Housetraining

[Bellesmom]

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Hi all.
Now belle is 14 weeks and when my hubby is out she asks to go out and we have no accidents. The moment he comes home she wees on the puppy pads. Now if she was attached to him I could sort of understand it. But she is definitely my dog as she is my shadow and rarely goes to him for attention. Any ideas on why she wees inside when he is home would help me stop it please.
Thanks

 

[Violet Turner]

Toilet training for puppies: basic tips & techniques

 

[Josie]

I don’t know much about pups but is just excitement wees?

I went to a sprocker puppy this week and she wee’d everywhere when I came in! Just wouldn’t stop!!

 

[Bellesmom]

That I could understand but no..when he is not here she asks to go out. When he is here she just goes to the pad and wees. Almost as if she is making me out to be a liar saying she has been good all day lol .

 

[JudyN]

It's possible that she got confused somewhere down the line - maybe your hubby praised her for going on the puppy pad and she decided that was the rule, and has stuck to it. You'd be better off getting rid of the puppy pads and stick with taking her out as often as possible. Puppy pads reinforce the idea that it's OK to toilet indoors, and their texture can also seem a bit like carpet...

 

[Bellesmom]

Hi Judy
You could be on to something there. He did praise her the first day. I will try tomorrow without pads and see how she goes. Hopefully she will be like she is with me and ask to go out in the garden.

 

[Maggie Mul]

uh oh! I think you may have answered the question I was about to ask. We are struggling with the toilet training. We live open plan so have sectioned off half the lounge/diner and our pup has access to kitchen, utilities, and dining room, so we can keep a better eye on her and as a family, this is where we spend most of our time. When we take her out, which is often, she usually will wee on command. However, she does not make any effort to go to the door when inside and just pees on the pads. We praised her when she started doing this as it was a marked improvement from doing it all over the floor!! Is the praise we gave her the reason why she doesn't make an effort to go to the door? She thinks she is doing the right thing? If we removed the pads, I fear she is just going to start doing it all over the floor again? Confused about what is the way forward now!

 

[JoanneF]

I dislike puppy pads for the reasons you have found - they confuse the puppy about whether indoor toileting is allowed or not. However as she is weeing on the pads, what I would do now is take a pad outside with you (maybe even a used one if you can bear to) that has the smell. Other than that, keep up massive praise and reward when they toilet outdoors and timing is key - as soon as they toilet without any time lag, so they get it that that's the reason for the reward; it's not for coming to you or anything else. Some people find it helpful to have a special high value reward that is only given for outdoor toilets such as roast chicken or frankfurter sausage. And 4 or 5 tiny pieces seems to have higher reward factor than one piece of equivalent size.

Indoors an enzymatic cleaner will remove any residual scent that might tempt them to wee where they have done before.

 

[JudyN]

I haven't used puppy pads, but I also wonder if you could move the pad slightly closer to the door each day (if you have more than one pad lying around, gradually reduce the number). Then she'll be going to the door when she needs to wee, and you can swiftly let her out before she has the chance to wee on the pad. If she still wants to use the pad by the door, you could also try cutting it down so it's a little smaller each day.

 

[Ruth_F]

We cheated and got a dog flap. The last puppy we had, who is now about 6 years old, basically housetrained himself

 

[Maggie Mul]

I haven't used puppy pads, but I also wonder if you could move the pad slightly closer to the door each day (if you have more than one pad lying around, gradually reduce the number). Then she'll be going to the door when she needs to wee, and you can swiftly let her out before she has the chance to wee on the pad. If she still wants to use the pad by the door, you could also try cutting it down so it's a little smaller each day.

So I have removed one of the pads and just have the one left in the kitchen and then by the door where she goes out to the garden. We have just been outside playing fetch for a while, she comes in and pees on the pad inside by the door!! The door is also wide open!!! When she pees outside she gets a treat and a fan fayre of a reaction for peeing outside - I thought she had made the connection with wee outside and get a treat but it seems not as she just came in to do it!!! I like to idea of making the pads smaller. First I will get rid of the one by the kitchen and then make the one by the front door smaller over a few days. Do you think that sounds an ok plan? She is only 13 weeks old - we have had her since 7 weeks, and I must admit I thought we would have it sorted by now, but I guess she just needs a little more time!

 

[JudyN]

Oh, it's still very early days, she twigged early on that it's OK to go on puppy pads, and I dare say she's still caught short occasionally as her bladder control's not fully there. Imagine if your bladder was a little iffy, and you were standing right by a pay-per-pee toilet when you got a strong urge to go but knew there was a free toilet 200 yards away - chances are you'd dive straight into the pay-per-pee one In fact, just the sight/smell of the puppy pad might trigger the urge to go.

Also, pups do often do a double wee - go into the garden, wee, come back in... and wee. You could try taking her right back outside as soon as she's come in to see if she'll go again.

I think there's a lot of puppy owners who would give their eye teeth for a pup who just weed in the garden and on pads. See how your plan for reducing the pads goes but be prepared to try a different 'reduction routine' if she starts using the carpet instead - the fewer 'errors' the better.

 

[Maggie Mul]

Imagine if your bladder was a little iffy, and you were standing right by a pay-per-pee toilet when you got a strong urge to go but knew there was a free toilet 200 yards away - chances are you'd dive straight into the pay-per-pee one

Ha, ha!! That made me laugh out loud!!! And put it into perspective too!! Thank you! Yes, I am very grateful she uses the pads and is not going all over the floors!! Maggie is a sweetie and has stolen our hearts, so we will keep encouraging her and just wait until she is ready!! Thanks so much for your comments and advice.

 

[Caro Perry]

It can take a while - sounds like she is getting there slowly. Harri did the double wee trick too. He's now almost 6 months old and I think we've finally turned the corner. The onus is still very much on me to anticipate when he needs to go and make sure he's whisked outside in time. He does sort of ask but it's subtle and if I'm looking in the wrong direction I miss it