See how soggy those papers are?
The Sugar Babies have learned to waddle away from their pillow to pee on the newspaper. They still potty elsewhere, and don’t always make it to the right place, but it gets a little better each day.
Someone learned a new skill today. If you need a shoe untied, here is the puppy for you. Or even if you don’t want it untied, she will show you her trick anyway.
This might be an odd photo, but it is one that shows progress to me. As the pups get older, they get further and further away from the nest to potty. No one has peed in the bedding all week. At first the newspapers were set up right by the bed, but now the babies are going toward the door to go pee.
See the puddles? They are getting as far as their tiny, little bladders will let them go towards outside before peeing. And not peeing all over the room, just on the way to the door.
No one has pooped inside in 3 days, all have made it outside for that!
I am one proud Grammy. Good dogs!
Those little guys have outgrown the house! We have moved them into the breezeway. For now, the door is kept shut, but by next week, they will have the courtyard to run in.
But Sugar still needs to get in and out, so I took the screen out of the window for her.
She needed a refuge from their hungry little mouths, so I moved a bench into the room for her. It is the one from the foot of my bed, where she likes to sleep. I think she is happy to have her bed out there.
They are getting good at not pottying in the nest, but are hit and miss with the newspapers. You can see here, it is about 59/50.
For 3-1/2 weeks old, that is pretty durn good. As they get bigger, the papers will get further away from the nest, toward the door. The goal is to get them going only outside eventually. This is how I trained their mom, she was housebroken by the time she came indoors to live with us forever and her siblings went to new homes.
For now, this area is easy to keep clean. I can spray it with the hose a few times a day, and use a mop if needed. This is such an ideal area for babies!
The pups are catching on! They are tinkling on the papers A LOT. Not 100%, but hey, this is pretty good for a three week old!
I think it is already time to move them into a bigger space so their nest is completely separate from the potty area. This pool has been a nice segue, and I will still use it at times, but these little guys are moving on to the breezeway today, so they have a room to themselves. One that I can spray with a hose!
The incredibly fast growing puppies have had to expand their living space. They needed separate play, sleeping, and potty areas, so they are now living in a wading pool, still in the house.
In a few days they will be sent out to the breezeway and learn to go in and out of the door to potty outside.
Well, that is the idea, but it isn’t quite that quick and simple. It starts with a lid from a Rubbermaid container, lined with a potty pad and layered with newspapers, set away from the bedding. The babies toddle over to it to pee, so their bedding stays cozy.
I jumped with the glee first time I watched three of them wake from their naps and pee on the papers!
Another two tried, but couldn’t quite make it, although the effort was there.
My job is to keep the puddles that don't make it onto the papers mopped up, the beds constantly changed, and their little toes wiped off, to keep the tinkle smell contained to the tray to train them to use it consistently.
My washing machine gets a workout, keeping up with all the output, but it is worth it to send these sweeties to their new homes with a healthy start on housebreaking.