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Originally Posted by MarlyAndMe  How were you guys able to get them to use the pee pads? That seams almost impossible. |
I thought the same my first week!!!
Here's the advice I got, which turned out to be spot on!
Get your pup a crate and an xpen (an exercise pen or a kid's big play yard, worth the investment!). Make sure the crate is just big enough for a bed, food and water. Put it in the xpen, and make the xpen small enough for just two or three pee pads and no bare floor.
Keep your pup in the crate (door closed) for about two hours (this varies on age) and then let your pup out of the crate into the pen (on the pee pads). Wait and watch and if your pup goes on the pads, give them tons of praise and a treat! Then let them out for a little bit of supervised play time (the length of time is age dependent also). Then put them back into the crate - think of this as nap time and snack time for them. Wait another two hours or so and repeat the process.
If at first they don't go, give it a minute or two and then put them back in the crate, door closed. Come back in fifteen minutes or so and try again. Eventually they will go. Repeat the process until they do. It won't take them that long to realize that potty when they come out of the crate means treats and loving and play time!!
If your pup is under 16 weeks this is all I would do. Before you take them out of the pen make sure they've pottied. Give them some extra time if they need it to poop (mine likes a bit of privacy, I have to leave the kitchen for a minute or two). But make sure they are "empty" before they get to play in the house. You are setting them up for success.
Once they get older, and are doing well, gradually make the xpen bigger or take away a pee pad, leaving some open floor. If they continue to use the pee pad and not the floor, you are on the right track. Gradually make the free space bigger, leaving the pee pads where you had them (so as not to confuse them).
Eventually you can do away with the xpen, and have the crate and the potty area (pee pads) in, for instance, the gated off kitchen. And so on.
