Yes! Mine do both. You can start by taking her outside first thing in the morning when you know she has to go. Stay outside (no playing) until she goes and then praise and/or treat like crazy! She'll get the idea.

Mine go outside and inside no problem.

1. Was told today by a trainer that dogs do not want to poop where they pee, and thus I will need two separate areas for her to go potty. Is this true for your dog or did you train her to do both in the same spot?

Its harder to do....I had two seperate pads next to one another and then I combined them into one..she steadily goes both on the same pad now.

2. Does the choice of potty tools make a difference? That is to say, do you think using doggy litter vs pee pads would this change the answer to question #1.

they can eat/make a mess with the doggie litter. I suggest buying puppy pads (either washable or not) and a pad tray from petsmart (was one of ym favorite buys)

3. If your dog is trained to go indoors at your house, how easy is it to train her to do it on her chosen material (pee pad or doggy litter) when in a hotel or someone else's house?

easy! i just show her where it is and she goes on the pad no matter where ewe are. the downside is she hasnt figurd out yet that she can potty outside, so i ussually keep a pad on me no matter what

4. Which do you like better, pee pads or doggy litter and why?

see above!

5. Any advice/suggestions on things that worked for you that would help me in this area?

be consistant! you have to catch them before they squat. also, we did crate training.

finally, when she was giving signals that she had to go before she was fully trained, we would take her to her pee pad and make her stay there until she went, then let her off when she did go..


LOTS of praise...your puppy just won the doggy lottery!
Its so funny, b/c mine goes to the bathroom now then books over to me for her loves...mommy, look what i did! lol

:aimeeyork Suzi has been doing great using her pee pads. She poops on them too, but, not always 100%. I lay down more then one pad, she does not like to pee and poo on the same pad. The pee on the pads is easier then getting her to poo on the pad all the time. I buy the pads at Wallmart, they are a lot cheaper there. I have heard that if you use a litter box be careful not to use cat clumping litter, because our little ones might want to swallow that stuff, NOT good. :aimeeyork

1. Tell that trainer to come to my house...........hahahahahahaha!!!!!
2. I use disposable pads only. Much easier to travel with and go into motels. ;)
3.They naturally go on the pads wherever the pads happen to be.
4. Pads of course. As I mentioned in #2
5. I started all three of my girls in an expen with pads down, then gradually let them have a little more room at a time in the kitchen area.

Where do I start??
 

My puppy Gizmo is now 5mths old. And he is not potty trained, he isn't even close to it. I knew when I got him that it might be difficult, but I am starting to get a little upset now. I want to use pee pads or litter box train him because I live in the North East and I don't think that I will be able to walk him during our cold winters.
If so, can you give me step by step directions, tips, and advice on what to do, so that I have a plan of action. If not, may you please suggest someone who might be able to help me. I would sincerely appreciate it.

What I do with mine is cover the whole floor of the puppy pen they are in with potty pads. I put their bed at one end. That way when they get out of bed to go potty they are on a pad. They can't make a mistake and don't go in their bed. Then about every week or so over time I move one pad overlapping it on the other so there is about six inches between their bed and the rest of the floor covered in pads. I keep doing this until I can eventually take one pad out and move another overlapping, etc. Until finally their bed is at one end of the pen and the pad is at the other. They get used to peeing on the pads that way and as the pad is moved they automatically go farther and farther over the bare floor to where the pads are to pee. It has worked really well for my bunch. The washable pads are heavy enough that they usually don't move or chew on them too much unless they get really bored. But they can't do too much damage if they do.

If you are confining a small room instead of a pen then cover the whole floor of the room with the pads.


When he is out of his pen or crate make sure you have a pad where he can get to it and if he makes the slightest indication that he is going to pee put him quickly on the pad and praise him. Don't get angry when he doesn't make it. Just ignore it. Emphasize the positive.

Hope this helps!

I started out with the pee pads, but I must say that I am strickly a litter fan now.
I clean my litter boxes immediately I see them soiled with a popper scooper. I started the pups out immediately so that they wouldn't eat the litter or play in it. I also take them out and say "use it" for the older ones..."Shucks" it is "go potty"... It keeps my area for them super clean. I have a mop pail with fresh water and bleach daily so that if someone misses a little..it is not a problem... One of my new puppies did have an accident yesterday, so I am going to work with her more. I introduce them to new rooms in the house slowly..and we have our own sitting room...so when she went on the carpet I was truly shocked, because we had just come in from outside. She has really been a little to preoccupied with playing so I must be more attentive, but I love my litter box. When I travel to a hotel, I may take a little pad and walk them...so.. I am still working with my new pups, but the older ones traveled with me once and they went on the pad and outside... whew..to many babies...

HAHAHAHAHA!!!! Derby does the exact same thing.....as soon as he uses the pee pad he run run runs over to me and looks up at me to say....."I did it!! I did it!!! I'm ready for my treats now!" :animal36

i bought the potty litter from petsmart the other day to try it out... Choco hated it.. and i also did not like it.
the litter bedding was so hard and uncomfortable, Choco jumped out of it as soon as we put him in, and he never went in himself.
it was made of paper pallets, but they were in pretty big sizes which made the surface very rough when they were spread in the litter box....

maybe you can find another potty litter that's better...
but i prefer the pads....

oh btw, how well does the "washable pee pads" work?? :confused:
I'm thinking of getting one for Choco...

I tried the pellets...
 

The dog litter worked OK at first, but it was expensive and I didn't care for them... I eventually got my older ones...to use clumpping litter that smells... great!...and started my puppies on it... early....they have all the chew toys...so they do not eat the litter... I brought a little of that stuff that has the potty scent when I started training them to the litter as babies and it worked like a charm.... My Spirit had an accident the other day...but shes back on track..."to the litter box she goes"... so for me it has been awesome...but I use cat litter...and by me being persistant with the training it has been a great experience for me...

I use a medal crate that you can buy at walmart. This is her potty.. I placed a old christmas rug on the bottom and put pee pads on top of that. When she was smaller I'd put her in the potty and shut the door until she went, which didn't take 30 seconds. She learned that when she went she would get out so she went pretty fast and learned that this was her potty. This is the only place I have a pee pad and thats where she goes. It's her own personal potty. We recently went on vacation for a week and we stayed at a nice cabin on the lake. I took her potty with us and she only had one accident and that was becasue I had shut the door where her potty was located. She did really good with it there. I am very pleased with her progress and even though somtimes she makes a mistake, it's usually mine because i forgot to change her pad or something like that. She doesn't like a dirty pad. She will go pee about 3-4 times and poo 2 times and that's it. My time to change it. and she lets me know if I hadn't.. I am happy I chose pee pads over going outside. This way she stays clean and no tick, fleas, or mosquito bites. Plus if were going on a trip or something and we have to stop at a rest stop to let her go, she will go on the grass, so that's good too. Hope this helps with your research...:aimeeyork