Potty training a 6 week old

[Claudi]

Hi, a few days ago i finally brough my female puppy Maya home. I have started to potty train and was just wondering around how long can a 6 week old hold it?

I take her out after every nap, every feeding, right before bed and sometimes twice at night and right before i got to work and she does go and i praise her of course, that is when i am at home. Since i work 40 hours a week from 6am to 2pm and nobody home i leave her in a pen layered with newspapers, i also leave toys for her to play with. Is that going to effect her training in any way? since she goes in the house during those hours that nobody is home.

 

[Saverio]

My little guy is 7 weeks, and unfortunately I don't think they can hold it very long. I'm lucky enough that my wife works from home though, so just about everything Gino does is "rewarded" with a trip outside for potty... LOL.

We take him out whenever WE feel he is sniffing or circling, but we try to stick to once an hour at this age. As they get older they'll be able to hold it longer. I've had friends that did the playpen thing with their dogs and they were eventually trained. Good luck!

 

[Claudi]

Thanks. I figured since she is young she wouldnt be able to hold it long. But a couple of times during the night she would not wake up to go potty, that is until i read here that i should wake her up myself since it is not a good thing for them to hold it that long.

So since im pretty much stuck to using the pen for now hopefully she will learn eventually. Thanks for your info.

 

[TwoDogs]

If you have a crate, put the crate in the pen with her. Remove the door, or secure it open with zip-ties so that it stays open and she can't get hung up on it. This set up is going to give her a place to sleep (in the crate) and a place to pee (not in the crate).

Then, when she is older and capable of holding it for the time that you are away, you can crate her. Since dogs naturally don't like to eliminate where they eat and sleep if given the choice, she will hold it because she will have associated the crate with a sleeping place but by then she will be physically capable of the neccessary bladder control.