Toilet training a puppy in a 2nd floor apartment.

Dinos Owner

Hey guys,

So I'm new here, I'm Adam. I've recently gotten an 8 week old puppy, He's a Shih Tzu Toy Terrier cross named Dino, Now in the past I have had no issue training any dog I have ever had, Husky, Lab, Jack Russell's Etc. But maybe its this breed or I am just rusty? He seems to have no interest in using the pads anymore, he used it twice and got a lot of praise and then its like it never happened. Now as I write this I did bring him out to the balcony and he has just pee'd and I am so proud now lol. But does anyone have any other advice for me to aid in the training? I have been thinking of putting some artificial grass on the balcony (keeping it clean after every use of course) But I am unsure of it would be a pointless expense? I have also just ordered some sprays to remove odours from "Accidents" and some for encouraging the action in the area you want. I really don't know what else to add about it, I did confuse him by having 3 pads in 3 different rooms which I now know was a bad idea and there is now only 1 pad beside the balcony door. If anyone has any info or feedback for me that would be great, Really want this little guy to be the happiest he can be as its been some time since I have been in a position to own and care for a dog again.. Thanks guys, Adam.

I should also add. When I do see him begin to need to go I will bring him to the balcony now but he instantly looses interest and will not go no matter how long we sit there and he could be inside 2 minutes and he will have gone on the floor again..

busheisha

Hello.
Young puppies always can not suffer. Use it! So, after his feeding or watering or sleeping put him onto a pad and calmly wait... be patient. When he do it, praise and play with him and give he a craic with other methods (you can give him some food, take him onto your bad, Etc).
After time ya will put him near the pad and he must go to a pad. Then you can increase a distance)
Don't swear or unsettle when (not if) he will miss.

ShaShaBear

Dump the puppy pads
All they are doing is teaching your puppy that it is perfectly okay to urinate in the house. It takes months to toilet train a puppy, which can be easily forgotten when you're rusty.
He's only an ickle baby, and you probably are confusing him by giving him the run of the apartment and basically giving him licence to pee in all the rooms as long as he aims on something on the ground
Puppies are actually very, very predictable in their toileting habits - they go very shortly after eating, drinking, napping and playing. Take them out about 10-15 minutes after ALL of the above, and wait. You might wait 2 minutes, you might wait 20. But you have to wait. I'd recommend getting a very high value treat that puppy loves, and when they go outside, throw a fricking party. Praise, pets, belly rubs, kisses, treats. Some dogs work better for praise, some for physical touch and some for food (I have a foodie). This way, you're covering all bases in ensuring he will want to do it again.
Are you getting up regularly through the night to let him outside? He shouldn't be left during the night

razorblunt

We took on an adult rescue dog this time last year. Whilst not a puppy we did have to go through retraining with her. Our approach was very similar to the above, we'd use a word everytime we took her out "Weez" was our word. Then out the back we'd try and say it loudly and happily as she was doing her business. Once done we'd make a big fuss of her and give her a little treat.

At night then we initially brought her out at 12, 2am, 4am and once more when I was up at 6am. We then played around with these times, missing the 2am, or the 4. Skipping 12 and 4. Now it's a whole night without going out, unless she asks to go out, which she might do given how warm it was that day and how much water we consumed.

Patience is the key, even for an adult dog it took a good 2 months to become solid and we'd still see "accidents" after 4 months.
She's great now though.

The other thing we tried was never fully chastise her, we caught her in the act once and quickly shifted her out. If we came home to see an accident we'd clean it up and move on.

Dinos Owner

Hey guys. Ok so as for the nights I never actually heard of the getting up part of training 😕 but surprisingly he will sleep all night with no accidents. He will "come to bed" get some cuddle time and into his own bed by 12 and then we're up at 8. I catch 90% of the signs and we have successful outdoor relieving in which case as you said I throw a party it's like Christmas for a kid. He seems a little irritated to poo outside though so I am going to get some grass and see if that helps him. All is going pretty well and we're only a week in. He is very good and adapting to all sorts of training like a whizz.

I've never punished him for accidents just pretty much say "silly boy" the same as I do when he falls over, slips, knocks his bowl or falls off the couches 😂 (he is never hurt the floor is soft) I'm hoping overtime the word silly will register as woops that was a mistake in his mind and assist. Crazy theory but hey.

Thanks for all the help guys. I'm going to become more vigilant and get a lot of my busy work down while he sleeps so I don't slip up on the training. Hopefully I'm doing ok haha.

Dinos Owner

So it seems that all our training has gone backwards. He no longer seems to go outside now even on walks it's very rare. He has reverted to going indoors mainly which is pretty upsetting. At this point I'm at a loss I don't know what to do from here to fix it

Latatian

Did anything happen? Did he get a fright?

ShaShaBear

Dinos Owner wrote: »

So it seems that all our training has gone backwards. He no longer seems to go outside now even on walks it's very rare. He has reverted to going indoors mainly which is pretty upsetting. At this point I'm at a loss I don't know what to do from here to fix it

Are you taking him outside to go on a lead by any chance? I had a dog that would literally not, EVER, go to the toilet if he was on a lead. Second you took it off, he'd go. You need to stick at it though, it really can take months, not days

busheisha

Don't remove nappies at home. He will use it for lot of time.
Walk as long as it possible and encourage dog for urinating outdoors some more than for urinating indoors. If you walk realy lo-o-o-o-n-n-ng, he can't wait for urinating indoors. If he wants to go home, walking until he urinates and then quikly go home. You may not encourage dog for urinating indoors, but don't nag. You may nag if he If he misses the diaper.
Let you do it all.

tk123

Do you still have the pads down OP? Are you cleaning up any accidents properly with something to break down the enzymes/scent e.g. non-bio washing powder?