Potty pad training

[Ariana Perez-Cantu]

Hi there!

We welcomed Moose into our family this week and he is the most loving and amazing puppy I've ever met. Training him has been a breeze! We have had a few accidents so I decided to put out a potty pad or two in case we could not take him out in time (he is pretty good at ringing a bell or whining but he sometimes forgets!). But I cannot get him to use the potty pads!! When I take him out and say "Go Potty" he just sits and looks up at me and wags his tail. We even cleaned up an accident using a pad and tried to temp him to use it since it already had his scent, but it did not work! We've tried putting them in different places like tile, carpet, and the cement patio out front but we've had no luck... Does anyone have any suggestions or products to try?


Read more here: http://www.doodlekisses.com/forum/topic/showPreview?groupUrl=puppym...

[Rosemary (Ro) and Enzo]

I guess my first question is WHY, would you encourage him to go in the house???? Unless this is something you want to continue into adulthood, ithis is a very bad idea.

[Ariana Perez-Cantu]

No, it is not a terrible idea. And as I mention, we use it for accidents only. We have him on a very precise schedule. But if he NEEDS to go, and he has not made it, I would rather his accidents happen on a pad , instead of the floors.

[Rosemary (Ro) and Enzo]

And how do you get through to him, it's ok this time, but not the next time? You are sending a very young puppy mixed signals. If he can make it to a pad, he can make to outdoors.

[Sally M]

Personally, I would suggest you housebreak him. If you continue to teach him to go in the house, he will grow up thinking it's OK to go in the house forever. I wouldn't want that. He's young so housebreaking won't happen right away but keep taking him out and he'll eventually "get the message". Don't give him the message that's it's OK to go inside. I have a friend who has a tiny Yorkie. She lets her dog use potty pads. Quite frankly, her whole house smells like urine. It's gross.

[Ariana Perez-Cantu]

Ew! We're only using the pad for the patio out front. He live in a high rise condo so if he NEEDS to go, he can use that, as a last resort only. I just don't want him piddling on the carpet, because if he uses that, he will take on to the smell, and he will continue on the carpet!

[Julie, Eloise & Beasley]

I'm sorry to say, he WILL have accidents on the floors - there's no way around it (unless you just luck out, and that has nothing to do with the puppy!). He's so young - and as smart as they are, there will still be times when he doesn't remember or doesn't even know he has to go until it's NOW.  Remember they're still getting accustomed to their little bodies.  It takes many puppies months to be fully potty trained.

You need to use Nature's Miracle, an enzyme cleaner, wherever he does potty in the house.  That's the only thing that will take care of the scent so he won't repeat in that spot.  There have been several discussions on DK also about real grass (and artificial) "potty spots" that people with balconies use - you might search for some of those discussions.

[Sue Bulley]

My vet suggested we not use the puppy pads along with letting them potty outside. He thinks it confuses them. He said either all puppy pad training or all outside potty training.

[Nancy, Ned, Clancy, and Charlie]

A puppy is not like we are - I would rather pee in my own toilet, but know if I really need to go I can use a public one - they don't have that judgement.  Either train him to a potty pad or don't. If you want him to use a potty pad place it in one spot and take him potty there.  Some of our members have put sod in a box on their patio and trained the dog to use that because they live in apartments or because it is just too cold.  Hopefully they will chime in here and let you know whether they did this as a stopgap or forever.  I would carry the dog until you get to the outside area where you want him to potty.