Toilet Training

Bailey is 7 weeks old and we are going through the toilet training stage with him and I was wondering what worked best for everyone?
I bought some of the training pads. Ive sat him on them to get used to them and have praised him the odd time when hes actually pee'd on them but he prefers to do his business anywhere but on them
Any advise would be much appreciated

I've never used the pads. Tried one when we got Dempsey but he ripped it to shreds!

I've always gone by the take-em-outside-every-hour routine. Go overboard with praise & treats when something is done outside, and if they have an accident inside, just clean it up without a word & put the pup outside again.

I've also taken them outside after play, food & immediately after sleep.

Ive always got a pot of treats on me when we go outside and always make a fuss when hes does go. I read about taking them every hour so Im trying to stick to that too. Hes quite happy to go outside ... and then again when we come back in :-<
So if he goes in the house how long would be adviseable to put him back outside for?

Caryll wrote: I've always gone by the take-em-outside-every-hour routine. Go overboard with praise & treats when something is done outside, and if they have an accident inside, just clean it up without a word & put the pup outside again.

I've also taken them outside after play, food & immediately after sleep.

Concur but I still use pads in case I'm not at home or miss the sign that Suki wants out. There are sprays available to make the pads more attractive or you can sprinkle a bit of grass on the pad from where he has done his business.

I didn't dare use pads. Dempsey would swallow anything that he could get in his mouth!

But then he was in his crate whenever I had to go out, so pads wouldn't have been any use anyway!

jstaff wrote:
Concur but I still use pads in case I'm not at home or miss the sign that Suki wants out. There are sprays available to make the pads more attractive or you can sprinkle a bit of grass on the pad from where he has done his business.

Oh I think i might try the grass tomorrow, anything to make him pee on the pad rather than all over the kitchen as I dont always notice hes woken until I see the puddle

cookie18 wrote:Ive always got a pot of treats on me when we go outside and always make a fuss when hes does go. I read about taking them every hour so Im trying to stick to that too. Hes quite happy to go outside ... and then again when we come back in :-<
So if he goes in the house how long would be adviseable to put him back outside for?

Only long enough for him (hopefully) to have a pee. It isn't a punishment, or anything like it; after all, he's only doing what comes naturally! It's really so that he can associate peeing/pooing with outside. When you clean up any accidents use a cleaner that doesn't contain amonia as that will smell like urine to a dog & he'll want to go there again. Try a solution of biological washing powder, or one of the special cleaners you can get from the larger pet stores.

The only problem with pads is you have to train them to go 'on' the pad and then you have to train them 'again' to go outside. Seems a little pointless to me. My first had a baby gate over the kitchen. If I was going out I would put clean newspaper down by the door. This wasn't to encourage going but cleaned any mishaps, which I will add weren't often, she caught on that going outside was the way to go and not on the paper. A pad is very restrictive and you do end up training them to just pee on that and not outside. Just my opinion, I also agree with going outside, although I wouldn't leave it an hour to start with Xx

janey wrote: Just my opinion, I also agree with going outside, although I wouldn't leave it an hour to start with Xx

It never really is an hour if you take into account taking them outside after play (every 15 minutes), food (3 or 4 times a day) and sleep (after every period of play or food!)!

So as a pup kinda like every 5 mins I knew there where hell of a lot more benifits in rescuing at 8 months old : I do not miss toilet training at all!

Caryll wrote:I've never used the pads. Tried one when we got Dempsey but he ripped it to shreds!

I've always gone by the take-em-outside-every-hour routine. Go overboard with praise & treats when something is done outside, and if they have an accident inside, just clean it up without a word & put the pup outside again.

I've also taken them outside after play, food & immediately after sleep.

Me too Caryll

and when your pup goes to the loo outside, say a particular word.. for Jethro and Winston I use the word "Widdles " for either a wee or a poo.. with great success! they soon know exactly what you want of them.

Update on hows its going with Bailey and the toilet training!
Or should I say Not Going!
He laps up the praise and reward for going outside or on the puppy pads but will still happily pee all over the kitchen and dining room, even when we've been outside for ages purposely waiting until he's pee'd/poo'd out there!
I've even brought the sprays but nothing puts him off peeing under the dining table!
Fingers crossed he gets it soon!
Thanks for all your suggestions and advice

He will catch on, make sure you clean all his mishaps up properly, otherwise he'll think thats the place to go. Xx

janey wrote:He will catch on, make sure you clean all his mishaps up properly, otherwise he'll think thats the place to go. Xx

I really don't miss the potty training days. He's still young though and will catch on.

I had a similar problem to Cody but after 2 and a half weeks he's definately improved. We're using the puppy pads and now we are gradually letting him out side as he's had his 2nd set of vaccs now. He wont be fully protected for another week but once he is we'll be fully concentrating on going outside. We don't have a private garden so i'm hesitant to let him roam outside until he's protected.

Good luck with the training and i'm sure he'll work it all out eventually

Caryll wrote:I've never used the pads. Tried one when we got Dempsey but he ripped it to shreds!

I've always gone by the take-em-outside-every-hour routine. Go overboard with praise & treats when something is done outside, and if they have an accident inside, just clean it up without a word & put the pup outside again.

I've also taken them outside after play, food & immediately after sleep.

I agree with Caryll....and also watch for the tell-tale signs that they may need to go. Roxy would sniff like crazy and walk slightly differently JUST before she was gonna go, and I would quickly take her outside for her business. We also use the "do wees" command, which she has down patt. You could use any word that suits you.....eg.....wees, toilet, bizzo etc.... Every time pup does his/her business say the word and praise up big...soon they will learn what the word means.

Agree with everrything said above I definitely agree that you are out at least every 15 mins to start with - I took 2 weeks off work to concentrate on Rhias training and so glad I did it was like a full time job.
Is Bailey in a crate? This definitely helped with Rhia - training her to hold her bladder for longer as they are very reluctant to pee/poo where they sleep. 17 wks now and she has had no accidents for the last 2 wks - so proud of my clever girl!!

lauren19 wrote:Agree with everrything said above I definitely agree that you are out at least every 15 mins to start with - I took 2 weeks off work to concentrate on Rhias training and so glad I did it was like a full time job.
Is Bailey in a crate? This definitely helped with Rhia - training her to hold her bladder for longer as they are very reluctant to pee/poo where they sleep. 17 wks now and she has had no accidents for the last 2 wks - so proud of my clever girl!!

good girl Rhia !!!

No we havent got a crate for Bailey. we've got an outhouse and he stays in the corridor space between the two back doors which is a good size, bigger than a crate. At night/when we go out we put paper at one end and he'll 99% of the time go only on that but he does pee next to his bed when I thought they didnt like to go where they sleep.
when we let him in the rest of the house its then that he goes anywhere but the paper, especially under the dining table! Ive even bought a special spray to eliminate the smell but it dont seem to be working!

he is still only a little baby.. it does get better.. I promise you !
Winston when he was Bailey's age would wee next to his bed.. I think he woke in the middle of the night and just staggered out his bed and couldn't hold it in.. now he goes as far away as possible if he has to go, and I always have newspaper in that spot.
Sorry I cant really help you...

Molly was quite easy we just took her out every hour an then after play, eating or drinking, she was create trained also so that helped for times we are not there.

She also did bit of a poo dancy noramally too, so you could tell she was gonna go was just a matter of noticing that an taking her out.

The other thing and probley most important thing is to make sure you clean it up properly and with a special pet deodor spray as even the slightest smell and they will go there again, even if you carnt smell anything they can.

We luckly only had a few accidents in total Molly took to it really well, just hope Luna does the same.

He will devolp bladder control eventually but is still so very young. Just be patient and it will be something you can look back on and laugh.

we r in the same boat. coco is getting there but slowly.I have found the pads just confuse her and got rid of them. Taking her out after every sleep and every meal seems to be working for us though the weather hasnt helped shes not keen on going out if its just a little wet.
our main problem is the morning she gets up about 6 yet still manages to do something in her bed even after she goes before bed about 10.30/11.00