HELP!!! Any opinions and/or suggestions appreciated!!!!!
 

Please bear with me, as this might be a long thread....lol Drake has been trained to pee on pee pads since I got him at just a few weeks old, and he did some backsliding here a while back! My daughter had a baby the end of July, which is when it started happening, and I knew it was a "jealousy" thing, so I just worked with him and gave him extra attention, etc.! He came out of it MOST of the way but not COMPLETELY about 1-2 months after the baby, but that was okay because I understood his insecurity!

Now, there is nothing new in his life (no changes) and for some reason he has started doing it again....just going wherever he feels like! I talked to the vet, and he said at this point Drake knows right from wrong and to punish him for his accidents, so I was doing that! Well, now he just goes downstairs and does it! I had read a thread on here where someone suggested that if you punish them, then they will just go do it out of your sight where they think they are hiding and going to get away with it! Sooooo, I quit punishing him! I would just clean it up and take him to his pad and tell him "potty"! Now sometimes he will go on his pad and sometimes he won't!

During the transition of the new baby in our lives, I added more pee pads throughout the house.....basically in areas where I caught him, so there are a total of 5 pads and now I'm wondering....is that confusing him maybe?? Should I just have ONE pad and one ONLY? It's almost like he is thinking that he's peeing in the house, so he can just go wherever he wants....almost as if there are no pads whatsoever! So, that makes me wonder....should I just give up and start taking him outside? That's the first thing he does when we do go outside, but I assume that's just a dog's natural instinct! Also, IF I decide to start taking him outside, since he's never been trained to do that and has always used the pads (well supposedly....lol) how do I go about that?

He will be a year old the end of this month....just so you know!

PLEASE HELP!!!!!!

I wouldnt put out too many pee pads, that might make him confused. Im positive that if you ignore the wrong and praise the right he will be ok soon, try never to clean up hes "mess" while hes watching you!

Good luck :)

I think 5 pads is way to many to have down at once and that would definately confuse him. If you have a big house put a pad at each end of the house incase he gets caught short and doesn't have enough time to run to the other end of the house. But i wouldn't put down more than 2 pads.
As for training him to go outside, i think that's a great idea if your willing to take him out every time he has to go to the washroom. It's a lot easier and cleaner, i think personally, to take them outside to do their buisness. I think it's kind of confusing if you try to pee pad/outdoor train them. So try to pick one or the other and stick to it.
Good luck !! :)

I think you should restrict his roaming space. He has too much freedom and he is abusing it. I think you should confine him to a room with a pee pee pad when you are not able to keep an eye on him until he understand that is where he should go. Also clean the areas where he has peed very very well. Remember they have a very keen sense of smell. Good luck!

You're getting good advice, but remember, try not to change your method too many times because it will confuse him...If you use the pads, and then decide it doesn't work and you start taking him outside, but you decide that doesn't work, then he's going to be confused. Decide what You want him to do and retrain him to do that and be consistent. If you go with the puppy pads, put them where you know he likes to do his business, but don't put down too many. When he does go potty in the right place, be there to say, "Good boy" and make it a big deal to him and get him excited that he went potty there. Miko responded very well to positive reinforcement. The only time he has an accident is when he misses the pad because he's standing on the edge.

I agree with keeping him in a smaller space when you can't watch him. Scout went through this when he was about 4 months old, and I put him on one weekend of "puppy boot camp". It did the trick and no more accidents. Personally, I think he was just rebelling and trying to see how much he could get away with! Here's how it works: Set aside 2 days to deal with this issue. Put him on a 6 foot leash with the other end attached to YOU, and he stays with you all the time. Have yummy treats in your pocket at all times. Have the puppy pad in one area only (the place you want it to be permanently). It's almost like going back to new puppyhood. Take several opportunities to go to the pad and say "potty", or whatever word you use. If he goes, praise him wildly and give a treat. If you are around the house and notice he looks like he needs to go, get him to the pad pronto. Make sure you are giving him opportunity to eat, drink, play etc. After he's going well on the pad again, you may have to treat for awhile. A friend of mine treats for potty all the time with cherios. They are cheap and won't make your dog fat! Good luck! If you try puppy boot camp, let me know how it worked for you!

I think I know what to do!
 

I have to ask , Why shouldnt you let them see you clean it up?
My little Mickey will go off the pad some times and I tell him bad and put him on his pad. But he always runs and watches me clean up his mess , he will stand real close to me and stare in my face , Then when I look at him he kisses me. wondering what thats all about? dose he think those sweet kisses makes mommy feel better about it? lol

I definitely DO want him to potty inside on pee pads, especially with winter coming! I'm in Missouri and we are in the process of getting 8 inches of snow today/tonight/tomorrow and poor Drake would disappear in all that! He only weighs 4 lbs.!

I thought maybe I had too many pee pads out, but I did that on the advice of a friend who obviously doesn't know as much about dogs as she thinks she does! lol

When you walk in my front door, you either have to go up steps or down steps! Going up leads into the living area and going down has a small landing and directly in front of that is the door going into the garage and on the right is a doorway leading into the rec. room! I keep that door closed because I found some "accidents" in there, too! It seems as if lately he's wanting to go "out of sight" to do his business! I'm sure that's a natural thing for a dog, too?? Anyway, I had put a pee pad down there at the bottom of the steps and have noticed recently that's the one he seems to favor, and that's also the ONE I would prefer him to use since no one would ever see it and there is no door to shut accidentally that would prevent him from going down there! So should I just stick with that one, even though it's "out of the way", it's the one he seems to go to!

I forgot to mention in my original thread that I treat him like CRAZY when he does go on his pads! As a matter of fact, my husband and son make fun of me and try to imitate me! lol So, he definitely gets his praise! I've also started doing what you also suggested in ignoring his accidents and just cleaning them up and going on!

I thank you so much for taking the time to help me out on this one because I was starting to feel helpless and wondering what I was doing wrong....too many pee pads makes perfect sense! It's funny that you girls mention "confused" because that's EXACTLY how he seems mentally!

And, ilovezoe, that makes me feel good that you have experienced this exact same problem, and I will definitely take your thoughts and opinions into consideration, as well as everyone else's! Have a great night!

Great!
 

That's great that the potty training is getting better! Good job :)