# Dragging puppy pad to sleeping areas??



## Keeran's Mama (Apr 12, 2008)

My 13 week old puppy has been doing something odd lately that we've never seen him do before. In his playpen, he has a corner for his crate/sleeping area and on the opposite side, a place for his puppy pad. He normally doesn't disturb his puppy pad outside of folding it up but lately, it looks like he's been throwing his pad around in a festive like manner, poo and all, then dragging it over to his bed area and putting it on top of his blanket. It's driving BF and I nuts because poo gets everywhere in his pen!!! FYI, we're training him to use the bathroom outside but when we're sleeping, he usually sleeps through the night just fine and we leave a pad in his pen for nightime poo/pee. My bf and I have odd enough hours where we can bring him out frequently but he'll just want to dance about in the grass instead of using the potty like he's suppose to. We bring him out to the same spot to use the potty everyday so he knows what he's suppose to do when we bring him out there he just refuses to use it sometimes. Also, he never seems to want poo during the day but will only ninja poop long after we head to bed. We don't understand why he won't poo then and when he does, it's at night when he wants to throw it around. Any advice would be appreciated here...why is he bringing his pad to his bed? Why does he throw it about and WHY does he refuse to poo sometimes when we bring him out??? Thanks in advance!


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## fameb (Mar 27, 2008)

Are you praising your puppy everytime it does go to the bathroom outside??

It needs to know that it's a "good thing" for it to go outside. So if you haven't already, take you pup outside let it do it's business and then act as if he just won an Olympic gold medal. Praise him, Pet him, say good boy, maybe even give him a treat after he does it. After awhile he'll figure out that you want him to do this outside.

As for the puppy pad, I don't really know. Maybe he looks at it as a toy and just plays around with it. I think the fact that he has his own play area allows him to do this...Maybe switch to Crate Training, it'll be easier to solve issues like this.


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## Keeran's Mama (Apr 12, 2008)

I praise him so much, I stop short of doing cartwheels. I think I've been slacking a bit on carrying treats to give him when he's going potty. That's what's probably holding him back. Thanks for the response!


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## marleys_mom (Apr 10, 2008)

Keeran's Mama said:


> I praise him so much, I stop short of doing cartwheels.


Ha ha ha... sorry... I got a chuckle out of that one. 

My mother-in-law tried the puppy pad training for her maltese. She has had nothing but trouble with it. Her dog flat refuses to go outside and she says she wishes she'd never started him out on the pads. They may work for some people but she's certainly regretting it now. 

IMO I would try strictly housebreaking him to go outside. He's obviously looking at the pad as some sort of toy, (although I can't imagine why).


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## AkiraleShiba (Dec 9, 2007)

Puppy pads are just trouble in my opinion.

Get a smaller crate, or a separator so that your puppy has smaller living space that he'll be less likely to want to spoil.


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## jesirose (Mar 27, 2008)

Definately use a crate since you guys can take him out often enough. If you take him out and he doesn't go potty, put him back in the crate for 5 mins, and try again until he goes! 

I agree with above, puppy pags are nothing but trouble.


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## prolibertate (Nov 7, 2007)

Your puppy is just being a puppy  He's found out that playing with his pee pad is fun. I use a pee pad for my puppy but I put it in a ugodog (ugodog.net) so he can't play with it; they also have simple frames at pet stores that hold the pad in place. My puppy goes outside reliably also, but as I work all day I'm not going to insist he hold it for the 9 hours that I'm gone; I couldn't hold it that long, so why would I make my dog do so? And just in case he starts to eat his poop (disgusting I know, but a lot of them do it), feed him a little bit of pineapple in his food and he'll stop eating it.

At 13 weeks he should be eating about 3 times a day. Don't take him on a walk to go potty, just bring him to his spot without playing or talking to him, then when you're at his spot ask him to go potty, and always praise and treat him for going. You can take him out to his potty spot about 20 minutes after he's eaten to see if he wants to go. If he doesn't, bring him back in and try again in a few minutes. 

I don't believe it's that he's refusing to poop at times; he may simply not have to go right then. Also, if he has treats at night, make sure to take him out again just before bedtime. But if he's on a fixed schedule for eating and going outside to potty, he'll get the idea soon. Most puppies aren't reliably potty trained till 6 months, but they usually do pick it up fairly quickly if they're on a schedule.

Also, watch him closely after he's eaten; each dog has their own signal that says they need to go...with many, it's sniffing the ground and they won't pay any attention when you call them; with others it can be a little harder to figure out, but they do have their own way of signaling it. Just don't get frustrated (I know, easier said than done!) and recognize that it will take some time, patience, and scheduling, but that soon you won't be having to clean up the flying poop anymore.


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## Two Labs Mom (Apr 10, 2008)

Every person I've talked to who used the pads said they just prolonged the whole housetraining process and confused the dog. If your puppy can potty in the house, then why would he want to go outside and why would he even know that's what he's supposed to do when he's out there? Save yourself the extra training time - get rid of the pee pads and just go back to basics. 

I would start back at the beginning with crate training. It's great that you and BF have time to take him out regularly, so crate him and then take him outside at regular intervals and again after playtime, sleeping, and eating. Praise the heck out of him when he goes; if he doesn't go, back to the crate for a few minutes and then try again. He will get it eventually.


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