- Joined
- Oct 15, 2006
- Messages
- 2
- Likes
- 0
- Points
- 0
We have a ~3 month old yorkie puppy who at first was doing pretty well as far as potty training goes. She is strictly indoor (here at the apartment complex), as in, she will never go outside even to use the bathroom. Don't worry she's not indoors her whole life, we take her places like the park and stuff for her to run around. But anyways, when she's here, it all has to be inside, so she needs to do it all on her pee pad.
As I said, with a little work we were able to get her to use her pee pad almost every time. Things were going pretty well, since I can handle an accident here and there. However, we took her to another house for 4 days last week to visit family, and since we've been back, she hasn't used the pad ONCE (she wasn't using them there, either, but I can't blame her for that with the new surroundings). We've been back since Tuesday, so every single time since then she's peed on the floor (fortunately, all wood/tile). It's very frustrating for her to go from peeing on it almost every time to not at all. It's like she thinks she isn't supposed to go on a pad anymore. Interestingly, she'll poop on it every time (and we praise/reward her for it), but not pee. I've been dieing for her to just pee on the pad once so I can praise/reward her for it, but she just won't do it. She'll pee everywhere BUT the pad it seems like.
I pay very close attention to her, and sometimes for an hour or two at a time won't even let her out of my sight (playing aroud with her). I know when she has to pee, but she won't do it where she's supposed to. When I'm watching her, and it's usually very closely and I'm right next to her, I'll see her starting to pee and very quickly pick her up and put her on the pad. But, even if I do it very quickly (and I've gotten very fast), the damage has already been done and the pee is already on the floor. Sometimes I can't help but say no when she's about ready to pee on the floor, but other than that, I don't punish her or hit her or anything.
What it seems like to me is somehow she's gotten reinforcement to NOT pee on the pad, and I have no idea how or why. Should I go out and get something to spray on the pad to make her more likely to go on it? Lately I've been placing and rubbing the paper towels that I used to clean her pee up on the pad to try and give her the idea that that's where the pee goes, but it hasn't helped at all. I've also tried cleaning the floors to remove any scent or remains of previous accidents and giving her brand new pads. I also try to thoroughly clean each accident by soaking up the pee, washing the area with water, and then wiping it with Simple Solution stain/odor remover. I really just need her to go on it once because I feel like when she does and I reward her for it, we'll be able to make progress from there (that's what we did initially to get her to the point where she was before the 4 day visit).
Another question, though, is what should I do when I know she has to pee? I keep a very close eye on her and don't let her get too far from the pad, and I'm usually very near it myself. Should I just not do anything and pay no attention to her, except if I notice she peed on the pad? If I try to keep her actually on the pad she just gets anxious and tries to run away so that's obviously not a good thing to try. For the most part, she will avoid peeing if I'm watching her or following her, whereas she'll just go if no one's looking.
One more thing, though, is that I've never had a dog before, my girlfriend has, but I haven't, so I'm not experienced. I've been reading a lot and have been learning, but I'm just letting you all know that to keep in mind.
Thank you in advance
As I said, with a little work we were able to get her to use her pee pad almost every time. Things were going pretty well, since I can handle an accident here and there. However, we took her to another house for 4 days last week to visit family, and since we've been back, she hasn't used the pad ONCE (she wasn't using them there, either, but I can't blame her for that with the new surroundings). We've been back since Tuesday, so every single time since then she's peed on the floor (fortunately, all wood/tile). It's very frustrating for her to go from peeing on it almost every time to not at all. It's like she thinks she isn't supposed to go on a pad anymore. Interestingly, she'll poop on it every time (and we praise/reward her for it), but not pee. I've been dieing for her to just pee on the pad once so I can praise/reward her for it, but she just won't do it. She'll pee everywhere BUT the pad it seems like.
I pay very close attention to her, and sometimes for an hour or two at a time won't even let her out of my sight (playing aroud with her). I know when she has to pee, but she won't do it where she's supposed to. When I'm watching her, and it's usually very closely and I'm right next to her, I'll see her starting to pee and very quickly pick her up and put her on the pad. But, even if I do it very quickly (and I've gotten very fast), the damage has already been done and the pee is already on the floor. Sometimes I can't help but say no when she's about ready to pee on the floor, but other than that, I don't punish her or hit her or anything.
What it seems like to me is somehow she's gotten reinforcement to NOT pee on the pad, and I have no idea how or why. Should I go out and get something to spray on the pad to make her more likely to go on it? Lately I've been placing and rubbing the paper towels that I used to clean her pee up on the pad to try and give her the idea that that's where the pee goes, but it hasn't helped at all. I've also tried cleaning the floors to remove any scent or remains of previous accidents and giving her brand new pads. I also try to thoroughly clean each accident by soaking up the pee, washing the area with water, and then wiping it with Simple Solution stain/odor remover. I really just need her to go on it once because I feel like when she does and I reward her for it, we'll be able to make progress from there (that's what we did initially to get her to the point where she was before the 4 day visit).
Another question, though, is what should I do when I know she has to pee? I keep a very close eye on her and don't let her get too far from the pad, and I'm usually very near it myself. Should I just not do anything and pay no attention to her, except if I notice she peed on the pad? If I try to keep her actually on the pad she just gets anxious and tries to run away so that's obviously not a good thing to try. For the most part, she will avoid peeing if I'm watching her or following her, whereas she'll just go if no one's looking.
One more thing, though, is that I've never had a dog before, my girlfriend has, but I haven't, so I'm not experienced. I've been reading a lot and have been learning, but I'm just letting you all know that to keep in mind.
Thank you in advance