# How do I change Stitch's potty schedule?



## dooly (Nov 12, 2004)

So far housetraining has been a breeze with Stitch. He's only 4 months old, but I would say he is about 99% potty trained. The only problem is that right now he's on a schedule where he ALWAYS wakes up at around 4am and has to go pee and poo! We stop giving him food and water by around 7pm, and let him go potty right before we go to bed. We've tried making him go potty late (like around 1am) so that he can clear out his system and not wake up again, but he still gets up at 4. I know he can hold it for longer than that because if we take him to potty at 10pm, he'll hold it all the way...right up until 4am.

Any advice?


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## saltymalty (Sep 14, 2004)

> _Originally posted by dooly_@Dec 13 2004, 08:04 AM
> *So far housetraining has been a breeze with Stitch.  He's only 4 months old, but I would say he is about 99% potty trained.  The only problem is that right now he's on a schedule where he ALWAYS wakes up at around 4am and has to go pee and poo!  We stop giving him food and water by around 7pm, and let him go potty right before we go to bed.  We've tried making him go potty late (like around 1am) so that he can clear out his system and not wake up again, but he still gets up at 4.  I know he can hold it for longer than that because if we take him to potty at 10pm, he'll hold it all the way...right up until 4am.
> 
> Any advice?
> <div align="right">index.php?act=findpost&pid=22567*


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Are you crate training your pup? You might just want to let him fuss for a few minutes to see if he'll go back to sleep. If you think that he can "hold it", try gradually adding 15 more minutes...4:15am for a few nights, then 4:30am, 4:45a.m., etc. You might be able to work him up to a more acceptable wake-up time. Our 14 week old puppy gets up at 5:00am and then does her business quickly outside. We put her right back into the cabana (crate) until 7:00am. And our last potty of the evening is at midnight (although last night I accidently slept through that and she was fine).


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## dooly (Nov 12, 2004)

Are you crate training your pup? You might just want to let him fuss for a few minutes to see if he'll go back to sleep. <div align="right">index.php?act=findpost&pid=22578
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Thanks for the advice.

We are crate training him, which I think is why he's been so successful with his potty training. The only problem is that as soon as he gets up in the morning ( I can hear him stirring and then give a little whine) he pretty much will poop within 5-10 minutes, whether he is in his crate or not! (we have tried to ignore him and leave him in for a couple of extra minutes..I usually try to sneak a peak at him before I take him out, and every time there has been a little surprise!)
This is the only time he does this. Other than that, during the day he has no problem holding everything in for several hours!


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## kodie (Aug 24, 2004)

i'm sorry i'm no help in this department... Kodie is trainned on puppy pads..haha.. but i had to comment... I LOVE your baby's name!!!


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## saltymalty (Sep 14, 2004)

> Are you crate training your pup? You might just want to let him fuss for a few minutes to see if he'll go back to sleep. <div align="right">index.php?act=findpost&pid=22578



Thanks for the advice.

We are crate training him, which I think is why he's been so successful with his potty training. The only problem is that as soon as he gets up in the morning ( I can hear him stirring and then give a little whine) he pretty much will poop within 5-10 minutes, whether he is in his crate or not! (we have tried to ignore him and leave him in for a couple of extra minutes..I usually try to sneak a peak at him before I take him out, and every time there has been a little surprise!)
This is the only time he does this. Other than that, during the day he has no problem holding everything in for several hours!
<div align="right">index.php?act=findpost&pid=22580
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You may want to try feeding your puppy in his crate. Dogs especially don't like to poop where they eat. The other issue might be that his crate is too large for him. Which size do you have? And is it the plastic kind or wire type? You may have to make it "smaller" by walling off the back third of the crate (if it's too big). We used a piece of cardboard and it works beautifully. We have the smallest Vari-Kennel and it was still too big. Our pup is like a snug little bug in there. The first couple of nights she did poop in there, but she definitely doesn't anymore. We've been a solid week with no tinkle or poop in the crate....I hope I didn't jynx it!


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## dooly (Nov 12, 2004)

Aww thanks everyone! 

Stitch is puppy pad trained too, although SOO many trainers were telling me this was absolutely the worst thing to do, we just found it so much easier with our work schedules to have him trained to paper.

As for the crate size, we have the smallest crate that we could find, and just stuffed it with a large towel to cut off some of the space. 
Maybe I should try to block it off with something that he can't pull out, or crawl on top of. 

Thanks!


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## Lilly521 (May 29, 2004)

> _Originally posted by dooly_@Dec 13 2004, 03:26 PM
> *Aww thanks everyone!
> 
> Stitch is puppy pad trained too, although SOO many trainers were telling me this was absolutely the worst thing to do, we just found it so much easier with our work schedules to have him trained to paper.
> ...


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I know you are not gonna go out and buy a new cate (they are expensive) but i have this one for sunny i think its called life stages its black wire and it came with a divider so you coudl adjust the size of the crate its very cool


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## LexiAndNikkisMom (Apr 13, 2004)

> _Originally posted by Lilly521+Dec 13 2004, 04:05 PM-->
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I know you are not gonna go out and buy a new cate (they are expensive) but i have this one for sunny i think its called life stages its black wire and it came with a divider so you coudl adjust the size of the crate its very cool
<div align="right">index.php?act=findpost&pid=22784
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Is it the Midwest one? I have the Midwest Lifestages one from PetSmart. I ended up buying a divided for mine ($20). I wouldn't recommend it though. You a piece of cardboard or something. I only used it for a month or so. It wasn't worth the $20.


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## jmm (Nov 23, 2004)

Slowly adding time is the way I could go, too. Start with just 3-5 minutes the first few increases. Increase every 2-3 days.


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## doctorcathy (May 17, 2004)

ok, i've said this before....i got gruffi when he was 5 weeks and we trained him within 2 weeks. he hasnt had an accident SINCE. and the reason.....we would wake up when he woke us up. if he needs to go...he needs to go. we tried waiting for 5 minutes and he was a maniac!! he didnt know why we werent letting him out. i felt soo bad. and he was ABOUT to pee in the house. 


we didnt try testing that again. lol. 

anyway, we did the whole months thing. 

like when the dog is 2 months old..take him out every 3 hours. when the dog is 3 months old...take him out every 4 hours, and when gruffi hit 4-5 months old, he would wake us up in the middle of the night (1am) crying to us to take him out. 


we also hung a bell on the doorknob and he would hit it when he needed to go out. that was really easy to teach. just hit it and say "outside' when ever you open the door and take the dog out. he'll learn the idea within 2 weeks.

OH, and i LOVE the name stitch. i love the movie lilo and stitch. i was going to name sprite that....but shes a little girl and i thought stitch was a boys name. lol.


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## Lilly521 (May 29, 2004)

> _Originally posted by Lexi's Mom+Dec 13 2004, 06:32 PM-->
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Is it the Midwest one? I have the Midwest Lifestages one from PetSmart. I ended up buying a divided for mine ($20). I wouldn't recommend it though. You a piece of cardboard or something. I only used it for a month or so. It wasn't worth the $20.
<div align="right">index.php?act=findpost&pid=22792
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Thats proubly the one it was i peeled off the sticker with the name so i cant be sure lol but the divider was like wire the same meterial the walls of the crate were made from


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