# Transition from pee pads to outside



## cdomaloan (May 14, 2009)

Hi there I've got a 1 year old miniature Australian shepherd boy. Right now, my main goal is to get him to stop peeing on pads and to go only outside.

-In the morning I take him outside to pee, then feed, then go on his walk to poop. He does this consistently every morning and I have no problem.
-I go to work for 10 hours (leave at 8AM get home 6PM). During that time he pees on a pee pad. Sometimes he pees just once or twice, other times it's multiple times plus a poop.
-He gets his walk at 6PM where he does both, then gets taken out at 11PM to do whatever he needs to do. He also does each consistently and has no problems.

Other things to note:
He never has any accidents in the house when we are home. And he always goes on the pad when we are not at home, never anywhere he is not supposed to.

So basically he has everything down to what we use to want him to do. Except now I want him to be able to hold it during the day . How can I go about doing this and what do you recommend? Here are some of my options:

1. Go cold turkey and remove the pee pads. We'll definitely have accidents, but since he KNOWS that he only is supposed to go on the pad, eventually he will learn that he has to wait until I get home (hopefully). Also, I was planning on reducing his water intake so he has to go less. And he'll probably try to pee on the floor where teh pad should be (it's tile) so it's not like he is ruining a carpet or anything.

2. Dog walker. We actually have him going on his first dog walk this week. Eventually it'll be two days a week. Hopefully this will hep but for those other three days I still want him to be trained to hold it.

3. Crate him for 10 hours? I don't want to do that.

Basically #1 seems to be the best bet even though it will be messy for the first few weeks. Can anyone help?


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## pyralis (Mar 18, 2010)

Normally my response would be to start with crating while gone and expanding the amount of room he gets as he gets older (though yours is already 1 of course). But 10 hours is a long time to be in a crate like you mentioned.

I would then ask if you have an area of the house where he's comfortable (kitchen, den, etc) that you can confine him to when you leave. I'd leave him a comfy bed, toys, water, etc, but no pee pad. My theory would be similar to the crating theory. If he's limited to a smaller space (1 room versus the whole house), he may be hesitant to go to the bathroom in that room. You could also accomplish this with baby gates, if you don't want to completely shut him in somewhere.

I think if you leave him access to the whole house when doing the cold turkey method, you may be asking for trouble. If he can't find a pee pad, he may try to at least find the most removed spot possible and pee in a corner, in a room he doesn't frequent, etc, and think this is okay. I know when my parents took in a stray a year ago, he naturally wanted to go outside, but when stuck inside instead of holding it he' find a really sneaky place to go. According to the reports I got, he'd sometimes sneak into a rarely frequented guest bedroom and leave surprises behind the bed that wouldn't be found for a number of days! Older stray dogs are a different issue, but he's gotten to the point where if they confine him to the first floor and close the bedroom doors, he'll wait till they get home.

Best of luck!


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## MafiaPrincess (Jul 1, 2009)

It's going to be a long hard road. You have told your dog that for its entire lifetime going to the bathroom indoors is okay and suddenly now it is not. No matter what you do it may be frusturating for you and your dog.

I lived in an apartment and Cider was a puppy. She used a pad until I moved when she was 7 months old as the treck down 6 floors was too much to catch her in the act. When I moved home it took 6 or more months to get her to quit pottying indoors. 

Because of that I would never ever teach another dog to use newspaper, litter, pads, etc unless that is where I wanted them to go indefinately.


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## cdomaloan (May 14, 2009)

Pyralis - Thanks, that is actually a better idea than letting him have free reign of the house. I don't really have a great place to corner him off in (he isn't allowed in any rooms, only the living/kitchen area), but I see what you mean, so I'll try to keep him in just the living room and not allow him in the kitchen which is where he does his business.

Princess - Thanks, I know! I knew we were shooting ourselves in the foot by starting with pee pads, but we had no choice. Now that he's old enough to hold it we can at least try to retrain him. If it takes 6 months so be it, since once he learns it will last a lifetime.


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## Michiyo-Fir (Jul 25, 2009)

I think 10 hrs is a little long for your dog since he has to pee once or even more than that during the day. Obviously he's not peeing on the pad for fun or for treats since no one is home which me he actually HAS to go. 

You can crate him and train him to pee and poop outside, all 3 of our dogs were on pads and then transitioned to outside without any problems but I highly recommend getting someone to take him out once in those 10 hrs. 

Both our fully house trained dogs can only hold 6-7 hrs unless they're sleeping. It's actually not recommended by vets to force your dog to hold it for a really long time. Apparently it increases the risks of UTI and other bladder diseases.


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## KING'S owner (Mar 22, 2010)

quick ? do you have anyone that u trust that might be able to take him out for a little while cause then maybe u could keep him crated for 4 hrs then have someone take him out for a little bit then re-crate him after a potty break and maybe a little stroll. just a thought. let me know how u make out cause i have a similar situation my rhodesian ridgeback (8 weeks old) is coming home tomorrow and i live in an apt building which has no yard or anything. good news is i have been preparing for his arrival for like 6 months so i have rented a house with a medium sized yard, problem is he will be in my apt. for 5 days before the move and i am afraid to take him out on the sidewalk (parvo) so i was thinking of trying to use pee pads for those 5 days and then switching him off in 5 days. dont know what ill do. any suggestions anyone.


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## chubby (Aug 18, 2011)

KING'S owner said:


> quick ? do you have anyone that u trust that might be able to take him out for a little while cause then maybe u could keep him crated for 4 hrs then have someone take him out for a little bit then re-crate him after a potty break and maybe a little stroll. just a thought. let me know how u make out cause i have a similar situation my rhodesian ridgeback (8 weeks old) is coming home tomorrow and i live in an apt building which has no yard or anything. good news is i have been preparing for his arrival for like 6 months so i have rented a house with a medium sized yard, problem is he will be in my apt. for 5 days before the move and i am afraid to take him out on the sidewalk (parvo) so i was thinking of trying to use pee pads for those 5 days and then switching him off in 5 days. dont know what ill do. any suggestions anyone.


Try putting a small piece of sod on the balcony so he develops an affinity for going on grass - if you don't want the sod to ruin the concrete, I suggest placing it in some kind of litter box, or plastic bottom so it's cleaner


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