Bulldogs World

What a wonderful present.

First, don't expect her to be housebroken right away.  It can take quite a while but don't get discouraged.  The "general rule" is that they can hold it for one hour for each month of age.  So, if you pup is THREE MONTHS, she can't be expected to hold it for more than THREE HOURS at a time.  You will need to take her out often and, when she does her thing, cheer like she just won the superbowl and reward her.  She will soon understand that outside is good, inside is bad.  If you do catch her tinkling inside, immediately bring her outside.  If you don't actually catch her in the act, there's absolutely no point in reprimanding her because she's already forgotten she did anything!  If you aren't around that much, I suggest getting a dog walker to come and take her out at regular intervals for the first couple of months.

As for the crate, she'll get used to it.  You don't want to give her too much room in there because she will pee or poo in one corner and then just sleep in another corner.  If you do use the bigger crate, break it up with a divider and then give her more room as she grows.  I know it will sound harsh (I had a REAL hard time with this ) but you musn't put any bedding in there with her until she is housebroken.  She'll just pee on it.  No toys or bones either because they're a choke hazard unless you're watching her.  And no water in the crate because she'll just drink it and then, well, you know.

I realize this sounds like a lot, but you'll get into the swing of things pretty quick.  There are lots of books you can buy on puppy training too - might be a good idea to ask for one of those for Mother's Day too  :)  There's a lot to learn but it will be so rewarding!!

The advice in the previous message was right on and I couldn't agree more. We have a monster crate for Brewer but when he was little we sectioned it off and as he grew we gave him more room. Now we also got real lucky because one of of was always home training him, that he never had any accidents in his crate. And maybe only 3 in the house his whole life. With that in mind, I had him outside like every hour then gradually added more time inbetween intervals. It's a hard stage to go through but just be patient. Congratulations.

When bringing the puppy out of the crate in the morning - do not sit puppy on the floor to open door, just that quick I had a puddle!   LOL.  Keep puppy in your arms, and take them out, exactly where, you want them to pee/poo   if you set them down and expect them to 'know' where to go, you'll be disappointed, because at that age, they just want to go, *NOW* :)  ha ha ha :)

oh and don't forget, all of our assistance and suggestions come with a price.... we *LOVE PICTURES*  (especially of puppies!)

You have to remember that you are training the puppy, not the other way around.  Bad habits form early and are no fun to deal with.  No dog will love being in a crate to begin with.  But eventually they will see that a crate is their safe spot; something they can always go into (kind of like their cave) that is comforting.  I remember our Fatboy HATED his leash.  But it was necessary for him to get used to it.  Now when we put it on him it's no biggie.

Congrats on the new addition! :)

All the great advice has been given so enjoy your new pup. 

Oh wait, one warning....... puppy teeth. Wear pants and long sleeves :)

Have a name yet???

Kippah is the first dog we ever crate trained, and I will never go without from now on.

We brought her home at 8 weeks.  And we had to have alarms set all through the night, she was taken out every 2 hours for a couple weeks, then we went to 8 hours, when she hit 4 months old we were able to leave her at night for 5-6 hours, but during the day it was every 3 hours or so to go out to go potty.

The crate needs to be her comfy space and never used to for punishement.  It does need to be small, enough for them to turn around, really they do like that cozy feeling.  wait awhile on that larger one, but if I were you I would leave it open and near by, maybe in a central location where she knows it is her space too, she could wander in there during the day and take a ciesta or something. But for right now use the smaller kennel for night time and when you are gone.

It is not cruel, in fact it is protective.  at this age they dont know what to stay away from, and later they sometimes dont care.  You can be saving your hosue--but more importantly your bullies life--by protecting the baby