Pad training an adult?

[Quiverful]

Tink is 2 years old. I have had her since she was 3 months old. I have been working diligently on training her to potty outside with the other dogs. She does ok...sometimes. She's a tough case...LOL Anyway, my hubby has just about had it with the accidents in the house and wants me to pad train her..."since she's going in the house anyway". LOL I can sorta see his point. But after two years of attempting to train her to go outside, how do I train her to use pads inside? Any tips/advice? Any type of pads better than others?

Thanks!

[Maximo]

You should be able to do this. When we brought Teddy home, he was 8 months old and 100% outdoor trained. We needed him to be pad trained like his brother.

The only problem you might encounter is confusion with the other dogs. What breed/how big are they?

Contain her to a smallish area -- one room or an xpen -- with the pad. I use disposable pads that are infused with a scent to attract the dogs. Put her on the pad several times a day and establish keywords like "go potty" or "go potty on the pad." She probably won't go on command, but she will learn the words and make the connection. Supervise her and if she uses the pad, give her tons of praise and a small treat (I use kibble rewards). Say "Good potty on the pad!"

If she does well with the pad, you can increase her roaming room and freedom.

For Teddy, peeing on the pad was no problem, but he did not want to poop indoors. I had to contain him to the pen lined with pads and encourage him to do it. When he finally did it and saw how happy I was, he was okay with it. Disposing of it right away is very important to him.

Here is my blog post about the subject: Potty Training Small Dogs - Dog Life and Style

[Quiverful]

I have had many dogs in my life but never a toy breed. I have three other dogs. A German Shepherd, a Boxer/Mastiff mix and an Australian Cattle Dog. All three are perfectly trained to go outside. I have never had a dog that was trained to use pads in the house.

I am a stay at home mom and set a timer so Tink goes out every 60 minutes all day long, unless she's sleeping. She will readily pee outside but doesn't like to poop outside. She will also pee in the house sometimes.

I don't think the pads will confuse my other dogs...at least I hope not!

We are snowed in today...2 feet of snow!! But I will get out to the pet store at first chance and buy some pads. Any brand better than others? Are inexpensive ones not as good?

Off to read your blog....

[Quiverful]

I forgot to add...Tink never gives any clues that she has to potty. After all this potty training work and she will not let us know if she wants/needs to go outside. When her timer dings, she will run and hide because she knows it means time to go outside...LOL

[Patti]

I brought in a senior rehome rescue who was use to going outside. 2 of mine are pad trained and 1 outside (sort of). Nikki took to the pads imediately but still would go outside when I let him outside. But I think it was easier because the others were peeing on the pads and he just followed them. Yorkies can be very difficult to train. None of mine are 100% trained.

[Quiverful]

Yeah...she has no idea what these pads are I keep putting her on and saying Go Potty! LOL If I try to block her into a smaller area, all she does is bark for me. She is always wherever I am.

[theporkieyorkie]

My 2 y.o was supposed to be pad trained when I got him but he refused to use it. Come this fall, he started peeing all over the house and refused to go out when it got cold....so I put a pad out and he started going on that...

My older dog, 10 years old, has never been pad trained(to my knowledge) but I caught him going on the pads too. I guess he learned from Ricky.


My biggest issue though is since we've started using the pads, my older dog thinks it's given him a licence to pee all over the house...the couch, the trash can, our shoes, bed etc etc. It's been a real problem and now he wears belly bands a lot.


I know other people have their dogs potty trained well, but mine have never been great at it. Now that my little one has piddle pads, he's a bit better but sometimes he misses the potty pads because he's not centered on them....and sometimes he really misses them and pee's 3 feet away. I bought a pee pad holder and that helped a little.

My oldest was horrible about going outside at my last house...most likely bc the dog before we lived there peed all over. When I moved to my new house, with new carpeting, he did great....until this fall when Ricky started peeing inside. Now, no matter how much I clean, I can't get him to stop. I bought a mini blacklight yesterday to see if I am missing anything. I also think I am bringing the pee smell in on my shoes. Prince rarely goes off the front porch to do his business and if he does, it's on the sidewalk anyways....so it's virtually impossible not to walk in snow that's been peed in. I know my mailman must hate me and my neighbors probably do as well. It's finally starting to warm up, so I can chip the frozen turds away from my porch and I am just waiting for the day that I can take a bucket of bleach water and a hose to it. I can't get mad at him for going on the porch though...the stairs are hard to navigate in good weather and we've had so much snow and ice that it's really dangerous in the winter. I don't like to carry him down the stairs either because there are no rails and I've already fell up them and down them a few times myself.

Wondering if anyone has tried this....

www.bullseyepeepad.com


I watched a commercial for it on television a few weeks ago. Wondering if it works better than most pee pads?!? I have the pee pad spray and it did nothing to entice my dogs to pee on it...oh yea, and it smells horrible.

[Maximo]

Originally Posted by Quiverful

I have had many dogs in my life but never a toy breed. I have three other dogs. A German Shepherd, a Boxer/Mastiff mix and an Australian Cattle Dog. All three are perfectly trained to go outside. I have never had a dog that was trained to use pads in the house.

I am a stay at home mom and set a timer so Tink goes out every 60 minutes all day long, unless she's sleeping. She will readily pee outside but doesn't like to poop outside. She will also pee in the house sometimes.

I don't think the pads will confuse my other dogs...at least I hope not!

We are snowed in today...2 feet of snow!! But I will get out to the pet store at first chance and buy some pads. Any brand better than others? Are inexpensive ones not as good?

Off to read your blog....

Big dogs are a lot easier to train. You made me think of someone who commented on FB that he is having trouble with his 3 Yorkies, but he is thankful that his Cane Corso has no problems, lol!

We use the "Out" brand from Walmart. They are pretty reasonable, especially the larger packs. My boys don't really like baking soda Arm & Hammer, or anything with a blue backing. I think Walgreens also has a popular choice.

Originally Posted by Quiverful

I forgot to add...Tink never gives any clues that she has to potty. After all this potty training work and she will not let us know if she wants/needs to go outside. When her timer dings, she will run and hide because she knows it means time to go outside...LOL

Not giving cues does make it much harder. Try the praise and rewards -- don't ever stop with these. My boys are 4 & 5 years old and they still love the praise and rewards.

We also use a large rubber mat that we place the pad on. This seems to help designate the area, and helps them stay on target, I think. We don't have edge peeing problems. Be sure to change the pad frequently.

[Patti]

I use the Out pads too. Mine won't use the Arm and Hammer either.