woodrowsmom

I need some advice on how to make the transition from outdoor dog to indoor dog. When we got Woodrow, he was 6 weeks old and lived inside for the first 2 weeks he was with us. During this time, he was crated, and not very potty-trained. When Woodrow was about 8 weeks, we started doing some major renovations to our home, so he moved out into the cottage in our backyard. It is heated and brand new, really like a small house. The floor is concrete and Woodrow sleeps in there. He is in his big X-pen with toys, a bed, etc. During the day when the weather is nice, we have a big kennel with a house, toys, etc., that he gets to play in while we are at work. Woodrow does okay with the indoor X-pen as far as potty training. He pretty much pees whenever he needs to, and does not really even try to use the puppy pads. As far as "Number Two", he will pretty much not do it inside except for during the night.
My question is this - we are done with the renovations, and I want Woodrow to be an inside dog, at least at night. I feel like it will be better for him (he'll be less bored and get more exercise) if we let him stay outside in the kennel during the day while we're at work, but at night I want him inside with us. Everything in the house in brand new, including the carpets, and I certainly don't want them messed all over. How do I change him from an outside to an inside dog? He is 15 weeks old tomorrow, so he can hold it for longer than a young puppy. And during the day when we can't take him out, he'll be outside anyway. I am really nervous about the nights, when we are sleeping. What if I wake up in the morning, and he has used the bathroom all over my new carpet?
Please give me some tips on this. I want him to be a part of our daily lives as much as possible, but am very nervous about doing this. Thanks in advance!

murraysmom

At night, put a nice fluffy blanket in a crate right next to your side of the bed. When he has to potty, he will wake you up because he won't want to soil his sleeping area- take him out,praise, then bring him back to his sleeping place. This will help him to learn that if he signals, it will earn him a trip to his potty place. With Murray, this behavior transferred over to the daytime, and he was housebroken pretty quickly.

Hope that helps!

shallhb

__________________
Sharon Hall

Grace (puppy in training)
Bella, UD, VER, TD, RE, CGC
Pearl,UD, TDX, RE, CGC (Waiting at the Bridge)
Samantha, Theodore, CGC, Louella, Zeke and Arty, Bassets All; (All Waiting at the Bridge)

Mikey T

The following links should be helpful. As keep in mind when reading anything about potty training bassets are slow to mature in this area compared to other breeds so using any time frames such as a puppy hold if for 1 hour for every month they are old just doesn't work with bassets.

Creating a Nighttime Ritual

Housetraining Your Puppy
Crate Training

some other points. It is best to put the puppy on a consistent scedule not just meals and acess to water but play and naps also. A consistent schedule means predictability/reliability in when the dog needs to go. There is no greater preventitive for accidents than a consistent schedule.

One of the most neglected aspects of housetraining which latter on cause a lot of failures is not to train a cue for the dog to use to let you know it need to go out. To this end the following link is helpful House Training: Ring My Bell!