Stop playing with the Pee-Pee Pad!

[RedRain3535]

I have a 4mon old Yorkie puppy who just loves to play! He's been much better about potty training in recent weeks and we are thankful for that! He truly thinks that just about everything is fun and exciting, which is normally just as much fun for us, with the exception of his pee-pee pad!

He's getting much better about using the pad, but he also thinks its fun to lie on it, play with it, nap on it, eat on it, etc...

I've kept it as far away as I can from his food & sleeping area to create 2 very distinct and seperate areas. I've had to put weights on the corners to keep him from twisting it in knots when we are gone. I've made his sleeping area pretty cushy & inviting. I've tried to redirect him when I see him on it for something other than his "business" and reward him when he only uses it for the correct purpose.

So far, nothing has worked longer than the immediate moment. I know that he's rolling around on it when we are gone. He's been getting baths about every 2 days for weeks now, because he always smells of urine.

What can I do to help him learn that his pee pee pad isn't for play (or nap) time?

[mimimomo]

I don't have any kind of training advice as they train me & I sort of rearrange everything & my life around them lolll...he will eventually out grow it.

I use washable pads. But the problem w/washables is that they don't know the difference, so they will go potty on the rugs. We have no rugs in this house.

[MY OSCAR]

hi, i had that same problem with oscar.
he refused to "go" on the pads , only wanted to play with them. He did all his pottys on the carpets.
so after putting up with that for a few months i got
him the rascal dog litterbox which uses a grate . After a brief training period he now uses it 100% and he has free run of the house.

[RedRain3535]

We have 2 washable pads in the house. He's better about using the one outside of his "house"/playpen area (where he stays when we are at work). However, he will use it, and then play on it (gross!)

He redirects well when I catch him laying on it to chew on his bone or play. But I have no way of catching and redirecting him when we're at work. After the first few weeks, he's gotten much better about not going on the rug. We've had a few accidents, but he's definitely figured out that isn't the right spot!

We initially tried to teach him to go outside. We had a very mild winter in our area and as a result, we've had a HORRIBLE time with ticks and other bugs this spring/summer. We found 5 ticks on our poor baby in the first 3 days that we had him, so Mommy called a halt to that idea until he was old enough to start on tick medicine. Even after we started him on medication, he was still picking up ticks even though we were keeping the grass cut, trying to keep him on sparse areas, etc... So Mommy again called a halt to that idea.

Unfortunately (and I know that this isn't helping) the stop and start and stop of outside training hasn't helped things. On top of things, our placement of the pads was disrupted due to some flooring repairs we had to have done. They were supposed to be done weeks ago, but as these things go, we still have no flooring in over a 1/3 of our home on the first floor. Currently, the placement of the pad outside of his play area isn't ideal (very close to main walkway), and I know that's not making things any easier for the little guy.

Knowing this, I know that we won't be able to get 100% from him until we're consistent. And we won't be able to be consistent until the repairs are finished at a minimum. We've had bad timing for sure! For right now, I just want to try and come up with a method to teach him that no matter where the pad is, it's for one purpose only!

[maryj]

I started with pads and have them placed in 3 areas of the house, because he has needs faster than i can get him out the door, plus when I am not home, I want him to know the "place" to go. After feeding I take him directly outside, but sometimes he comes right back in and goes straight upstairs to poo on a pad!
Is it possible to train him to use pads and outside at the same time. I also ring the bells each time we go out. But Bailey is only 12 wks old, am I expecting too much at this age?
He doesnt seem to mind a pee soiled pad at all! or laying/playing on it! I thought it was a good idea to leave at least one spot so he would know the smell to go back there.

[mimodok]

Since we have rugs, we won't be using the washable pee pee pads because their texture is too similar to a rug. The disposable pee pee pads are unique enough that, once trained, the dog should only potty there while inside.

Our pee pee pad is placed on a vinyl floor. If Mishka starts playing with her pad, we tape all of the edges down with masking tape. The pee pee pad stops being fun quickly afterwards!

[ChelseyK]

I can't believe i never thought of taping down the corners!!! that's such a great idea... my baby will be 4 months on august 6 and she definitely does not care how many times shes peed on the pad, she lays on them, brings her toys on them, and occaisionally drags them across "her room" (a wide open hallway between my bedroom and bathroom that is baby gated off for her). Luckily she doesn't play with them TOO much, but it does worry me that she doesnt know the difference between where she should and shouldn't go when she lays on them or brings her toys on them... her area is big enough that she has a clearly defined bed area with a pillow as well as a small crate that i leave open for her because she likes to sleep in it occaisionally, as well as an area for her food and water, and some room to play....luckily i had an area in my apartment that was sort of perfect for her, and she is usually GREAT in there....whenever i come home there are always spots on the mats, and when shes in there she knows where to go.

she's also gotten a lot better when i have her on my bed with me and now usually lets me know when she wants to get down to go potty...i've had some trouble distinguishing between her "i wanna get down and pee" barks vs. her "i'm distracted by something and want to run and play somewhere else" barks....but, i'm hoping we'll figure that out in time

...the problem with my little Georgie girl is that when she plays in the living room she just gets too distracted to think about where to pee. My roomate has a 7 pound older poodle mix that Georgie wants to play with ALL the time, and she also likes that she has a bigger area to run in the living room. problem is, shes so happy to run around and play with the big dog that she stops and pees with absolutely zero warning and then is off running around again before i can really tell her no (i know her mind is already on to the next thing) Right now when we're in the living room i leave the gate to the side so she can go back in to her room for food or water or to grab another toy...or pee lol.... i also put one at the far end of the living room by the front door so that as soon as she finishes her shots and i can take her outside, she'll already head to the door when she needs to go....she'll go on the one by the door every now and then, but i think because she cant really see it she forgets that its there (and i havent been able to really make her go on it because she gets too distracted by the bigger space to focus on peeing when i do put her on it) I also worry that maybe im just confusing her and should teach her to go back into her room to pee...but the problem with that is, from her perspective, "why would i leave the big dog and the people to go into my room alone and pee"....as well as the problem that i do eventually want her to tell me at the door when she has to go, and i wonder if that will be a problem if shes going BACK into my room when she had to pee.

....on a slightly different potty note....does anyone know of a way to tell them they're missing the pad when they go there with the right intention, but then have one side of the body on and one side of the body off and miss??? she does this a lot and i dont want to tell her no, because i know she thinks shes doing it right and i'm proud of her for trying and knowing in general where to go....but really, ive had to throw away SO many pee pee pads now because the pee gets underneath it from the side...and idk how long i should l let her miss before i start correcting her


Thanks for any advice you guys have!! I've been reading yt for months now, but just joined last night and this is my first post really glad this site exists

[mimodok]

Gaining control of the bladder and bowels is a physical maturation process that just takes time. Some puppies develop control a little faster than others. Puppies also have a short attention span so they are easily distracted. One moment they might think they need to pee, they'll get distracted by something, and then suddenly--pee pee emergency!

Reducing the play area your puppy has reduces the amount of area your puppy can make bathroom mistakes in. Puppies don't completely develop object permanence until 12 weeks of age. Babies don't develop object permanence for a long time either. This is why peek-a-boo is so much fun. When you disappear behind your hands, the baby thinks you have genuinely disappeared. They are truly surprised when you reappear from thin air.

Imagine, if a puppy doesn't have object permanence and the pee pee pad isn't visible--the pee pee pad must not exist! Therefore, puppy can pee anywhere! So, make sure the pad is always visible to the puppy to help with training them to go to it on their own.

If the puppy misses the pad slightly by peeing on the edge, don't worry about it at this age. Praise the puppy anyway for going on the pad. Once the puppy is mostly or completely trained to go on pads, you can start placing them in a dog litter pan if you want (as a permanent solution). This is just a flat pan with slightly raised edges so that if they go on the edges, nothing leeks onto the floor.

Also, I'm glad someone liked my masking tape idea. It really works great!

[mimimomo]

Please be careful when using tape! I've taped down paper pee pad b4 & came home to Mimi's mouth taped shut! Good thing I was gone for only 2 hrs, she wouldn't have been able to drink any water. I had to cut it off w/scissors & she def got a new hair style along w/ it loll! They have those plastic pee holders, much safer.

[mimodok]

That's why I use the masking tape. It's not very sticky and the material is paper-like and easy to tear. I use that tape on box-shelters I construct for my rabbit in his cage also. Some kind of medical tape that isn't too sticky would probably work well too. Do be careful with the tape though. Just watch your puppy and see how it does with it. If your puppy just starts getting into the tape too, then its probably not going to be a good solution.

Once I've taped down Mishka's pad, she totally loses interest in playing with the pee pee pad. She might try and bite at the tape once or twice, gets nowhere, and then she moves on to her toys. So I don't worry about her with the tape.

[ChelseyK]

thanks for all your advice!! i really wanna find one of those litter pans! I also think itd be easier with that in the living room too cause for some reason putting the pad directly on the carpeted area where she plays feels weird to me.

poor baby tangled in the tape! glad it wasnt for long lol. i've been holding off more or less cause i got a different brand of pad thats a little heavier and sturdier so it hasnt been as bad.... (i sure feel bad for ppl with big dog puppies lol)

[concretegurl]

I went to the feed store and bough a rubber horse feeder dogs cant destroy it and its safe for teething puppies abd chewers.

[concretegurl]

Doesny everyobe just love the new patterned and color cariety duct tape?