[meehkim]

My 3.5 month mini has been pretty good with potty training..he usually goes on his pee pad. we gave him more freedom for a week, and he always ran to his pee pad whenever he needed to go. Yesterday, he was sniffing around in his play area and went on the carpet PURPOSELY!! what could possibly cause him to do this? My fiancee got really mad at him, and he was scared to go on his pee pad, but then I re-trained him and for the last 12 hours and he was fine. This morning he went pee on his pee pad before his walk, went for a short 10 minute walk, and he peed in his play area on the carpet AGAIN in the middle of his feeding time! I do not think it is some sort of urinary infection after watching him make his first accident yesterday. What could possibly make his learning go backwards? :wacko:

 

[cbrand]

I guess my first question would be, why are you using pee-pads? These are generally counter productive to house training. I would get rid of them.

You need to take away his access to the carpeted areas. Use x-pens or baby gates to make this happen. Keep him on hard surfaces like the kitchen floor. You need to clean the soiled carpet area with an enzyme cleaner so that he won't be temped to go there again.

Finally, I house train dogs by using the crate. Out of the crate... outside... potty (party party party). Back in the house for 20-30 minutes of supervised loose time in a confined area. He should not need to go potty during this time, but watch him to see if he can last a full 20-30 minutes. Then.....Outside .... potty again (party party party). If he goes, then he can come inside for more time with you. If he doesn't go, then back into the crate for a time.

He will get used to holding it inside and eliminating outside.

 

[nab]

Three and a half months is too young to be reliably potty trained. Accidents are bound to happen.
Dogs do not pee 'on purpose', they need to form habits by not letting them make mistakes.

I'm wondering why you are using pee pads too. To me, training a dog to use a pee pad and then to go outdoors is difficult. I'd just train to go outdoors right from the start.

 

[Cdnjennga]

Three and a half months is too young to be reliably potty trained. Accidents are bound to happen.
Dogs do not pee 'on purpose', they need to form habits by not letting them make mistakes.

Agreed. There's some good suggestions here. I would also ensure you are using an enzyme cleaner on your carpet to ensure the smell is completely gone from there, otherwise your pup will most likely continue to use that spot as it smells like a spot to use.

 

[meehkim]

yea, we always use an enzyme cleaner when he has accidents. we use pee pads so he is able to go while we are away at work. it's hard to consistently take him out while we are at work. we always praise him when he goes on his pee pads, and that's pretty much what we want him to do for now. we always keep him small confined play area and near the pee pads because once it's out of sight, it's out of mind.

i guess my next question would be how do we transition from pee pads to house training? i know it's going to be hard since we're forming a pee-pad habit...but it's hard when we're not home for long periods during the day. suggestions?

 

[Izaia]

I'll second cbrand on the crate training. The crate can be very useful for potty training as well as safety for the puppy(ie keeping them from chewing/eating anything while you're unable to supervise). I've got a 10 wk old mini puppy here now, so I feel your pain on housetraining front but the crate is making things smoother.

Now I've never used pee pads, but what I would do to transition is move the pee pad closer to the door that leads outside every day. Eventually you'll be putting the pad outside in the yard where you want him to potty then eliminating the pads. Or, you could try taking a soiled pad and putting it in the potty spot outside to see if the pup will take the hint.

 

[cbrand]

As a breeder I seriously discourage the use of pee pads because it confuses the house training issue. You are basically teaching your puppy from the beginning to go potty in the house and that early training can be hard to overcome in the future.

I require the use of crates for all the puppies I sell. It is actually in my contract because house training issues are one of the #1 reasons people give up their dogs.

The general rule of thumb is that during the day, a puppy can stay in a crate for as many hours as it is months old + one hour. So a 3.5 month old puppy could stay in a crate for 4-5 hours at a time before it had to be let out. Typically folks who work will have a friend, neighbor or paid dog walker take their puppy out during the day when they are at work. While it is not ideal to spend a whole day in a crate, it is the reality for many dogs who are owned by people who work full time. You just have to make up for it before and after work with lots of one-on-one time with the puppy.

 

[nab]

You can transiton from pee pads by taking a pad that's been peed on outdoors and placing it where you want her to pee. Praise her when she does.
Gradually take pieces of the pad outdoors and keep taking her back to the same spot.
Dogs love to pee on other doggie smells. So if you have another dog or another dog pees somewhere (don't take her somewhere where the dogs might have worms or other contagious diseases) let her smell around and praise and/or give her a treat when she goes.

 

[KPoos]

I guess my first question would be, why are you using pee-pads? These are generally counter productive to house training. I would get rid of them.

You need to take away his access to the carpeted areas. Use x-pens or baby gates to make this happen. Keep him on hard surfaces like the kitchen floor. You need to clean the soiled carpet area with an enzyme cleaner so that he won't be temped to go there again.

Finally, I house train dogs by using the crate. Out of the crate... outside... potty (party party party). Back in the house for 20-30 minutes of supervised loose time in a confined area. He should not need to go potty during this time, but watch him to see if he can last a full 20-30 minutes. Then.....Outside .... potty again (party party party). If he goes, then he can come inside for more time with you. If he doesn't go, then back into the crate for a time.

He will get used to holding it inside and eliminating outside.

This is the best advice right here. This is exactly what I do and I couldn't imagine life with a puppy without a crate of some kind. Hate puppy pads and unless you want him to continue to go on those things you'd better get rid of them now.

 

[Teddy'smomma]

We only used the puppy pads when we went to my aunt and uncle's house for new years eve the first time he was with us. He was so good about going on there. But the rest of the time we would actually leave our door to our back deck open so he could potty on the snow out there because we were training him in the middle of January in Upstate NY. He learned in two weeks that the potty place was outside, not in his playpen or on the floor. They learn quick if you just even for the weekends take them out every half hour or so. Good luck.