house training help

[mack]

hello,

i am new to this site and i have a question in regards to house training, i have a 12 week old cavalier x toy poodle, she is being house trained on puppy pee pads, she will be an indoor dog fulltime, as were i live the weather is not always kind to animals outside, winter's -10 and summers 40+ degrees celcius, and we get alot of deadly snakes and i don't want her to be bitten. and sometimes i wont be home all day and i want her to be able to go to the toilet in her potty room

she is going well with the indoor training, only a few accidents. i have a room set up for her to potty in, pee pads on newspaper and a crate for her to sleep in.

what i want to know is can she go outside to play sometimes, i am worried that she will be confused if whilst outside she peed, will she forget to use the puppy pads once she is back inside, if i changed the pee pads to a grass area inside would that help her, once she came back inside to be able to know that she can still pee in that room that i have set up. i DONT want to confuse her as she is going so well in her training and is starting to go to the room on her own.

do i only let her out side to play only after she has done a pee and poop in the morning for a little bit. then bring her back inside and straight to the potty room to reinforce that it is still there,

OR

should i wait till she is TOTALLY toilet trained with no accidents and going each time on her own, before letting her outside to play

any help anyone can offer me by way of experience or from what they have heard/read would be great

[KOPcaroline]

Hey Mack,

Way to be onto training! Sounds like you’re doing really well with her!

I’ve never trained a dog to just be indoors, but I’ll give my opinion on your training.

I think letting her outside is totally fine, and shouldn’t affect her bathroom behaviour indoors, as long as she always can get to her potty room. Even if she goes outside, and you give her a “good girl” for it, she’s being trained in the routine of using one area only in the house, so once she’s back there she should be fine.

Its similar to dogs getting treated differently when they stay with friends or family; my own dog used to stay with friends who let him go in and out of open doors to outside as he wanted, while I’ve trained him at home to sit and wait to come inside until I say he can come inside. So he’d stay with my friends for a couple weeks, and then come home to the routine I trained him on, and he’s never had a problem with remembering his “home training”.

While she’s still young she might have an accident inside after being out, but I doubt it will be a problem. If she does go somewhere inappropriate inside, correct her and shut her in the potty room for a bit on her own, to re-establish the idea. It shouldn’t take more than that.

I like your first idea of letting her outside and putting her immediately in the potty room when she comes back in, as opposed to waiting to let her outside. She needs socialization and to be exposed to as much of the world as possible at this time in her young life so that she won’t become fearful or aggressive when she does go outside. I think if you bring her in and put her in her bathroom place first thing, she’ll know what you mean. And eventually you can just let her back in and she’ll know not to do her business unless its in the right place.

Hope this helps, and other members can give you even more advice in this area, I’m sure!

[mack]

thank you so much for your reply, i will try that by putting her in her potty room when she comes straight back in from outside,

i just don't know if it would be better to use some grass/sod in a container for her inside or keep using the pee pads, i might put a container in the potty room and see which she chooses to use once she is able to go outside,

thanks again for your help

[kjd]

Mack,

I'm impressed! An indoor potty!

You know, my dog only goes in her own yard. She doesn't go when we walk or go to class. I know the day will come when I'll have her away from home too long and she will have to go, but it is nice knowing I don't have to carry filled bags back from a walk.

Usually people move the pads outdoors to teach the dog to use the outdoors. Since you want an indoor dog, don't move any pads outside. I don't think I'd bring sod indoors. You may not always be able to find sod (on a trip, for example), but the pads are in your local store.

Dogs, as I hope these last two paragraphs show, learn to go where you teach them. There is nothing magic about outdoors. Do as KOPCaroline suggested and let her play outside.

Good luck,
kjd

[mack]

Originally Posted by kjd

Mack,

I'm impressed! An indoor potty!

You know, my dog only goes in her own yard. She doesn't go when we walk or go to class. I know the day will come when I'll have her away from home too long and she will have to go, but it is nice knowing I don't have to carry filled bags back from a walk.

Usually people move the pads outdoors to teach the dog to use the outdoors. Since you want an indoor dog, don't move any pads outside. I don't think I'd bring sod indoors. You may not always be able to find sod (on a trip, for example), but the pads are in your local store.

Dogs, as I hope these last two paragraphs show, learn to go where you teach them. There is nothing magic about outdoors. Do as KOPCaroline suggested and let her play outside.

Good luck,
kjd

thanks, an indoor potty and puppy just makes more sense in the area that i live as i can not be outside with her, watching her 24/7, to keep her out of danger, but i can inside, i will take her outside for play time during the day but she will not stay outside unsupervised

thanks for your help

[KOPcaroline]

Hey Mack,

I think giving her the option and going with that is a great idea, so long as you're ok with either choice Good luck!!