full time workers trying to house train puppy

[chocolatekittykatt]

Hi

I have a 14 week old boxer bitch.
Is superb on and off the lead, voice commands, will go potty outside in a designated area etc but i still have serious issues with her going potty in the house and in her crate at night and during the day.

I have tried confining her to one area of the house (kitchen) in an effort to bring the toilet training to one area only, but when she decides where she likes to go i start moving the paper accordingly and she changes where she goes. She then likes to destroy newspaper and puppy pads, so it looks like armageddon has hit!

Unfortunately both me and my partner work all day and at present we are not local enough to come home at lunch time to walk her (though we are looking at changing jobs)

If i keep her in her crate i keep a puppy pad inside during the day... when she was confined to the kitchen (with the crate), the puppy pads are outside of her crate.... just seem to be going in circles with the best solution for her and us.

Any advice would be good

[Katy]

This is the solution for paper training. It took our puppy a full day to accept walking onto the white grid over the puppy pad in the wizdog. The wizdog indoor dog potty is a plastic recessed tray that holds either newspaper or a puppy training pad. The wizardry is the plastic grid that goes over the pad, separating your puppy from the liquid waste. The poop stays on top of the grid, and sometimes gets mushed into the holes. It's at INDOOR DOG POTTY for: dog house training, housebreaking puppies, dog and puppy training and costs about $39 for the wizdog itself, and you use newspaper or any kind of puppy pads but you'll have to fold the pads to fit, or get the kit for about $59 that also includes their puppy pads, emergency notification door/window stickers(please rescue my pets) and a container of soil remover with an upholstery brush on the bottle. We bought the full kit but already had Petsmart's economy puppy pads on hand. We'd tried just a large plastic frame to hold the puppy pad- Lizzie loves to tear the puppy pad apart. If we're careful putting it in the wizdog, she can't get at it. To clean, George my wonderful husband uses a fondue stick to clean the bits of poop out of the grids then takes it outside, sprays it with KABOOM or some other non-toxic cleaner and hoses it off. He also changes the puppy pads once a day. I pick up the poop when she goes. We also let her outside, but she's inside quite a while when we're away. We couldn't do it without the Wizdog. Katy & Lizzie

[Katy]

Walking a dog goes for about $18 in my area, Long Beach, CA, with discounts for regularity. That's from a licensed and bonded professional. Perhaps a neighbor would do it for less. The Wizdog was advertised to me as the solution to somebody rushing home to walk the puppy. We love it. Trouble is, she's now trained to the Wizdog, going in the house. After our vacation, we want her to only go outside, holding it for 5 or 6 hours in her crate . We eventually want her to tell us when she wants to go, so she can have free run of the house. It's late, I've gotta go. Get the wizdog. It works for your problem.

[KOPsarah]

Hi chocolatekittykat and thanks for your post.
With toilet training the most important part is having a consistent area that your dog can toilet in so they know exactly where is right and wrong. I think in your case your dog is so accustomed to outside toileting which she is doing so well at that she can't get her head around toileting inside sometimes. A potential solution for you would be to try to get your dog to associate a wizdog with toileting rather than a particular place. For example you could put the wizdog in her spot outside when she's toileting outside and then put it inside with her during the day. Praise her every time she goes to use the wizdog and also give the toilet command you already use and put her on it after meals, first thing in the morning and before bed. Alternatively you can definitely consider hiring someone to take her out to the toilet regularly as katy suggested and eliminate the need for indoor toileting at all. Remember though that puppys have small bladders and should be let out about every four hours at least. Finally there is also the option of enrolling your puppy into doggy daycare if this is available in your area and financially viable.

I hope this helps and let us all know how you and your puppy get on, it sounds as though she is going to be a very obedient and intelligent dog.