All Worn Out

Vinson is currently sleeping with his face tucked against the couch!

Vinson gave us a couple of wake-up calls from his crate last night. It takes time to develop a regular schedule, and it take quite a while for a puppy to physiologically develop good control over his elimination schedule.

Sarah and I rotate nights - one of us "on duty" one night, the other the next. We make sure to keep a quick outdoor outfit, shoes, etc. very close by and ready to go. When we remove Vinson from his crate for a quick outside trip, we carry him until outside to ensure no messes inside.

Following the puppy manual provided by The Seeing Eye, we always use the same door when we take him out to eliminate, and we always take him to the same area. We encourage him by saying "park time", and provide positive reinforcement by praising him when he does eliminate in the right place at the right time.

"Piddle" accidents are inevitable in the beginning. We've had a few. They are very small spots and easy to clean. As part of our puppy proofing before Vinson arrived, we rolled up and removed our wool rug from the living room, as wood floors are much easier to clean.