glenmar
Posted : 8/9/2010 8:27:38 AM
Put her crate where YOU sleep at night. She's used to being around a lot of other critters and I'm sure that she's lonely and afraid.
Anytime you can't give her your FULL attention, she should be crated with very regular potty breaks or at the very least leashed to you on a very short lead so that you KNOW when she starts moving, which is often a sign of needing to "go". At this age, she can be expected to "hold it" for about 3 hours max. She'll need a potty break any time she plays hard, runs, eats, wakes, etc, etc, etc.
If she is 10 weeks old now, you must have brought her home around 7 weeks? This is VERY young and of course I don't know if she was still with momma and her litter at the shelter, but, ideally, they get to stay with their litter mates until at LEAST 8-9 weeks.
She is very much still an infant with very little elimination control, so you HAVE to provide more opportunites than it would seem like she could possibly need. It helps to have a key phrase.....I use "outside and go potty" (I learned to add the OUTSIDE when I had a foster litter who would squat on command before they were outside!!) I have always taught pups to potty first and then we get a play time so that going outside to potty isn't just a chore, but a FUN time.
Unfortunately, often pups who have grown up in a shelter don't have the one on one and opportunities to develop good potty habits....they go when they need to go, wherever they are. This takes some serious time and attention to overcome, but you CAN do it. And it all starts with really close attention to her habits...when she goes and what the circumstances are (ie: after playing) so that you can avoid in the house accidents. Don't give her freedom to make mistakes....they become habit forming. You REALLY need to be right on top of her for now.
When I have a litter, I always have an old towel (or a dozen) right at hand so that IF they start to potty in the house, I can scoop them up and run them outside without getting peed on. And don't scold.....just a gentle "eh eh, we go OUTSIDE to GO POTTY" and then get her there FAST. And when she suceeds have a potty party!! HUGE praise, treats if you want, but the major heavy duty praise is really important.
We have a trainer here (spiritdogs) who has a really good potty training handout she gives to her puppy classes and hopefully she'll post that for you.
Thank you for rescuing this baby. Remember the dog owners mantra.....this too shall pass! Oh, and it wouldn't hurt to have her checked for a UTI.