# HELP! pee-pad training a 2 year old dog



## davec (Oct 11, 2012)

I got a 2-yo small mutt a few weeks ago from a friend of mine. She lived in a house with a backyard and a dog door and was completely housebroken. Always went potty outside. 

Now she's living with me in an apartment without a patio/balcony and I've been trying to pee-pad train her for weeks but so far I don't see any progress and am getting very frustrated. 

It looks to me that she's trying to hold as much as she can while in the apartment. If I take her out for a walk before her threshold, she pees outside immediately. Otherwise, she pees at random spots in the apartment. She always poops when I walk her daily at night and so far she made a poop mistake once. She's making pee mistakes daily, once or twice per day.

I live alone and work during the day. Even when I am home, since I live at the top floor of my building, taking her out often is very inconvenient.

She's in her ex-pen during the day. I put water bowl, a pee pad, her crate and toys inside. When I get home I let her roam around kitchen and living room. I still put a pee pad at the same location (with the pen open). Often she shreds/tears the pad. 

So far I tried to put some of her urine on the pad. Also whenever I catch her peeing in the house, I lift her up and put her on the pad. I clean the carpet and the floor with an enzyme cleaner to remove the odor. But she doesn't seem to get the idea yet. I was also thinking about using a training spray but was discouraged by many reviews saying that it just stinks and doesn't work well. 

Because she was completely housebroken, I understand her behavior but now she has to be indoor trained. She is not a puppy, so I understand training her may take more time, but I didn't expect to have issues even after a few weeks (almost a month actually). 

What should I do? I am very frustrated and desperate. She's a total lovebug and I don't want to lose her because of potty training failure. Please help. Thank you.


----------



## Hallie (Nov 9, 2008)

I've never been a fan of pee pads, and I've heard from many that they don't work. 

She's trained to not go in the house. She doesn't understand the concept of a pee pad, to her it is the same as peeing on the floor. I have no advice on training an adult house trained dog to go on a pad. You're essentially teaching her to do something she's gotten in trouble for and knows not to do. It'll be difficult. 

As for it being 'inconvenient' to take her out, dogs aren't always convenient. Not to sound harsh, but you should have thought about her most basic needs before you made the decision to get her. 

I hope it works out for you.


----------



## Canyx (Jul 1, 2011)

Maybe you can try another indoor device that mimics the outdoors? I've heard of fake grass mats and things of that nature, though I've never used them.

If you're hellbent on using potty pads it will be hard but I don't think it's impossible.
If her bowel movements outside are predictable, you can try having a manageable size of the training pad with you and put it down when it looks like she's about to use the bathroom. Reward and praise heavily when she goes on it. Eventually you might be able to just put the pad down OUTSIDE and she'll go on it. And then you can slowly move it towards buildings then into buildings, etc.
It would also help to have 'pee' and 'poop' on some sort of cue. This doesn't mean you'll be able to just say it and have her do it wherever you want, but rather it would help her better understand what you want from her. 

All this said, I do agree that just taking her out is the best solution. Even if you live on the top floor, since she is an adult dog it's not like you need to constantly take her outside. Once in the morning when she wakes up, before you go to work. Once when you come home. Once before bed.


----------



## davec (Oct 11, 2012)

Thanks. I try to be a responsible owner and I did think about the living arrangement and also discussed it with my friend before I got her. We agreed that it can be worked out. And I am still hoping that we made a right decision. 

Here's my typical weekday schedule. I take her out in the morning before leaving for work and she pees. When I come home, I take her out again and she sometimes pees and sometimes not (especially when she already made a mistake inside the house). Then after eating dinner, I walk her for 45 minutes and she pees and poops during the walk. 

The main reason I'm trying to pee pad train her is the occasions she need to go but I am not around, she's sick, or bad weather. I want her to use indoor potty in that case. She's an adult and my friend told me that she can hold for 7-8 hours. But she's a small dog and I guess that is not always possible. When I am around, of course I am willing to take her out. But it takes good 5 minutes just to go out of the building. So even if she really has to go (like diarrhea) and I catch her signal in time, I am not sure if she can hold for 5 minutes.

Ideally, I want her to learn to use indoor potty when she's alone or needs to go immediately. And I'll take her out as often as I can so that the use of indoor potty is minimized.

BTW, I'm open to any kind of indoor potty options. I just happen to have a box of pee pads but am willing to try other things as long as they work.


----------



## doxiemommy (Dec 18, 2009)

As the owner of three small dogs, I agree that small dogs don't always have the bladder control of larger dogs. Mine are usually good for 5-6 hours during the day, and they're usually good all night, but, one of mine, the smallest, does occasionally need a night time trip.

Here's the issue with wanting her to use the pad in certain situations, but not all the time: she's a dog and dogs don't use reasoning. So, you say "ideally, I want her to learn to use the indoor potty when she's alone or needs to go immediately" which means only in emergencies, basically, right? 
Well, since dogs don't reason, she's not going to think to herself "ok, I KIND of have to go, not really bad, just kind of, and there's this pad here. Hmmmm. Sometimes it's ok for me to use it. Is now one of those times? Um, I guess not since I don't have to go really badly, I guess I should just hold it, afterall, my human will be home in an hour or so."

That doesn't really happen. So, if you give her permission to use it, you give her permission to use it, whenever, period. You can't really train her to use it, but get upset if she uses it more than you want her to, or not in emergencies.

That said, if you want to train pads, here's what I would do:

- Even though she's an adult, treat her like she's a new puppy. 
- Don't give her any freedom, none, in the house until she's pad trained to your satisfaction. That means, when you are home with her, she needs to be supervised 100% of the time. And for those times when you have to take your eyes off her, put her in her pen or crate.
- This close supervision means that you will see each and every time she gives the signals that she has to go. When she does, escort her to the pad, and say the magic potty words, whatever you've chosen, the same every time.
- If she goes, give lots of praise, and a super yummy, high value treat, way better than any other treat you use.
- If she doesn't after a few minutes (keep her on the pad), then let her off, but keep watching her just in case she still acts like she has to go, so you can try again.

When you aren't home, you can't really call it a mistake. Because when you're potty training, it's more about what you do than what the dogs do. So, if she's home alone, and you aren't there to interrupt an accident and move her to the right place (pad), then it can't be helped. She doesn't get what you want her to do. 

The best case scenario for potty training a puppy OR an adult is your time and attention. Meaning that you take some time off to train, and do it right. However, in the real world, most people can't take a couple weeks off to potty train, so they do the best they can. For our family, we time getting a new dog with when I am on vacation (I teach) so that they can get all the potty training help they need.

Because the best way to potty train is to PREVENT accidents in the first place by supervising, interrupting before the accident, and redirecting. That way, you are replacing the bad behavior (accidents) with the good behavior (on the pad) simply by not giving them a chance to start the bad behavior.


----------



## davec (Oct 11, 2012)

Thank you, doxiemommy. That's very helpful. 

I actually want her to go on the pad whenever she wants. What I meant was I will still take her out regularly when I can so that I can use less pee pads (less $) and reduce potential odor. I should have stated it more clearly.

I will watch her like a hawk when I am with her. A colleague of mine suggested me to create a tight space using an ex-pen that is large enough for her crate and pee-pads only. So when she's in the pen, she's either in her crate or in her "bathroom". She told me to keep her in the pen whenever I can't watch her. Do this for a week or two and then slowly expand the area so that she can have some space other than her crate and bathroom. Sounds like a good idea to me, so I think I'm going to try that as well. 

Thanks again.


----------

