Puppy pad training, or lack of! :/

[natasha_jago_uk]

So she keeps peeing and pooping right next to the pad OR right infront of us

Dont get me wrong sometimes she does go on the pad and gets heaps of praise for it! and then the next time will go do it somewhere else again.

And there isnt really a pattern to where its just random spots all round the room. Its a shame as the first day or two she did so well! She sleeps in her crate all night and hold it until morning which is fab!

Is it just a stubborn thing? Iv got a pad in every room and she is never on her own in a room really cus of the kids, Thanks xx

 

[chelynnah]

Why are you using a puppy pad? Do you not have easy access to outdoors? I have raised dogs in a flat with no garden and in a home with a garden. It really honestly is better to teach a dog that it is never ok (unless by accident or sick) to eliminate in the house at all, especially when training puppies. Also having a pad in every room isn't helping because it's giving her too much of a choice and she has yet to learn a specific area.

I would scrap the pads altogether and go to outdoor toilet training. Take her out every hour or two (more or less frequently depending on age), give her a cue word and when she does it praise and treat straight away! So make sure you have some yummy treats in your pocket every time you go out. Pre-empt when she has to go, learn her habits. If a small puppy our rules are 'if the feet hit the floor the pup goes out'. This translates into if the sleeping puppy wakes up - straight out, if the wildly playing puppy stops - straight out, among other things. Also immediately after eating as the body as eating stimulates the bowel, to clear out. And if she's a young pup then every hour or two until she has it down.

A lot of people will get a long lead and tether a pup to themselves so that pup can have some freedom but not too much. If she has too much freedom then she will have the time and space to build bad habits. It's easier to create a good habit than to break a bad one.

If there is a really strong reason that you have to use pee pads, then I would make sure the pad is in a specific box or rubber boot mat or something, in one room that she can access. Not several just round the house. She needs to know exactly where to go and where to look, but if at all possible I would take them all up now and start outdoor training from scratch.