ago, gcv-border said:

Adorable puppy. She looks like a smoothie. Love the smooth coats.

At this young age, I will echo the advice to take her out immediately upon awaking, 10-20 minutes after she has eaten, right after she has played hard inside, right after you let her out of her crate if she has been in there for more than an hour, and at other times during the day. I have an almost 5 month old puppy, and she had been doing great for the last 2 weeks --- then 2 days ago, she and my other dog had a good, long wrestling match inside, and I forgot to get her outside. Yep, she pooped inside.  Bad mommy. Don't forget to take a treat or two outside with you and treat/praise her right after she eliminates.

If you think she is still peeing way too much/too often, I would have her checked for a UTI (urinary tract infection). These can just happen through no one's fault. Your comment about her going outside, and then coming inside and peeing again made me think about a possible UTI. It can be hard to distinguish between small puppy bladder, housebreaking training and UTI, but at least a urine culture can rule out a UTI and you can then cross it off your list of possible causes.

Thank you.  I wanted a BC with a smooth coat and got lucky to find her.  I will check into the possible UTI.  

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