Puppy Toilet training on UGODOG - 2nd day at home

After Coco's first night in her new home, we woke up with Coco all snuggled and cozy in her bed.  The Snuggle Puppy was still nice and warm.  I had turned off the heating pad for the night, and so I checked it to be sure it was still in perfect condition, and turned it back on to 'LOW'.

The first time Coco soiled her pee pad.

The stain on the pee pad indicated that Coco had relieved herself in the right place again.  I set about getting Coco fresh food and water, and changing the pee pad to a fresh one.  Again, I just cut the pee pad in half, so Coco has to walk over the grate to get to it.  The freshly soiled pee pad was left under the crate to give her the right scent.  Every day we will leave a smaller and smaller piece of pee pad on the toilet, until the puppy forgets about stepping on pee pads, and associates the grate with her potty spot.

We are making the pee pad smaller each time we change it.

By the end of our second day, Coco was so reliable with using the UGODOG, that I felt comfortable enlarging her pen to the largest size it could be.  I moved the UGODOG as far from her bed as it could be in the pen.  So Coco now has to walk on the floor, and then step up onto the UGODOG to go potty.

As Coco shows a reliable habit of using her toilet, we can increase the size of her confinement pen.

Throughout the day, the kids took turns holding Coco.  I watched them like a hawk, to be sure there would be no 'tug-of-war with the puppy.   I made sure to go over the rules of holding a puppy.
-We only take Coco out of her pen when she has just been to the potty.
-We don't walk around with the puppy.
-We do not stand with the puppy.
-We sit on the floor and let the puppy sit on our lap while we pet her.
We even used a timer so the kids would know it was time to let someone else hold the puppy.   I kept the play time to a 15-20 minute segment, to give the puppy a rest.  Then I could go about my day as well, and Coco is learning independence.

 Later that afternoon, I took Coco to the veterinary to have a quick health checkup.   Her eyes ears abdomen and heart all appeared normal. Coco weighed in at 2 lbs 13 oz.  and she is almost 8.5 weeks old.   Wow, she's smaller than we expected!

So our second day was a breeze.  I am actually surprised at just how easy this puppy is!  She seemed perfectly content in her confinement area, throughout the day.  She was fun to play with during her playtime.  And when we put her back in her crate, she was perfectly content to curl up in her bed again.   I think the warmth of the Snuggle Pet, and the warmth of her heating pad, are really making a big difference! 

Of course, Coco will not live her life confined to a pen.  As she gets older we will continually enlarge her freedoms throughout the house.  But with little kids, this is the only safe way to keep a new puppy.   You want to be sure that your puppy is safe, and you need to train children and puppies gradually.   Even if I did not have children I would do this method.   

If you give a puppy full reign of the house from the git go, he will potty in the wrong place, and he will chew on the wrong things.  The bad habits will increase, you will have house damage, worse yet, a veterinary emergency!  At that point, most people are pretty angry at their puppy.  Some people punish the puppy and then confine it.   The poor puppy doesn't know what it did wrong.  It isn't use to being confined, and is very sad.   He howls and cries, and its a very hard on everyone!.  That is the first step of a journey that will lead many dogs to a shelter!

On the other hand, look how easy it is to teach confinement from 8 weeks old.  All breeders confine their litters to a pen (there IS no other way to do it) So puppies have been use to a pen since birth.  It is not the least bit strange to them to be placed in a pen in their new home.  In fact, I can tell that Coco is very comforted by her confined area.  The important thing is that we will not ignore her socialization either.  We make sure she has many opportunities to have fun.  I already am planning my next week to have friends come to meet the puppy and take my puppy to visit friends.