They walk away and go on the floor no where near them. Are they retarded?....I'm sorry!! this just sounded funny...NO! they aren't retarded!! Mine will do the same thing...Sadie is 4yrs old and Lillie is 3yrs old...For the most part they are really good about going on the pads (I have 1 in two different rooms..they won't pee and poop on the same pad)...Lillie is usually pretty good about going on the pad all the time...Sadie on the other hand is good for most of the time then all of a sudden...they forget about the pad...I don't know why they do this either.