poo training....big problem

monterosa

  I don't actually know anyone who sleeps with the dog in their bedroom. 

She sleeps in bed with me.

monterosa

At what time would you suggest then that I set my alarm?

What time does she go to bed? I would set my alarm 4 hrs later.

monterosa

As for the food, the content of what my babe eats, which, as I said, is called April, by Affinity Petcare, is as follows:
30% protein
16% fat
2% crude cellulose
7.5% inorganic matter
1.3% calcium
1.1. phosphorous
8% humidity
Vitamins A, D3, E, E1, E2, E4, E5, E14, Zinc, Selenium, Iron, Iodine, Copper, Managanese
Foods included are chicken, maize, wheat, egg, oats, fish oil, beet pulp, spinach.

According to the packet, up to 5 kilos, at 4 months, should be eating 100g per day. She's 2.8 kg and 7 months (in 4 days time).

I'm a total loser and don't no how to convert kilos into cups. What will be her adult weight or at least a guess? Tootsie, my 25lb. corgi is fed 1/3rd of a cup 2x daily. If you are feeding to much, it could definitely be why she poops so much. Tootsie, goes once daily, sometimes twice.

Do you get up during the night to go to the bathroom?  What I do, is if I get up, I take Willow out too.  Would that work for you?  Cause it seems that all she needs is an extra potty break during the night and maybe you getting downstairs a little earlier in the mornings.  Really, no biggie in my mind. 

monterosa

I'm beginning to get a complex about not wanting a dog in my bedroom.  I don't actually know anyone who sleeps with the dog in their bedroom.

And you'll find it's the other way around here -- now, honestly, I like them in the room, but not necessarily in the bed -- but I'm also way more hands on -- mine aren't unsupervised in the house at all -- if I can't watch things and am at work, then I crate them (which is minimal as much as possible).

You'll find it's WAY easier to have them in the room -- then they *tell* you when they have to go.  You hear them up and about and try to verbally tell them to settle, and if they persist then you let them out/take them out.

When folks tell you to "set an alarm" -- they're following a method known as scheduling.  The theory being you tell the dog when it can go out.  Making it wait a bit longer every time.

I've never found that humane nor workable.  Lots of people schedule and I'm not de-meaning anyone, but I don't follow a clock myself that well, so I guess I don't expect a dog to.  So I watch them and listen to them -- encouraging them to wait and then taking them out when that doesn't work   But it tends to make housetraining faster.  And it develops cues between you and the dog to know when "enough is enough" and they GOTTA go. 

But in the long long future run -- if the dogs are with you -- you *know* when one is sick (and ***which*** one is sick -- cos if you have two and one has diarrhea or a problem then you have to guess who?).  I wouldn't miss the information I get from the sounds of them in the room -- but then, I tend to have dogs who live a LONG time.  We just lost the 19+ year old peke after Christmas and I've had others live to be 18, 19+ and 21.  But I monitor them just like I'd monitor another family member. 

The other alternative for you would be a crate outside the bedroom in the hall (or whatever your floor layout is) -- that would give you privacy and still give you listening cues via an open door.

You asked above -- each dog should have a separate crate.  99.99% fo the time they'd probably get along -- but every mature dog deserves a break from a puppy -- so you put the crates side by side.  Or you may be able to create a gated off aea easily. 

It simply takes a while to train a puppy -- Tink was only 4 months old (and very **very** ill) when we got her -- she was 2 on Valentine's Day and is only now begining to be what *I* call housetrained.  Pugs tend to be notorious for late maturation -- and getting her playful spirit to calm down and "think ahead" to FINISH outside before she comes in has been a challenge.

I tend *not* to be a puppy person -- I prefer older dogs and mature dogs, but Tink needed us so that was the commitment we made and we work with her constantly.  I wouldn't trade her for the world but she hasn't exactly been "low maintenance".  But they only *know* what WE teach them.  They know nothing of what humans want unless a human teaches them.  our values are not theirs - we make less "sense" to them than they do to us.  It helps to keep that in mind, I find.

The trade-off is that a puppy well trained when they *are* young is a joy as they age.