[Sweetums]

We tried crating our puppy but didn't have the heart to keep her in there when she wanted out so badly. So my husband, who is home during the day, was careful to watch for signs that she had to go. After she drank water, usually and after taking a nap. As soon as she woke up, he'd take her to the potty pad, on her leash (the trainer at Petsmart said that the leash is your best friend and to always keep a leash on - we don't keep her tethered to us all the time, but we have the leash to grab the minute she starts to squat), and he'd say "Pee!" in a commanding tone. As soon as she peed, he'd give her a treat every single time. This is very important. As the trainer said, "They only care about rewards, and that is all," so make sure you reward consistently. If he or I missed the signal and caught her too late, we just ignored it, cleaned it up and she got no reward. Boy, did she catch on fast that going potty in the right place resulted in getting a treat. Even if we were a little late in realizing she'd peed on her potty pad without being told, we would go look and praise her for being a good girl and give her a treat.

She is 6 mos now and almost never has an accident. One thing we figured out that really makes a difference in how consistant she is, is having a clean potty pad. We figured out that once it gets saturated, she will not go on it no matter what. So we put a new one down almost daily.

Another thing that makes a difference is when I read on a training site that they will not eat within 6 feet of their potty pad. So if you have food too close to the potty pad, don't expect them to go potty on it. They will instinctively avoid soiling in the area of their food.