A small victory!

Okay, as if Golem's first successful play date wasn't enough reason for me to be bursting with pride over my litte boy - last night we had an AMAZING thing happen.......

HIS CRATE WAS DRY WHEN I CAME HOME!!!!!!!

This is a HUGE breakthrough!!! Craig left for work at 1:30 yesterday, and normally when he's in the crate all day like that, I come home to pee patrol in the crate! Well, I'm just gettin to the point now where it's nt bothering me as much as it used to bc I understand he's just a baby and his bladder is still small. Well, last night when MIL and I came home (she picks me up from the train station), I did my usual crate prep - had the Bounty in one hand and the Nature's Miracle in the other - but not a drop was to be found!!!!!!! I took out every t-shirt and his little blanky, even sniffed them all down just to make sure, but sure enough, it was all dry and no pee smellies either!!! I even crawled in the crate and sniffed around, JUST to be double sure - but he went all day and was able to hold it!!!!!

I'm so happy, this is the FIRST TIME this has happened, where I did not have to clean his crate after a long day in it, and I was just jumping for joy last night. I'm even prouder of my Golem now, and I didn't think that was possible! So to celebrate, he helped me make a batch of sugar cookies and I let him have a lick of my hands when I was done I love my boy so much - he's really starting to grow up!!!!

Yay for Golem - he's growing into a big boy now!

I feel like such a nerd sometimes - who knew that doggie pee (or the lack of!) would make me so happy?! Ah, to be a dog mommy!!

Just a question - why is Golem peeing in his crate at all? Are you not able to get home to let him out?
I hope you don't have problems with him peeing in his crate when he gets older. If he thinks it's ok now, he may continue to think that it's ok........

Sorry to be nosy! Just trying to help

no, it's okay! You're not nosy at al, I should probably explain our daily schedule to help clarify this a little more

I was concerned about it at first for the same reason you brought up - I felt it was going backwards in our housebreaking and that he would see nothing wrong with going in the crate. But our vet and breeder said it's not a problem and that he would grow out of it. He doesn't want to pee in there, but since it only happens during the day when we're not home to take him out, it's just that his bladder isn't strong enough yet to wait until we get home to let him outside. I'm really not worried about him thinking it's okay to pee in his crate anymore bc he only does it when he can't hold it during the day, and even then he pushes the wet t-shirts as far away as he can to avoid it (usually ends up on the other side of the divider panel) The rest of the time, he goes outside and he's been great with that for the last two weeks now. He also can hold it overnight now too, so we're pretty confident now that he knows the crate is not for peeing. And thank HEAVENS it's only been pee that we've had to deal with in the crate! We're actually pretty lucky since we've never even had to deal with the number 2s in the house at all!!

We also have a funny working schedule - Craig is actually home with him all morning and afternoon (leaves for work between 1:30 - 3) and then I get home at 6:30. So Golem is only in the crate anywhere from 3-5 hours at the most during the day -which both our vet and breeder said was fine. This is also only 4 days a week bc Craig is home on Fridays. I work in the city so there's no way I could get home to walk him during that short time anyway. So that's our schedule in a nutshell Thanks for the help!!

Oh ok - glad it's working out then!
Bama has never peed in his crate but he's pooped twice, and it was two nights in a row! Very odd, but thankfully it hasn't happened since. He's all potty trained now and knows to go to the door when he has to do his business
Sounds like Golem is on his way!

Thanks Annie, I'm really glad that Golem is starting to get the hang of it now! Those first weeks were so nerve wracking at times - I felt like we were doing everything wrong and that he was going to be a chronic crate-wetter forever! He is doing so great though - I'm glad I can share his progress with everyone here!

Yes, I feel like such a dork sometimes when I brag about my dog to people. But he's like my child! I'm so proud of all his little accomplishments, and also of how cute he is! You just can't help it

That's great... Daisy only wet her crate the first two nights... She was sleeping through the nights for awhile.... Then we moved and it was back to square one.... THEN LAST NIGHT.... SHE MADE IT THROUGH THE NIGHT... without crying or asking to go out.... I even got up for a drink and saw that she was awake and she didn't cry!!!!!!!!!
I was SOOO happy this morning.

Yeah, I don't know why Golem had such a slow start on not peeing in the crate.... I feel like all I ever hear about is how all these other puppies can do it no problem, then I'm thinking to myself 'well, what's the deal with MY dog then?' I guess all dogs are different - I'm just glad he's on the right track!

YAY!!! He's on his way to being a big boy now!!

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Posted by swags1016

YAY GOLEM!!!!

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I had to tell you that your avatar cracks me up every time I see one of your posts!!