Toilet training - am I doing it right

[Miss]

Hey guys!

So I'm trying to train my lil 11 week old jacks to pee outside but I need advice. I trained my older girl , tuppence, to pee outside successfully by using pads while I was at work (till she was old enough to hold it) and leaving the door open while I was at home. She had few accidents. I know all pups learn at different rates , that's fine, but I'm concerned I'm confusing jacks. See I have moved since tuppence was housebroken, and now we live in a house with 3 flights of stairs! The breeder was adamant he should not be allowed to try stairs till he's 6 mths . So I have put a pad down on each lower level, and left the door open on the yard level. He mostly goes on the grass when I take him out and about 70% of the time he goes in the pad. The breeder used pads too. Getting to the point, all the 'talk' against using pads here has me worried that once he can do the stairs , he won't because he will think it's ok to go inside? Oh, and he surprisingly, wakes me to take him out of his crate at night to go to the toilet

 

[mellie]

I think pee pads give them the idea that it's ok to go in the house, so I didn't use them myself. Just frequent trips outside, right after waking up and eating and playing and keeping track of her whenever she was not crated. I would have her on a leash with me in the house so I could keep an eye on her at all times giving her more freedom as she got older. It's great that Jacks knows to wake you up to go out. He is aware that he needs to go and doesn't want to soil his crate. I know others have like you, successfully used the pads ,so if it's working well with Jacks why worry ?

 

[Miss]

Thanks Melinda I have been trying to tough it out with the pads, I know it's going to be slow goings thought given the amount of stairs and the distance to the yard, we are going to have accidents anyway. I've set the timer to remind me to take him out 15 mins after he eats and or drinks, and this has helped. He's not used to the lead yet( we are practicing) but he pretty much just follows me around anyways. The accidents today happened 1) while playing and tuppence bolted up the stairs to go potty, but jacks couldn't follow so he did it at the bottom, I wasn't as fast as either of them to get there in time:0 2) The second was jacks peeing a foot away from the pad!

I'm def going to keep him on the leash more and more as he gets bigger and more used to it

 

[Caro]

Deska was hand reared and the breeder took him to work so he peed on newspaper and never outside, that did make things difficult but once I discovered pee pads I actually found it easier to transition him. I just put a pee pad outside for him to use and eventually took it away.

Tully came already house trained but used pee pads (and later a home made toilet of fake grass over clumping kitty litter in a plastic container lid) because she couldn't hold on over night. She used this until she was 2yrs old and never had an accident in the house - except if you count the time she peed on my pillow as an adolescent!

I you aren't at home it would be better to contain him on a play pen with a pee pad just in that spot, too many spots may get confusing.

Does Tuppence still use the pee pads? Whenever you can make sure he sees her pee outside. You can use the marker word when she is peeing and give her a cheer so he knows she's doing something good. Dogs seem to pick up these things much better from other dogs.

 

[labgirl]

I was told pee pads were a bad idea when I had Cadbury and so I tried to just keep taking him outside. He was a nightmare to house-train, especially over-night as he just would not cry to be let out. In the end he was peeing and pooping in the kitchen anyway. We finally clicked it, but it was a real hard job.

Move on three years and Merlin came to me paper trained. Everyone was telling me paper-trained dogs will always pee in the house, on papers, etc. Well I decided to continue with paper and pads but wean him onto peeing outside. I had a pad/paper arrangement in the living room and one in my bedroom where he slept over night. I also started taking him outside and he would follow Cadbury to pee. Those pee pads were brilliant. He always used them, and when he started heading towards one it gave me a good cue to know to take him outside. After a couple of weeks he was going outside during the day, so I removed the pad/paper in the living room. I kept the one in my bedroom for emergencies, which was good because if I missed his signs he would head for that pad and pee there. Never had an accident on the floor and he was house-trained really quickly and easily.

So much less stress then Cadbury. He has never peed on a newspaper nor in the house - unless you count scent marking the cat's litter tray which is a whole different matter.

So I think it is really what works for your dog. Next pup along I will use the same paper method, but with plenty of trips outside, the paper just for emergencies when I miss the signs.

 

[Miss]

Thanks for the advice guys Tuppence was pad trained , but we eventually trained her to pee outside with no accidents when she was 1 and could hold it while I was at work. Jacks has kind of been peeing when she does, but only if he is out there with her, but because he can't do the stairs yet , she dosent 'wait' for us to keep up!! We will have to just keep trying, I'm sure he will get it eventually, he's a sheltie!