Puppy Sleeps After Eating

[MarleysMama]

Aloha Fellow Puppy/Dog Lovers,

My puppy, Marley, is 4 months old Cairn Terrier mix (not sure what she's mixed with). I was so happy to bring her home from the animal shelter just 6 days ago. She has been a joy.

Marley is working great with her schedule, and she is only peeing inside on occasion. That's my fault. I'm learning to read when she wants to go outside. She's learning to go to the door and ring the bell though. Yay! I am using Mark Edwards, The Ultimate House Training Guide to house train (direct method) my puppy.

My situation: I have the great fortune of working from home, where I also take care of my ailing father. My mother is very able, aware and totally on-board with Marley's training. So, there is always someone around to watch Marley in these early development stages. She is an inside dog, who we are training to do her eliminating outside.

My question is, is this an issue? -> About 10 minutes after she eats, she likes to lie down and go to sleep. Should I let her sleep and take her out after her nap, when she has always needed to eliminate (pee and/or poop and pee) anyways. Or, should I force her to go outside within 15 minutes after eating in order to eliminate?

Many thanks for any feedback you all have.

Mahalo!
Liana

[Skully]

Puppies sleep A LOT, so it's normal. If it were me though, I'd take her outside immediately after eating and then bring her in and put her directly in her crate for a nap whether she went or not. (assuming you are crate training). I'd then take her out again right after taking her out of the crate.

[KOPcaroline]

Hey Liana,

Puppies do sleep heaps, especially after eating (we've all experienced the food coma) so no need to worry over the habit.

You can probably train her either way, but it might be best to take her outside after eating and before napping, just to eliminate any slight chance of an accident (especially if she wakes early and youre not in the room, for example). Im sure she can stay up long enough to pee and then take an even better nap