House breaking a puppy

House breaking has been going very well. In his one month plus time with us he has only had about 15 accidents. Most in the first week. I learned that puppies should go out every 30 minutes for the first days home and then no more than every 60 minutes between trips to the outside potty. I didn't paper train at all. I read that it can be too confusing for the puppy to learn to paper train and then be told he has to go outside. Also his greatest quantity of accidents came from his "revenge." He didn't like it if I left him in the kitchen to run to the laundry room. I then began crating him every time I had to leave him to go to another room. I was not allowing him in the first week and a half to have any access to the other rooms in the house unless he was on my lap or on a towel right next to my feet. As he became more secure with us his accidents lessened and our confidence allowed him to follow us in the house. We still don't allow him to just roam the house, but we do allow him in the rooms we are in.

Finally success - Cockapoo

On January 18, 2010 success was achieved. I logged onto Craigslist after thinking I will abandon this site forever. I said to myself, OK just one more try to find that puppy. Up around 6 am to eat breakfast with my 18 year old daughter before she was off to work for the day. We did our normal chit chat and then I signed onto craigslist and found a posting for a 12 week old Cockapoo around 5 pounds. The posting had just been listed within the hour so there was a really good chance with this one. Too early in the morning for people to flagg the posting I guessed. I emailed the listing immediately and the owners responded very quickly. We kept in touch all morning and I requested the name of the vet they claimed to have taken the pup to for its first shots and checkup. They were willing to provide the information and it checked out with their vet that the dog was healthy and ready for its next set of shots within 2 weeks. WOW!!!! This was a real opportunity. A picture was listed on Craigslist to show the family and all agreed that we have to continue pursuing this. We once again contacted the owners and said we would like to adopt the dog that day. Both parties agreed on the time and we picked up the puppy at his home in Tuckerton, NJ from a very nice family.

A very good experience that final day of searching. No more disappointing attempts and we have a very healthy and happy puppy.