Raising A Puppy: Mia The American Bully 7 Weeks Old

Housebreaking Second Day

At 1:35 a.m. Mia cried in her crate. I went downstairs to let her out. She whined the entire way out the door and peed immediately when she got to the grass. Then she ran to me, sat down and whined to be put into my coat. She does not like the cold and she snuggled in under my neck. She is the most comical dog I have ever had and possibly the most affectionate. The temperature was in the single digits during the night and Mia was shaking like a leaf from the cold so I did not make her walk all the way back to the house. I got her warm as soon as I could. She will, however, need to begin to walk on her own. I need to balance the danger of the cold with the need to allow her to be a dog, and a very important part of that is making her walk on her own.

At 3:40 a.m. Mia woke up again and yipped in her crate. I took her out where she peed immediately then we headed back inside. She went right back to sleep in her crate.

I woke up at 7:00 a.m. to find the kids had taken care of Mia all morning. She was walked out to do her thing and put back to bed before they left for work and school. It's so nice to have a family that understands dog behavior and helps with the care.

Housebreaking Third Day

Oh Mia, oh my, what have you done? Is that pee I see? "Hey mom, remember that thing you said where if a pup my age pees inside the house it's not my fault? Remember? Do ya, do ya?" Sara had let Mia out of her pen without letting anyone know and she got distracted with cooking dinner.

Overall, Mia is doing great with housebreaking. By great I mean when we take her out she usually goes right away. She has figured out what we want her to do outside. The frigid temperatures have not helped any as she gets cold very easily and it seems sometimes she will pee and not want to hang around long enough to poop. I have found that bringing Bruno and Spencer outside with us helps her forget how cold it is and concentrate on getting it all out.

"Hey kid, do you see Spencer over there? He's peeing. That's what those humans want you to do. If you want to get back in the warm house quickly than just get it done."