This is so much harder than I remember....

I brought both our boys home in January - in New England... apparently yes, you do forget.... very rapidly!

Potty raining is tough, yes their little bladders are SOOOO very tiny! Seems like a lap of water, and boom! a fountain burst!! Whatever goes in does in fact come out... quickly!

I never did belly bands. I used wee-wee male dog wraps from Amazon. I tended to use mostly say afternoon and evening. The later in the day, the less attention to detail there seems to be.... on both sides. 'They' say it takes at least 6 - 8 weeks to create a memory (hey, when I feel this, I go outside and she is happy and I get a treat!) then at least another 6 - 8 weeks for it to become a deep memory - one that you pull from over and over.

I found the toughest time was probably 2 months or so after I brought both of them home - many days, weeks, months of in/out of the house in cold, snow, ice. With both dogs, I felt a real defeat probably about when they were 4 - 5 months old. I admit, I cried I was so frustrated! When I was potty training Brodie, Willow was around the same age and as a girl, she was just smarter and quicker at everything - not Brodie! We had a good period, then boom, it all went out the window around 7 - 9 months. Brodie caught on faster than Deacon who was just a happy go lucky little pup. He'd pee outside, get a cookie and pee inside, look for a cookie - no cookie. I did find that I got one treat, Zuke's Puppy Treats, peanut Butter flavor - both went crazy over them, I'd split in half with my finger. I reserved ONLY for potty treats and gave outside right away.

We STILL give potty treats when they come inside every single time they go. Both are food obsessed so like with Deacon, he'll try to squirt a bit out anytime I tell him to - Brodie with the camel bladder just goes along for moral support. Giving a treat every time they come inside means I can ALWAYS count on both of them to run to the door ahead of me - no chasing around outside - they run for the door excitedly, do the sheltie pop corn dance outside and inside the door until I make them sit for a treat.

I found confining to a kennel when I could not watch undistracted until I learned their potty schedules - Deacon was like every 10 - 15 minutes for a while. Neither pup ever pee'd in their kennel. I added space slowly - it got increased only when they 'owned' it and didn't potty in it. The confinement did mean that I had to commit to time they could burn energy, enjoy freedom and I was there to constantly walk them in/out for pottying. At night, the wee-wee wraps gave both of us a bit of freedom from responsibility. Night time, that crazy playtime, was the longest to attain accident free but did come.

This too shall pass..... hang in there! And keep in the back of your mind, just when you think he gets it, he may forget it all again, but he WILL get it. I felt the same potty training my youngest - he missed out on the whole 3 year old preschool thing. I had to keep telling myself he wouldn't go to college in diapers and he didn't.
 
Sca was the golden puppy. A lot of it was even as a puppy he was very proper. So there was THE place to pee. First time traveling he held it for two days before giving out as it was not HIS spot. Spitfire was 6 months and good on day one. Angus actually learned really fast. Ian is mixed but does fairly well. Got to watch for his signs which are more subtle.
 
Ahhhhh puppies…..I well remember Blueberry’s first couple weeks well even now lol. -35:outside was too cold for a 10 week old puppy so I used puppy pads. While they worked great (she was trained to use a litter box so would pee on the pad consistently) it was all fun and games and no actual training. Took 2 weeks until she could go outside and I then followed the Monks of New Skete’s method. It takes time but it works.
Still, puppies can make you feel like you’re doing everything wrong! Patience is key because while we’ve all had that one pup who picks it up quick (at least in our memory lol) their bladder has a different plan.
 
I do not work from home, so its a bit trickier for me. During the day I can't crate him. since he would HAVE to mess his crate. and I am not that mean.
I suppose I could crate at night, and MAKE him wake me up every 3 hours or so. But he will eventually make it though the night regardless of what I do and I rather like not waking up every 3-4 hours. He has been so good about settling in his little penned in area. he wakes me when he poops (or needs to poop).

this morning after I took him out to poop, we snuggled on my bed for 2 hours until time to get up.
I had him in his belly band (with diaper insert) and on a towel.
 
Don't feel bad. Asher is a handful even at one year. I finally called Marta Williams, my animal communicator. She told me Asher said, "I do whatever I want." Little brat! She said he's ADDH (which helped me not feel like a failure) and has me doing some interesting things that have made all the difference!
-- Organic wet food
-- Creating a statement of what I want, written in the present tense, repeated often aloud to myself and to Asher and Bonnie ("Asher/Bonnie/You is/are a well behaved and cooperative member of this family.")
-- Mom talk: eye to eye, focused, stating what the are not to do, why, and what I want them to do. Very intense, holding them still and making them focus.
-- Not paying any attention to any dogs when we come home for 5-10 minutes. It's amazing how this sets the tone for a calm house.
-- Instantly reacting to bad behavior with a specific sound. We've been working on not going nuts at mealtime. We've also, over our stay at the Maine cable, gotten Bonnie and Asher to the point of waiting by their bowls until given a signal to eat.
 
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