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Originally Posted by Millennium  Thanks for the replies everyone.
He seems to be getting worse  he's peeing all over his room when we are out now. We are tempted to quit with the pee-pads altogether.
We've been toying with the idea of getting one of those astro turf mats and putting it on our balcony, thus making Gus an outside dog of sorts. But since he is so willing to pee anywhere in his room, I'm thinking we would have to crate him. However he will be alone as long as 8-9 hours, and that is probably too long to crate a 12-week old puppy, even though he lasts that long overnight. Do you think that we could make him an outside dog at this point, or is inside training our only option?
I don't mind the accidents along the way, but a sign that things are improving would be nice :/ |
It is always easier to hold it at night because the bodies system slows down while in a state of sleep. A puppy ususally cant be expected to hold it more than a couple hours at a time, especially a 12 week old puppy. (a general rule of thumb is to assume they can hold it as many hours as they are old in months... three months old= three hours, approx)
He is ripping up his pee pads out of boredom, totally normal to expect this if he is being left alone for 9 hrs a day.
IMO, when you work full time and no one home to watch him, potty training takes a lot longer than if someone is home with him. You cant
expect him to be trained, or to "know" what to do instinctually. YOU have to train him to the behaviors you expect from him. Using only positive reinforcement and praise... and more praise and yet even more praise, gets the job done.
But it does take time and a patience a lot of it
So when he does use the pads, praise him and reward him a ton!` He will get it.
When you are home, take him to the pad many many times during the day, especially after eating, playing, drinking... and put him on it and repeat often. Set him up to succeed, reward him, use a potty command. When my were in training for potty and just at the moment they finished I would say "potty", to associate their act with a word.. eventually I was able to give the potty command and they would go on command (as long as they had something in the tank.. hehe)
Congrats on your new baby
PS, washable pee pads are almost impossible to rip up, have you considered those yet?