Toilet Training. A slight rectangular problem

[Cassandra & Honey]

Hey everyone, hope all is well .

Ocea and Honey sleep in with me at night, so Ocea just uses the puppy floor pee pads during the night and whenever she is inside in the day for an extended period of time.

In the last few weeks we have encountered a small, but messy problem with her bathroom breaks.

She's taken up peeing/pooping on anything rectangular. So all the door mats outside have at some stage been peed/pooped on and if someones not around to get to her in time while she's inside, she will also go on mats that are inside.

She has gone on a couch a couple of times also that has square cushions.

I have just been telling her NO, then putting her straight outside when i see her doing this. But most the time she does it when she's outside on the outside mats.

Any ideas on how i can stop her doing this? Will she grow out of it?

Would she be doing this because they seem the same to her as the pee pads?

I don't want to stop using the pee pads because they're great for during the night.

Cass. xxx

[Mazz]

Hey everyone, hope all is well .

Ocea and Honey sleep in with me at night, so Ocea just uses the puppy floor pee pads during the night and whenever she is inside in the day for an extended period of time.

In the last few weeks we have encountered a small, but messy problem with her bathroom breaks.

She's taken up peeing/pooping on anything rectangular. So all the door mats outside have at some stage been peed/pooped on and if someones not around to get to her in time while she's inside, she will also go on mats that are inside.

She has gone on a couch a couple of times also that has square cushions.

I have just been telling her NO, then putting her straight outside when i see her doing this. But most the time she does it when she's outside on the outside mats.

Any ideas on how i can stop her doing this? Will she grow out of it?

Would she be doing this because they seem the same to her as the pee pads?

I don't want to stop using the pee pads because they're great for during the night.

Cass. xxx

PEE PADS. Fine for when you are not home. When you are home, I would not use them. Get up and take her out. That's what I would recommend. I got up every two hours every night with Zoya, until she was about four months old. That's when she finally could go all through the night. Since Zoya was three months of age, she has not gone potty in the house once. And I think getting up and taking her out several times a night, played a major role in training her that the outside was her bathroom, not the living room carpet.

Otherwise, your dog is getting the message, it's OK to go potty in the house. Pee pads are square or rectangular, and that's what I normally go on, so if they are not around, I must go on something square or rectangular. Now, I know dogs don't rationalize like that, but that's basically what she's been trained to do, and she's doing as she's been trained. I know you don't like the idea of having to get up in the middle of the night, get dressed, rub the sleep out of your eyes, find the lead, and take her out. But you also must not like having to clean up the mess she makes, otherwise, you would not be posting the queery.

Bottom line, take her out more often. Try to avoid the use of pee pads unless you are not home. Don't skold her for making a mess in the house, since that's what she's been trained to do. You need to put not only some discipline in her life, but some sence of regimen as well. The sooner you start, the sooner you'll be able to trust her to use the outside for her bathroom. Good luck.

[magical Merlin]

I agree with Dave.

I would remove the pads altogether and start again from scratch. How old is your girl?

The general rule for pups is; If it wakes up take it out, if its been playing take it out, if its eaten, take it out, if it sniffs the floor take it out!

I would go back to taking her outside once an hour and as soon as she does any business mark it with a word eg Wee then give her a treat when shes done. Eventually she'll pick up that going out for a WEE means go do it and by getting a treat your rewarding her for doing it in the right place. If you catch her doing it in the house try making a sound like ah ah ah and chasing her out side. If you dont catch her dont say anything

x

[Cassandra & Honey]

Oh so i've been doing everything all wrong! I thought pee pads were what were used nowadays for pups.

Thanks so much for the replies heather and dave . I really appreciate it.

Pee pads will be gone, i will try and wake up during the night, i'll set an alarm for every couple hours. From what i see of her at night, she pees around 3am, or around 6am. and both times she gets up , then talks to me, then walks around for a moment, then goes to the pad. So it does look like she wants to go outside.I'll just have to become a better owner for her .

She's around 14-15 weeks old. I'm still waiting on her papers from the man i got her from, so i dont have an exact birthdate. Which is really wrong, i paid for her and he went all dodgy at soon as he got money off me. So i'll be calling him tomorrow or going around to his house for those.

But i think she'll take to the new regimen really well, she's very quick with any other training i do with her, so i don't think it's a lost cause... the mats will be safe soon!!

[Mazz]

Cass, do you have her in a crate at night? I know some don't like crates, but if you can set it up so she goes in for bed time, that may help quite a bit. Zoya was in a crate at night when we first brought her home. She'd wake me up with her whimpering and I'd take her out. We have a huge wire crate, and it had an insert panel that sized the interior down when she was a pup. Huskies are normally very clean dogs, and they do not like to mess in their own bed.

[Cassandra & Honey]

I never went ahead with getting her a crate. We've never crated dogs before, so i was really unsure of how it all worked. And didn't want to do it wrong and cause more problems. So i just gave up on the idea.

Oh that sounds promising that they don't like to mess up where they sleep. So if i were to start crating with her very soon, she'd take to it ok?

[sutsibe]

Maybe - maybe not! Crating has several advantages, one of which is that sometimes, for example at the vet's, they need to be able to be in a crate. It also makes traveling safer, if you can manage one in your vehicle. Most dogs do not like to soil the area in which they sleep - that's generally true! The hard part is to ignore the temper tantrum if she decides she doesn't like it. If you give in and let her out before she quits, it will ever after be harder to teach her that it's an ok experience. You might want to introduce the crate by leaving it open for a while, putting favorite toys and treats in it, so it becomes a really good place to go. The first time you shut her in it, if possible, wear her out, first, so that she's likely to want to sleep. It will generally greatly reduce complaints! Or at least shorten their duration... Also, try to make sure she's completely emptied her bowel and bladder before, if you can! Good luck!

[magical Merlin]

At 14 weeks old you shouldn't need to get up in the night. The last time she should eat should be no later than 5-6pm and you should aim to be going to bed between 10 and 11 as long as she has been to the toilet before you go to bed. Then getting up at 6 am should be fine.

Crates can work well, although i've had a few pups that still messed in them, however it does contain the mess....

You need to make the crate the best place inthe world for your pup. To start you have to feed in the crate with the door open, then after a few days you would push the door closed, then after a few days start shutting the door and extending the time after feeding the pup is in there.

It takes a while...all toys should be in the crate, pups only bed should be in the crate and you have to encourage her to go in and out on her own. If you shut her in too early it will be a bad place and she wont want to go in. The idea of a crate is that its the best place in the world for the dog and it goes in and out as it wants, You only shut it in when you have too and when you do it has to be an even better experience.

[Cassandra & Honey]

thanks for the advice everyone, i'm printing it off right now.

I'll be able to pick her up a crate next week i think when i have some extra cash...

It should go well, so far she's been a lovely dog and not all that naughty for a pup.If i stick to the tips about crate training then i'm sure all will go well.

But until then, i will take the pads away and make sure i pay more attention to her and take her outside more often..

[BingBlaze n Skyla]

good luck cass let us no how u get on x

[Rob]

We have used a crate on a night for the last 3 weeks and they work wonders, never messed in it and he always tells us when he wants to go, i got ours for £30 delivered on ebay, well worth it.

[Cassandra & Honey]

Thanks nix

What size crate should i be looking at? One that she won't grow out of i'm guessing, so i don't have to waste money buying another. Do i get the largest?

[Sarah]

i'd get a big one - you can get a partition to put down the middle to reduce the area until she grows into her crate