It’s been over one month since we surprised the girls with Cricket, and it’s borderline sad how the time has flown by! As first-time puppy owners, we were given a lot of advice from experienced puppy people, many of who warned us that the puppy stage would be harder than a newborn baby. This could not be further from our experience! Here’s how it’s been going!
Cricket has the sweetest little demeanor. She’s crate trained, which is something they worked on in the Puppy Kindergarten she went to before we brought her home. Neither Charly nor Willow were crate trained, so we weren’t really sure what to expect, but with a puppy, it’s been so helpful! She sleeps in there at night, takes a good long nap in there during the day, and we feel comfortable leaving her for an hour and a half to go out to dinner!
Unfortunately, potty training is a work in progress. We’re devout about taking her out around the clock, and she’s so good at going #1 on demand, but it seems like she has anxiety around #2 because she saves that for inside 🙄. I would say the messes are becoming less frequent, but she’s still getting the hang of it.
One thing she learned in Puppy Kindergarten was to press a little bell by the back door to alert us when she needs to goooo. In hindsight, we wish we would have had the same bell for her to use on her very first day. By the time we bought the bell, I think she had lost that skill, so we’re working on re-teaching her with it now!
Aside from all the cleaning up, we can’t imagine a life without Cricket! The girls are completely obsessed with everything about her, as are Chris and I. Cricket thinks Polly is one of her little puppy playmates, and Polly, in turn, likes to pretend she’s a puppy! Lots of fun and giggles are happening in our house, making our home feel much more joyful.
One thing we did for our last Bernese mountain dog, Willow, was made the switch over to The Farmer’s Dog food. Willow became a healthier, more energetic dog when we made the switch, so we’ve been feeding Cricket their fresh human-grade dog food from day one at home! She absolutely loves it and is eating like a champ, which makes me happy because I can’t wait to see a little more fat on her!
Now, she is a mini, so she won’t grow to be the full size of a Bernese, but she is going to gain about three more inches in height and about 12 more pounds. She’s already about 18 and is right on track!
Another house training that is taking place is teaching her not to jump up on people to say hello. I actually think it’s the cutest thing, and I know she’s just a playful little pup right now, but I hope to teach her so that when visitors come, she’s not jumping up all over them. We’ve also been told to put a leash on and keep her with you while you’re doing things around the house so that she doesn’t think she has free range of the entire house! At least until she’s fully potty-trained and not searching for things to chew on.
In full transparency, we’ve had to roll up a couple of rugs. For example, the front entry rug was one of Cricket’s favorite places to go potty. She also marked her territory on the bonus room runner behind the couch. We’ve been using Folex (the holy grail of carpet cleaners) to clean up accidents and are just watching her and trying to teach her as much as we can. We actually got a bunch of potty training tips from our Loyal Love Letter subscribers that I thought would be fun and helpful to share!
Potty Training Tips From Readers!
There is a great book called “ How To Housebreak Your Dog In 7 Days “ by Shirlee Kalstone it’s the best $9.99 you will ever spend. I swear by this book and have recommended it countless times. I give it to all my new puppy friends and it’s worked for them as well.
Hello! Congrats on the pup, she’s adorable. One thing that helped teach my dog #2 outside was to take the actual accident from inside to outside and then showed her where it goes – outside. For whatever reason that clicked with my pup and she stopped going inside. Worth a shot! ;) Happy new year!
I cannot recommend this portable steam cleaner enough! It’s a godsend for cleaning up puppy messes.
For the #2 anxiety (which my brother’s dog has), we found taking him for a short walk was helpful and I always gave my puppies a treat for going #2 outside.
Hi there. We trained our dog with a small bell tied to a long ribbon, tied to the back door handle. Kind of like a bell to push, but not permanent. Every time our dog would go out we’d help her hit it and eventually she did it herself. No need to actually get something permanent but just make sure it’s within reach.
Hope that helps – it did for us.
Julia I have trained many puppies. Go on to Amazon and buy puppy pads and put then by the door. They are disposable and saves you from any messes. You roll them up and throw them. Good luck. Trust me you will be ok.
Along with all those helpful messages, I wanted to share some cute doggy items we have and things I’ve got my eyes on!
Cute Puppy Essentials!
1. Tennis Balls $10
2. Pillow Dog Bed $54
3. Double-Bowl Feeder $159
4. Pet Food Storage Canister $69
5. Dog Brush $10
6. Collar Walk Kit $88
7. Plush Rope Bone Toy $6
8. Hand Stamped Pet Tag $25
9. Crate $595
Shop Cute Dog Esstentials
Thanks for following along with our puppy journey!
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Another winner; great in the house!
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Everyone swears by the Bissell green machine but they make another version – the Bissell Spot Bot and it is better. Still has the handle brush but also has a self-cleaning option. Set it over the stain, press start and in a few minutes it’s all cleaned and done because the machine did it. Worth the extra couple of bucks!
Also, folex is great but it doesn’t get all the enzymes out, so they keep marking the spots over and over. Our puppy was housebroken with the exception of this one spot under the dining table. My dad (a landlord) told me to get Nature’s Miracle carpet shampoo because it is the best. It is! We used it once and she finally stopped marking that spot.
My dad obviously replaces carpet after tenants leave but he uses a different Nature’s miracle product on any sub floor stains and he swears by it. I do, too!
They also have a laundry addictive that we use when we wash dog beds.
I think you are doing a great job with Cricket. I can tell she is very loved!! How do you keep your hardwood floors from getting scratched with her?
Make sure not to bring her inside immediately after going potty! She will learn that fun/play ends as soon as she goes potty and will take longer to go to prolong the fun.
Because you used the word “anxiety”….some dogs do like some privacy. Our last dog preferred to go behind bushes. So it may help if you find her a “private” place to go and she knows where to go. Maybe the other reader hint about taking the inside accident to the outside, to the private place, will help?
This! Instinctually dogs want to go as far as they can from where the sleep. My dogs have always gone at the back fence line farthest from our house and the back porch where their outside bed lives.
Dogs are also SO quick to pick up a routine. For example I would always let my dog out while I brush my teeth for the last time before bed. Eventually just the noise my toothbrush made when I pulled it from the glass cup made my dog go to the back door. Routine and consistency is key
I second this! Our old dog never had anxiety about #2, but our collie likes to go around the side of our house for a “private” potty spot! She naturally did this; we didn’t train her…even at our vacation home she has a special tree she prefers to go under. Funny, but maybe it will help you!