How long did it take before your pup was 100% pad trained?
 

So my GF and I got our yorkie pup in Sept and we decided to pad train him and use an exercise pen instead of a crate. We went this route based off everything we read about little dogs having small bladders and us working 8 hours of the day. He stayed in his pen during the day and was supervised when we got home. He took to the pad pretty fast but he still had accidents. He got better with the accidents but would still have one-two a week.

He is now 5, almost 6 months now and he was doing pretty well for awhile. Going on 2-3 weeks without any accidents. Last week I thought I would attempt to ween him off the pads since he was doing well inside the house. I started taking him out in the morning and at night and he would poo and pee most mornings and pee at night. However he would still use his pad inside the house. This past week thought the accidents in the house have gone up, one every day! So I gave up and its been inside pad only this week, but the accidents continued. This week alone he learned how to jump on the couch but not off. This has lead to two pee accidents and one poop, we already have ordered pet stairs and hopefully he will get off the couch if he has to go. I know he is teething pretty bad, lost almost all his front bottom teeth this past week. Not sure if that has something to do with it all the accidents or me trying to switch him to going outside. I would really like to train him for both! Outside primarily and pad for emergencies and rainy days. However its proving harder than I thought and at this point I would be happy with pad only.

Anyway sorry for the rant, just getting frustrated as I was hoping he would get better not worse. Just looking for some advice and experiences with your own pups. How long did it take you to train yours completely? I like the idea of the pads where he can go if he is not home, but was told it is kind of a gray area to let a dog go to the bathroom in the house and they will always have the occasional accident. Thanks for any advice, you have no idea how much I appreciate it!!!

Consistency is the key. That is why you are having problems. You changed midstream.:)

My little guy goes on pee pads. I put the pads in the garage tho. He go out and pee or poop in the garage and scratch on the door when he wants back in. At night and when we go somewhere i put him and a pad in the utility room. He uses it on the pad, and then when we get up or get home i take the pads back to the garage. I have been doing this because he would poop in his crate and i got tired of cleaning him and the crate every time i would get back home. I started this last friday and he hasn't had any accidents yet. I don't take him out everyday because of others dogs. But when he does go out he will wait and pee on the pad when we get back in.

Well so far so good since I last posted. I kind of went back to square one and made sure he was contained in the kitchen whenever we could not watch him every second. As the days go buy and if he continues to have no accidents I will start giving him a little more freedom.

On a side note also started taking his food away during the day to move away from free feeding at the vet and trainers recommendations. Says it will help with potty training and with him waking up so early (5am). So I have his food down between 6:30-7:30, 3:30-4:30, and 7:30-8:30. Water also comes up at 8:30, and he is usually fast asleep by 10. I have only been doing this since Monday. However yesterday and today he did not eat or poop in the morning. He only pooped and ate yesterday when I got home from work. Only ate about a 1/4 of cup too, and a few pieces before he went to bed. He is 4.5 pounds.

Is this normal when you try and put them on a feeding schedule? I feel like he should be eating more than that, and def more than once a day! I never really had issues with him free-feeding. He would just eat when he was hungry, he never went overboard. Should I just go back to it or is it a good idea to start regulating him?

I free feed all of mine so I cant help you there!! AS far as the potty pad goes...mine still have accidents when Im not home sometimes...When I am there they OVER USE it because they get a treat every time I see them "go"...lol...Mine are 3, almost 1 and 6 months...

My boy is 2 years old, inside trained and still has the occaisonal accident, usually he only has accidents on the bed when he's excited, but it'll always happen. Just keep consistent. Harley has started to go poo outside, but he wont pee outside, he holds it when we go for walks until we get in the house. Just expect the occaisional accident, these guys aren't perfect.

but about 5 months mine was pretty much trained on pee pads. there was the odd few accidents on my bed until 6 months but now its been 4-6 with only a little poo on the edge of the pad. i cant blame him as he is actually standing on the pad

Relative to potty training, if you want him to be an outdoor only dog, you have to give him plenty of opportunity to go outdoors. In you earlier post, you indicated that you took him out in the morning and the evening. He will need to go out many more times than twice a day (my apologies if I am misunderstanding).

I agree with YorkieUSA, consistency is key. Choose one method and stick to it. I believe putting the pad out inside the house only part of the day is confusing. My boys are both pad and outdoor trained, but they have their pad accessible 24 hours a day. They know not to go indoors at other people's homes or in public places, but at home, they always have a pad if they need it.

For food, I would say stick to a sort of free-feeding schedule up to 1 year of age. Max is a good eater but during his first year he didn't always eat at meal time. We had to play games with his kibble, but he always ended up eating his 3/4 cup over the course of the day. Just don't exceed a set amount for the day.

I only pad train & have never tried outdoor training. ZoE was fully potty trained by 12 weeks, but it took me another month or two to build up confidence in her to give her the run of the house. She just doesn't have accidents (knock on wood...) She's just turned a year old and still gets a treat everytime she goes potty on her pad, so her incentive to do so is still high.

I've only ever schedule fed because she is a food monster! My last yorkie I was able to free-feed and she would regulate herself...I don't see that ever happening with ZoE...she'd just eat & eat & get fat. I do like how scheduled feeding makes potty times more predictable.

I don't free feed Brandi. I feed her once in the morning before I go to work and then of course in the evening. She usually poops once a day (sometimes two but mostly once a day).

I am kind of force to put her on schedule though as I have a cat who loves dog food. If I left food down all day, my cat would be so freakin fat, she need a wheel barrow to get around. At any rate, I like having her schedule because I kind of know her potty schedule.

Also Brandi is potty pad trained as well. It took her about a year and half to finally get it and she still has the occassional accident. But then again, Brandi is 11 yrs old and I got her when she was 7 yrs old. Usually her accidents are my fault. Me usually not changing the potty pad fast enough for her.

confused
 

This is what I am trying to do with my Ella... she is completely potty pad trained at 6 months now. I would like for her to still go outside and while we are at other peoples houses go outside as well. She is doing fairly well with it, but still has accidents while we are at other people houses... how did u stop that!? Thanks :)

Roscoe is Sooooo stubborn he KNOWS how to use the potty pads and has since he was 6 months old.... He likes going outside better but when inside he will pee on the pad but poop literally right in front of it.... He will be one in feb. So we are still trying to break this...

This is how I am because my cat too LOVES dog food!

Teddy is 4 months old and has gone a week accident free. It has been a month since we got him. We only do outdoor training though, and since we got him use to house training bells, he is doing REALLY well.

What i've learned is just stick to a schedule. Don't deviate, I forget the phrase but it's like it takes x amount of days to form a routine and x amount of days to form a habit. Dogs are creatures of habit and love routine, you can't just change it up and expect them to understand.

We use housetraining bells,his crate, and of course he's under my constant eagle eye :) I've been consistent and i'm seeing results as early as a month into training.

Good luck!