10 week old and potty training

[Our God Zeus]

I got my new Rott puppy 1 week ago and he is still going potty in the house. I work grave shift, so I am home with him all day long. I let him out every couple of hours and tell him to "potty", when he does I give him a treat and lots of "good boys". Yet I will still find a mess on the floor on or next to some newspaper I put by the back door. At night he sleeps in the kitchen, in his crate. He has free roam of the kitchecn area and has never messed in his crate. I have been coming home for my lunch at night and letting him outside to potty and finding no mess. When I get home in the morning I find a mess, 2 piles of poh and a puddle or 2 of pee. Why is he not going all the time when we are outside, we spend 15 minutes outside every 2 hours My wife is only going to give me a little more time to solve this problem, if not solved she wants the pup gone.

HELP
HELP
Any suggestions or ideas?
Thanks,
Brian

[Chloesmom]

Don't give up yet! He's just a baby! He sounds like he's on the right track but you're missing the times when he really needs to go. You say that he has gone in the house when you get home in the morning. But he's clean when you come home for lunch - is that in the middle of the night? You said you work graveyard shift. If so then he might be waking up at 4 or 5am and need to go out but your wife is sleeping. My times may be off but can she hear him if he cries? The 2 hour schedule during the day is good. Our rule was go out 10-20 minutes after a meal and encourage "going potty" with praise (you do that) and also go out after a play session. If you notice the pup has drank a bit of water, then they have to go out 10-20 minutes afterwards. Their bladders are tiny at this point.

Also, you've had your pup for a week, has he been to the vet yet? Might he have worms? Or a digestive problem? A physical is in order. But is sounds most like a timing issue. He may be learning its o.k. to go on the paper because its what's available. But he doesn't go in his crate. That's excellent. He should cry if he's in the crate and has to go. Maybe you should crate him for a bit after you come home for lunch before you get home in the morning.

From the age of 8-16 weeks approximately, Chloe went out at 10pm, 12am, 3am, 5am and 7am. She was very needy. During the day Chloe slept in the crate but one of us would come home for lunch.

They don't understand the difference between "inside" and "outside" yet. Only the crate is "inside" and they don't like to go there. Eventually, with a lot of work, your pup will learn that the whole house is "inside the crate". Please keep trying and enlist the help of your wife. You have to be in this together. This is the first of many trials you'll have with your rott. They are a big challenge. Keep reading these posts to find out how big! :) Good luck!

[LORHEL]

Be sure that when you go out, you go to the EXACT same spot where he peed the first time. We learned how valuable that tip was right away. They will always go back to their spot. As ours also did in the house on the carpet, when he was a puppy. Also, I would recommend taking him out every hour, not every two. We had to do that for a while until he was able to gain better control of his bladder. But taking him out to the same spot is very important, because if he doesn't smell it, and he is somewhere else, he may not go. We had to take ours out once a time during the middle of the night. He would make it from then until morning. And be sure to cut off the water a hour or so before bedtime. Good luck. It is very frustrating in the beginning, but it will get better. Our 8 month old can now go all day while we are at work until we get home without any trouble. :)

[rottmommie]

you are doing the right things!!!!10 weeks is way too early to expect accident free!!! however......this dog should be IN the crate at night......with just enough room to sleep and move around a bit.....with NO food or water. also stop feeding later in the evening, this will eliminate poopy at night problems. buy her a steam cleaner as a gift......(your wife, not the dog) put on the tag, "from ____(what is the dogs name) to:mommy... i am sorry for my mistakes....please forgive me.
would you really let your wife oust the dog???
my boyfriend would have left with the dog if i threatened to get rid of the dog.....we both love the dog SO very much.
if the kitchen is tile, just tell your wife you will leave the dog there and clean it up yourself when there is an accident.

[Our God Zeus]

He is up to date on everything, no problems with worms at 6, 8 and 10 weeks. It is the 5 or 6 in the morning outting I am missing with him. The wife spends different times up with the kids, so she is not to hip on standing outside at 5am when it is 10 degress. I will try locking him up in his crate after my 3am lunch break. We have a few snow storms that have covererd his previous locations with an inch or two of snow, that may be throwing him off a little too.
We already have a steam cleaner, so far he has only had 1 accedent on the carpet. All the others have been confined to the ceramic tile in the kitchen.
She knows better then to get rid of a pup with a pedegree like his, not to mention the amount of money I paid for him.
Thanks for the tips
Brian

Oh ya,
Not one accident since I came home from work at 7am. Every trip outside, he has gone. :D