Puppy Training Diary

Potty Training at 11 Weeks of Age


I was thinking how well Kaylee's potty training was going at this time. She could actually hold it up to 2 hours without me having to take her out. When she was really active I'd take her out every hour. She could go almost all night depending on my level of paranoia. I think she probably could have held it longer than I was willing to take a chance on. If she had a big drink of water before bedtime, then I'd get up 3 hours later to take her out. She's never had a poop accident in the house... until today...


For the first time she pooped in my bathroom. Afterwards she came bounding up to me so proud of herself to let me know what she had done. I always profusely praise her when she produces outside, but she'd never done it inside. All I could do was sigh and head for the nature's miracle and towels. I didn't scold her or say anything but she had this quizzical look of "Why aren't we celebrating as usual my poopie? Haven't I done a wonderful and glorious thing?"

So just as I was thinking how well her potty training was going, she pooped in my bathroom and then later than night she peed on my bed! So there I was doing laundry load after laundry load in the middle of the night. I was a little disappointed until I remembered she's only 11 weeks old. And like I tell everyone else who is frustrated about potty training, it can take until they're 6 months old before they are reliably house trained. The accidents become less and less frequent, but I forget to mention that the accidents become larger and larger. What I used to be able to daub up with one Kleenex now takes a roll and a half of paper towels!

I was pleased to announce that she could "hold it" for a full 8 hours at night. Yippee!!! Well, she did at least once. I didn't want to brag too much or she'd quickly prove me wrong again.

This wasn't what I expected at such a young age and I still continued to get up to let her out if I heard her stir or get restless. This miracle happened because she was so tired from playing with her sister the entire day, so she slept soundly, never even moving. If she doesn't move or make any sounds to wake me up, then we both get a good nights sleep.

I kept a detailed log of every time she urinated, defecated and ate. I was hoping to find some repetitive pattern. I could see the progress when it was documented, but likewise, I could also see that obviously she still needed a lot more time and training. I logged that I took her out to pee at 5pm. At 5:30 pm she squatted right in front of me and peed on the carpet in the dining room. At 6pm she went to the door and asked to be let outside to pee. So as you see, her potty training skills were all over the map. She'd been able to hold it for 2 hours easily, but now and then she surprised me with a 30 minute interval.



Potty Training at 11 Weeks of Age

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