Ugh, potty situation!!!

[OpheliaLoved]

Okay, my boyfriend and I live in an apartment. I often stay at my parents house during the week because it is closer to where I work, and Paddington stays with my mom during the day. We use pee pads because we can't get Paddington outside fast enough to pee when we are at the apartment. He will not poop on his pad (he'll poop next to it in the apartment, and where he pleases in my parents' house) and he used to poop outside at the house, but now he's stopped going outside... I can't get him to go no matter how long we stay outside.

I think he is confused.

I also think I am about to confuse him more. My boyfriend just bought a condo. When we move in next month, I want to do away with the pee pad entirely. We'll be able to get him outside, and I hate having those messy pads. When we are at the house, and he goes outside, he will not let us know when he has to go. I've bought two bells, one for the condo and one for my parents' house. I want to train him to ring the bell to go outside, and to always go outside to both pee and poop...

am I beyond hope??? I think I've confused him too much.
-O

[seainthecity]

How old is he? I have to say, Guppy will be 6 months old next week and it's like a little light bulb went off! All of a sudden he's stopped going inside as long as we get him outside regularly. We had him pad trained...to a point, but he also would often go next to the pad instead of on it. Now, he even "knocks" on the door to go out. My secret: everytime we went out and he went potty, I'd say "Good boy, potty outside!" and make a big fuss...then, the magic! I always keep a jar of peanut butter with me when I go out and as soon as he's done going, I reinforce the action with "Good boy, potty outside" while I stick my finger in the jar and let him lick the PB off. He loves the stuff! It also makes him go sooner (he used to take forever) but now when he sees the jar he just goes right away and then waits for his treat. You must be very vigilant with this. I started crating him at night and he'll whimper in the morning when he gets up and has to go. But I really think this is a large part of the training...getting them to learn to hold their pee. I grab him and run outside with him under one arm and the peanut butter under the other (not always a pretty site, I warn you). During the day I make sure he gets out after he eats and about every 2-3 hours although he is holding it longer if I get busy and can't get him out right on schedule. But I do try really hard not to miss taking him when it's time. HTH,

[For My Coby]

You might be right on the confusion. But maybe you have a grand opportunity here. What I would try since you are getting ready to make a BIG change on him - is start completely over.... treat him like a puppy you are housetraining for the first time. When they're "sort of" housetrained, it's easy to get lazy or start being inconsistent. I would think that if you just pretended like you never had trained him at all before, you could change the whole process. Be diligent, be observant, "re-train yourself", and I'll bet you can make the change. You'll also want to make sure it's always a positive experience. Since the stress of moving will already be there, if you make potty-training a positive enough experience, it will distract him from the move.

A lot of people here use the bells. I haven't been able to master that.

Good luck on the move!

[OpheliaLoved]

Originally Posted by seainthecity

How old is he? I have to say, Guppy will be 6 months old next week and it's like a little light bulb went off! All of a sudden he's stopped going inside as long as we get him outside regularly. We had him pad trained...to a point, but he also would often go next to the pad instead of on it. Now, he even "knocks" on the door to go out. My secret: everytime we went out and he went potty, I'd say "Good boy, potty outside!" and make a big fuss...then, the magic! I always keep a jar of peanut butter with me when I go out and as soon as he's done going, I reinforce the action with "Good boy, potty outside" while I stick my finger in the jar and let him lick the PB off. He loves the stuff! It also makes him go sooner (he used to take forever) but now when he sees the jar he just goes right away and then waits for his treat. You must be very vigilant with this. I started crating him at night and he'll whimper in the morning when he gets up and has to go. But I really think this is a large part of the training...getting them to learn to hold their pee. I grab him and run outside with him under one arm and the peanut butter under the other (not always a pretty site, I warn you). During the day I make sure he gets out after he eats and about every 2-3 hours although he is holding it longer if I get busy and can't get him out right on schedule. But I do try really hard not to miss taking him when it's time. HTH,

This is exactly how I trained him to go on the pad, and to poop outside at my parents' house (well, I used biscuits rather than PB, and a clicker, but that's about the only difference) He is 5 months. He is crated to teach him to hold it, and he does very well in the apartment with holding it until he's on the pad, but since my parents' house is so big, I think that he feels he can just go where ever the mood strikes him sometimes. 60% of the time he goes on the pad at the house, and 90% of the time he goes on it when we're at the apartment. HE used to show no preference to outside vs. inside, if we were outside when he had to go, he'd go outside, and if we were inside then he'd go to his pad to go. Except pooping, then if we were inside, he'd just go. He never let us know that he needed to go potty, he'd just go. But now that we're trying to train him to prefer going outside, he absolutely WON'T go! I mean, we could be outside for an hour, and he won't go. He'll go as soon as we come back in. I carry him back outside, he stops. We wait again forever, figure he had finished, go back inside and he does the rest inside. He's always been praised for going outside though, so I have no idea why... actually, he has even been getting better (more preffered and bigger treats) for going outside, and still he stopped going out there. If he doesn't stop going inside by the time we move into this condo, I'm afraid Daryl (BF) will ask me to rehome him. We can't move in for another month, so there is time to work on this. I just wonder how we can work on it when we are still living in an apartment where we can't get outside right away. Thanks for all the advice
-O

[OpheliaLoved]

Originally Posted by For My Coby

You might be right on the confusion. But maybe you have a grand opportunity here. What I would try since you are getting ready to make a BIG change on him - is start completely over.... treat him like a puppy you are housetraining for the first time. When they're "sort of" housetrained, it's easy to get lazy or start being inconsistent. I would think that if you just pretended like you never had trained him at all before, you could change the whole process. Be diligent, be observant, "re-train yourself", and I'll bet you can make the change. You'll also want to make sure it's always a positive experience. Since the stress of moving will already be there, if you make potty-training a positive enough experience, it will distract him from the move.

A lot of people here use the bells. I haven't been able to master that.

Good luck on the move!

That is a good idea. I wonder if it is possible to start from square one, if he is already so confused. Maybe by treating him like he is not trained at all it will remove the confusion and get me back on track to being consistent. I guess it is just so hard to be consistent when we have two different living/pottying situations.

I wonder if anyone has any suggestions on how to get him to ring the bell to go out, when he doesn't let us know now that he has to go out (no barking or pacing.. just a squat and a gleam in his eye that says he's gonna do it!)
-O

[For My Coby]

Originally Posted by OpheliaLoved

actually, he has even been getting better (more preffered and bigger treats) for going outside, and still he stopped going out there. -O

I'd say that's a good try. One trainer we knew insisted on real meat for potty training, something they would very seldom if ever get any other time. The premium stuff, the stuff they just can't resist no matter what, sort of like what seainthecity had going with the jar of peanut butter.

[For My Coby]

Originally Posted by OpheliaLoved

he doesn't let us know now that he has to go out (no barking or pacing.. just a squat and a gleam in his eye that says he's gonna do it!)
-O

OMG - I've seen that gleam!

And on that "consistency" problem, probably 8 times out of 10, isn't it really US that falls off on our training?

[OpheliaLoved]

Originally Posted by For My Coby

I'd say that's a good try. One trainer we knew insisted on real meat for potty training, something they would very seldom if ever get any other time. The premium stuff, the stuff they just can't resist no matter what, sort of like what seainthecity had going with the jar of peanut butter.

Maybe I'll try cheese whiz then- he LOVES the stuff. It's what the vet uses to get him to hold still while he pokes and prods. The last time we were there, he sandwiched some between two small biscuits- Paddington acted like he saw Jesus when he got that thing. Now the trick is to get him to go potty outside to receive such a treat! I've been searching on the internet for ideas to encourage eliminating, but the best one I could find is just taking him outside everytime he starts to go. That hasn't worked so far. I think he sees being taken outside as a punishment for going potty, because now every time he gets caught in the act he runs away so we can't catch him. He's also started to hide- going behind the couch and pooping etc. I don't yell at him, I just go and pick him up and take him out to the grass. He stopped going outside alltogether about two weeks ago. He's never gone while we're out walking, only under our deck in our yard.
-O

[For My Coby]

What about startling him to get him to stop when he's ready or in progress, but not snatching him up immediately (because then the chasing begins)? Startle him, he's scurries away, call him with "come" or whatever you use by offering a "good" treat, then take him outside, and if he potties, offer the "holy grail" treat. That way, you could be training the "come" command at the same time.

That chasing thing never works. Just an idea that I'd try.

[OpheliaLoved]

he just started running away a couple days ago. I'm afraid that if I startle him to interrupt his pottying, he won't understand that I am taking him outside to go. Then again, he already doesn't seem to understand that, so what could I lose
-O

[For My Coby]

With mine, when I startled them, it wasn't as much to train them NOT to go "there", but simply to give me the opportunity to get them into a place where I DID want them to go. No punishment, just making the opportunity for success.

Don't worry, you're going to find the right combination. Then all sorts of light bulbs (as I think someone put it) are going to go off!

[Judy in Waco]

Yogurt drops seem to work really well for Gizmo as potty treats. Have you tried those? We're still working on potty training him, so I can't offer anything in that direction, but the "holy grail" treat for Gizmo is definitely yogurt drops!

We've made much more progress since we started using those consistently and exclusively for pottying.

[For My Coby]

Originally Posted by Judy in Waco

Yogurt drops seem to work really well for Gizmo as potty treats. Have you tried those? We're still working on potty training him, so I can't offer anything in that direction, but the "holy grail" treat for Gizmo is definitely yogurt drops!

We've made much more progress since we started using those consistently and exclusively for pottying.

I keep looking at those in the Pet Store but hadn't ever purchased any. Hmmmmm, pretty good recommendation there - Coby may just want to try those ......

[shuber]

The idea of starting back at square one is a great one. Have you tried confining him to one room in your parents house instead of letting him roam? We had to keep teddy in the bathroom if we went out without him until he learned to hold his pee. Another thing I've heard works well if you can get then to use it is puppy litter boxes. I bought one for teddy the day we brought him home with the intention of teaching him to use that first and then outside (didnt' want to do pee pads everywhere), but he never would use it. he would just stand there looking at me like I was crazy, but I have heard of people who swear by them.

good luck!

[OpheliaLoved]

Originally Posted by shuber

The idea of starting back at square one is a great one. Have you tried confining him to one room in your parents house instead of letting him roam? We had to keep teddy in the bathroom if we went out without him until he learned to hold his pee. Another thing I've heard works well if you can get then to use it is puppy litter boxes. I bought one for teddy the day we brought him home with the intention of teaching him to use that first and then outside (didnt' want to do pee pads everywhere), but he never would use it. he would just stand there looking at me like I was crazy, but I have heard of people who swear by them.

good luck!

We keep him in a kennel, but he has been getting more and more freedom as he gets older. My dad just lets him wander around all day and that is when we have the most accidents. Sometimes when we are playing, even if I just took him potty, he will go. Sometimes I wonder how he could possibly have anything left in his bladder, yet he still managed to get some out! He has a pee pad that sits in a litter pan. He won't go in the litter.

I am more concerned about making this transition to only pottying outside, since he won't potty outside at all anymore, and he never lets me know when he's gotta go. The accidents he's having off his pad are more or less just typical potty training accidents, I think. I'm pretty sure his confusion is just coming from two different sets of potty rules, and that I started to slack a little once I thought he was nearly completely trained.

Thanks for the advice and support!
-O