Puppy house training problems

aisling:)

Hi everyone,
I have a pup for a few weeks now, he is 4 months old.
When we got him at 1st he peed everywhere, so we put puppy pads down everywhere, reduced it to just one, which is right inside the back door.

The problem is now that he will only pee on the puppy pad, we leave the back door open as much as possible so he goes in and out playing, but comes in to pee!!

I decided to leave the puppy pad outside the back door when the door is open and inside when its closed.... If he is out for a walk or in the garden he will hold it until he gets back to the puppy pad.

I tried to get rid of the pad for a few hours so now he has one spot in the kitchen he pees now as well as the puppy pad!!

Has anyone any advice on how to train him off the puppy pads and stop peeing in that one spot in the kitchen(which is cleaned and disinfected straight away!!) Also-he poos everywhere-inside,outside, anywhere!!!

Thanks in advance to anyone that might be able to give me advice!

Sharpshooter

aisling:) wrote: »

Hi everyone,
I have a pup for a few weeks now, he is 4 months old.
When we got him at 1st he peed everywhere, so we put puppy pads down everywhere, reduced it to just one, which is right inside the back door.

The problem is now that he will only pee on the puppy pad, we leave the back door open as much as possible so he goes in and out playing, but comes in to pee!!

I decided to leave the puppy pad outside the back door when the door is open and inside when its closed.... If he is out for a walk or in the garden he will hold it until he gets back to the puppy pad.

I tried to get rid of the pad for a few hours so now he has one spot in the kitchen he pees now as well as the puppy pad!!

Has anyone any advice on how to train him off the puppy pads and stop peeing in that one spot in the kitchen(which is cleaned and disinfected straight away!!) Also-he poos everywhere-inside,outside, anywhere!!!

Thanks in advance to anyone that might be able to give me advice!

Dont be so hard on yourself,you are doing fine.
Our pup is five months old and is only now in control of her bowel (as in holding it untill she is let out).
If you take a small piece of her poo(that she left inside)
up in a tissue and place it in the back garden and later on after she is fed let her out to discover this smell for herself,she should go in the same area,this should get her used to one place(along with plenty of praise when she does go)
Try white vinegar in the house ,just sprinkle it anywhere you see her going(dab with some kitchen towel)it will neutralise the smell of her urine and stop her doing it again in that area.
This problem wont last forever as she is getting older all the time and will eventually stop.
Dont forget plenty of praise when she does go in the right place.:)

koneko

He's associating the pad with the right place to pee, instead of outside. Relying on the puppy pads can be a bad thing.

Did you at any point try crate training (or a box)? When you see him peeing, what do you do? Do you see him going over to the pad, about to pee? That's the perfect time to pick him up and bring him outside, reward the positive behaviour when he pees where you want him to. Right now he has no idea he's supposed to pee outside, he thinks he's doing the right thing by peeing on the pad

As sharpshooterH mentioned, lots of praise (positive reinforcement) is in order when he goes in the right place!

aisling:)

Thanks both of you...
When he pees on the floor behind the door and I catch him I would say no to him crossly and put him outside to the puppy pad... I think this is more frustrating than anything because he had stopped that!!

We always praise him when he goes on the pad- a lot if he does outside and a little inside...
We know that he thinks he is right by doing so-so I want to break it (i wont ever use the pads again if i have another dog!) and I really want to stop him going on the spot in the kitchen....

He sometimes poos outside, so I dont know if bringing poo out will make a diff, but Ill definitely try that, thanks

Intothesea

Hello Aisling, good advice here already. The only
general way I can think to get around the unpredictable
poop situation is to take your pup outdoors directly
after eating or play, and keep a hawk-eye on his
location and moves (sniffing the ground is a good sign
that trouble is coming). In essence you're trying to
stack the odds against him ever doing anything inside.
If he never gets the chance eventually the idea will
feel wrong to him.

The issue with pads is that the pup doesn't recognise
inside as his 'den'. It's bound to be fairly confusing
to him now for that reason. For overnight I'd recommend
taking him out at least twice, and this will taper off to
once at 5 months. Placing a piece outside says that
the location is acceptable, but will still appear to be
'optional'. Not using the pads altogether is what I'd
aim for because of this. HTH

Lauragoesmad

Hi,
I had the same problem with a dog I was training last year. The owners had gotten him used to puppy pads and the poor dog thought he was being the cleverest little thing on the planet when he went where the puppy pads were.

I took away the puppy pads altogether and just brought the dog out as much as possible for day one to two of training. He copped on perfectly by about day 4.
Also, put the dogs water and food bowl in the spot where he likes to pee.(After cleaning obviously:p) Dogs are clean creatures and will not crap where they eat.
I think that puppy pads just confuse them. If he pees outside he gets lots of praise and cuddles and if he pees anywhere inside its a very bad thing. This gives the dog clear signals. Its hard for them to know the difference when they have been praised for going there in the first place.
Its good to start this type of training on a saturday morning or when you have two days off together as you will be there for the next two days to make sure he is brought out enough.
If he is holding it until he gets back, you will have to on at least one occasion, stay out with him until he goes. I know this is a bit annoying but he will get it eventually.:)

Any pictures of your little fella?

You sound like you're doing really well. Some dogs just take more time than others to get used to the idea and some dogs need different techniques to get them used to going outside. Just keep at it!!

keep us updated with how you get on. And good luck!!:D

carwash_2006

When you take the dog outside at the danger times for going to the toilet, keep him on a lead until he does go and then you will be right there to praise him. Don't interact with him until he goes, he will go out of boredom in most cases, there's nothing else to do :pac:

Also make really sure that the spot where he is going has been really thoroughly cleaned. What have you been using to disinfect it? You must not use bleach as that will make it worse, white vinegar as Sharpshooterh suggested is the cheapest and easiest but if it doesn't work you may need to get something from a pet store that is designed for cleaning up wee.

~Thalia~

Best thing to clean the scent indoors when you are mopping up is biological washing powder. Just add some to the bucket of boiling water when you are cleaning up and this will take away the scent.