Quote:
Originally Posted by xkagomechanx  Hi All 
I got a new puppy about 2-3 weeks ago and she's been doing fine and all-all except the potty training part.
At first, she was great with the pads, but after a while she's been going everywhere..so now I just have to confine her to her play pen with her pad inside (which she still manages to not go on!!)
I think the issue might be I have another dog (4 years old) and he's used to going by himself since we have a dog door (i took this for granted obviously lol), I'm wondering if this might affect her training- or worse I'm afraid she will let him feel like he can go in the house now!
I'm also wondering if I should train her to go out the door like my other dog but the door is too heavy for her to manage right now  any thoughts?? |
You will have to decide which method you want to use first. pee pads or outside? pick one. By "the door is too heavy for her to manage right now", do you mean the dog door/dog flap is too heavy? If so, you may just have to do the traditional method: watch her carefully, as soon as she starts sniffing around or showing other signs, swoop her up, rush her outside (if you're doing the ring-a-bell method, ring the bell at the door before going out), place her at the designated potty spot, say "Go potty", and when she potties, praise her with her favorite treat. When she gets older & big enough to go out through the doggy door, and free use of the house, she might do a "Monkey See Monkey Do" situation and follow your 4 year old yorkie out to pee/poop. Just remember to accustom her with the door during the socialization period, to prevent her having a fear of the flap. If you're using pads, do the same thing! Be overexcited and go OVER THE TOP when praising! She'll need to go fairly often (before & after going in crate, after playing, feeding, drinking, naps), so I'd say about every 1.5 hours. Once you teach her the "Go potty" command (maybe also with a hand signal?), then she should start to learn go "Go potty" on command.
What are her most common spots to pee? Rub the tops of the puppy pads on them to get a slight pee scent on them so that she will be attracted to the pads, then place the pads where you want her to pee--dogs like to pee in the same spots. Make sure to clean the spots where you DON'T want her to pee with a heavy-duty enzyme cleaner (Nature's Miracle, etc.,)
You have to be consistent and keep a watchful eye on her at ALL times. If you can't watch her, put her in her crate, but still remember to take her out every 1.5 hours or so to discourage peeing/pooping in her sleeping area.