4 year old little girl with a bad habit - HELP!
 

Hello and HELP!
I'm almost at my wits end. I have an adorable little girl (spayed) who has just turned 4. I have only had her for a year now. I adopted her from her breeder when she was 3. Before coming to live with me she lived with a family of 4 adults and anywhere from 4-10 pups I gather. The house she lived in had a doggie door for the pups to get out to the backyard and grass and pee pads indoors for bad weather. OK, so my little darling seemed to adapt really well initially, once she got used to me and my adult son she seemed fine. However I live in an apartment and she is also home alone from 7am - 5:45pm daily. I walk her in the morning, as soon as I get home and then usually before we go to bed. She is pretty eratic, sometimes she will pee and poop outside every time, other times she will only pee outside and then poop within 5 minutes of us getting upstairs, usually in front of the front door!. I expected one or two accidents but now I realize she must be peeing on the carpet a heck of a lot because now I am able to see the stains on the carpet - A LOT OF STAINS. I gather she knows that's the front door and is the way out coz 80% of the pee stains are by the front door. (now the carpet is older somehow the stains are showing up more - my landlord is going to be upset....I'll definately have the carpet steam cleaned). I always have plenty of pee pads around the apartment but that is like 25/75.... 25% on the pad 75% on the carpet. She is obviously a bad aimer because when she poops on the carpet it is usually about 6 inches away from the pad.
I get it that the little darling has a bladder the size of a walnut and to expect her to wait from 7am - almost 6pm daily is probably impossible ..... but the stains and smell on the carpet are really getting me down.
I am thinking about crating her during the day (but realize she would HAVE to pee in her crate because of the length of time and somehow that seems mean....) I brought a gate and leave her in the laundry and bathroom during the day- which she must HATE because she spreads her food all over as a show of annoyance at me and since she is so little (5pound) I had to tape up the slats in the gate because she somehow squeezes through. Anyway.... once I'm home and on weekends, she is clearly still peeing on the carpet when I'm not watching her.....My only other option might be puppy diapers......

Any ideas?

Sharon

Welcome to YT.. Maybe try bigger pads;)
Also I have done this... If they don't go while out side then they don't get free raom till they do go out and go. Yorkies can be stuborn but she'll get it if you stick with it ... good luck.

Look around on this training section for others with the same problem...see their suggestions:)

I recommend having a professional dog walker come over to give her a potty break while you are gone. Is that an option?

If you're trying to get her to go on the pad, set up a schedule for her. I realize this is hard because she's home so long on her own, but maybe start on a weekend when you're there a lot, and hopefully she'll catch on fast.
Scooter sleeps in his crate at night, so as soon as I let him out in the morning I take him to his pad and he's not allowed off the pad until he goes. This way he learns to go quickly, on command, and ON THE PAD haha!
Then for me, I crate him during the day, but come home at lunch for a potty break - and again, he has to stay on the pad until he goes or he's not allowed to walk around and play during my lunch break. When I leave he's back in the crate.
Then as soon as I get home - he has to stay on the pad until he goes and I'll put him on every 2 (or so) hours in the evening - not letting him off until he goes. It REALLY helps with accidents because all of a sudden he WANTS to go on the pad so that he's allowed to do whatever he wants after! No waiting around on the pad for free time!
Give it a try, it might help. It's worked wonders for me so far!

Try laying a plastic under the pads. I do not have carpets in my home but when I first rescued Gabby my wood floors were unfinished and she would miss the pad most of the time. I went to the walmart fabric section and bought a yard of their plastic and layed it under the pads so if she would miss it it wouldn't soak through my unfinished wood floors. She's better at it now and the plastic is gone since the floors are done. That worked for me. You can also lay 2 pads in front of the door since it seems like thats where she is going most of the time.

That's a good idea too, dogs instinctively go where they have gone before, so I wipe Scooter with a paper towel after he's gone and put it down on his pad so he knows to go there again. He smells his pee and knows thats where too pee. This could even be why she's going in front of the door so much, she smells her pee there!
I would put pads there and get her used to going on the pads. After she leanrs that's where to go (as in on the pads), start SLOWLY moving them to a more convenient location!

Also it might help to get a pet cleaner from you pet store and REALLY clean everywhere she's gone before. Household cleaners don't take the ammonia smell out so our pets can still smell their messes even after we've cleaned it up.

I don't know if it would help but maybe you could reward her with a treat when she goes to potty on the pad or when she potties outside...My puppy is 4 months and that's how I trained him but only inside...He looks to me to give him a treat when he potties on the pad now...Also you could try the wee-wee puppy pad spray...I know they sell it at Pet-Co and I think that has helped Braxton with staying on the pad....

Sharon,
Sadly I have 2, 3 yo boys who are the SAME way as your baby. I am going to be making an appt to have the rugs steam cleaned very soon, next weekend probably, bc I just noticed recently they are stained! I knew they peed on the carpet, but i always thought I caught it. Guess not. I keep my boys gated into my kitchen where there is tile floors and pee pads, their bed, food, water, a radio playing mellow music, toys and anything else they may need. So far they have done good like that. It may take your baby awhile to get used to one room but she will. I love my babies to pieces, but i also need to confine them bc I cannot have them ruining my house either. They are gated from 730am - 6pm mon - fri, since I woke full time also.

I agree I would gate an area. If there are less choices, she may choose the pad, plus you can limit the amount of damage to one room while she learns. Good luck!