# Potty Training Problems!



## AstronomicalDawn (Jan 12, 2009)

So Lola has been doing GREAT at potty training until the last 2 weeks or so. 

At first we kept her confined to the kitchen and she ALWAYS went right on her potty pad, so we gave her access to the living room & dining room and made sure there were plenty of potty pads for her to go on no matter where she was. That was going great, she always sought out the pads and went potty on them no problem and we cheared her on!

Then recently she has decided to just flat out pee on the floor without even trying to get to a potty pad, and she just poops wherever she wants, some of the time it's right next to the pad. 

I don't understand her drastic steps backward with potty training! We just had to throw out our rug because she had peed on it too many times and I just couldn't get the pee smell out (and because my cat puked bright orange ALL over it...) 
We have hardwood floors so I am not worried about cleaning her accidents up, I just don't know what to do to stop them!


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## elmopuppy (Jun 7, 2008)

maybe she dosen't want to poo on a dirty pad? It sounds weird but Elmo used to be very fussy, and if he peed in his litterbox he wouldn't poo in it unless you changed the paper.I have to say he will generally poop and pee at the same time now on the same bit of paper!


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## elmopuppy (Jun 7, 2008)

ooh and also use something like simple solution cleaner when cleaning up accidents so he does not go in the same spot. The ammonia in alot of cleaning products encourages a dog to resoil the area even we can no longer smell it.
Also maybe confining again to the one room again to get her toileting established again. She may be marking the rest of the house and maybe has too much freedom so you may have to curb her wandering for a while.
Elmo got the toilet training quite quickly, expect for the occasional accident. Hope this helps!


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## SillySally (Jan 2, 2009)

Even tho she is 6mos she is still concidered a puppy and you still have to let her outside just as often as when she was younger. If you are just sticking to puppy pads strickly I would also limit her to one room only until she gets the hint. If she isn't use to being kenneled for a while then get ready for the puppy cry stage all over again if you kennel her and that to me is more annoying than a meer accident on the floor..

We don't have carpet anymore, we have hardwood floors and tile and no rugs except in the kitchen and bathrooms and I keep those rooms closed off to puppies so they won't get the idea that it is ok to poo poo and pee pee on mommys rugs.


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## AstronomicalDawn (Jan 12, 2009)

Ok so I am going to start changing her pads more often and we'll see if that helps. 
Right now we have 2 pee pads in the dining room, 2 in the living room, one in between the dining & living rooms and one in the kitchen. I am also following her like a hawk ready to correct any accidents!


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## Yoshismom (Jul 6, 2005)

It may be that you have too many potty pads around and it is confusing her? 

If it were me I would have a designated potty place maybe an xpen near your back door? Take her there after meals or drinking water and also after she wakes up from a nap, first thing in the morning, right before bed and other random times through out the day. This being if you strictly use the pads and do not do outdorr pottying. If you do outdoor pottying then use the same routine I suggested above but outside.

She is also to young to have full run of such large rooms. I would either keep an eye on her and keep her with me at all times or teather her to you so you will know where she is at all times and she will not be allowed to just wander off.

I think she is just confused at so many potty places and just assumed it was okay to go anywhere now. 

BTW. I have hardwood floors as well and one of mine seems to migrate there as well. I use a rug that I can spray off there so when he does potty there it doesnt seep in and it is easy clean up ;-)


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## Brodysmom (Jan 8, 2009)

I completely agree with yoshismom. 

You have too many pads all over the place and she thinks it's OK to just go anywhere now. Have a designated spot. ONE or maybe two spots, but no more. Put the pad there and leave it there permanently and don't let her loose in the house. You have to watch her or put her in a crate or a specific spot you have for her when you aren't watching her. 

According to your siggy, she's only 3 months old! That's way too young to have full run of the house. She won't be reliable for months. 

I would completely start over. Get your carpets CLEAN (Nature's Miracle or similar to completely get rid of the odor they can smell) and then put out ONE potty pad and then take her there to go. She probably smells urine all over if she's been going indiscriminately and she thinks your whole house is a potty pad! It will take some retraining but you can do it. 

Brodysmom


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## carrera (Oct 8, 2008)

if interested... jjdiapers.ca is offering 20% off their diapers, they may help as a potty training aid


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## AstronomicalDawn (Jan 12, 2009)

Thanks!
I know she is still young, but she was doing sooooo well until all the sudden! 
I didn't have potty pads all over the place until she just started going wherever she wanted, so I put pads in the places she kept going potty at.
She is never unsupervised really, it seems she takes the 2 seconds that I leave the room to use the bathroom myself or go to grab a blanket to go potty somewhere.


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## Yoshismom (Jul 6, 2005)

Take her with you when you do these quick things. Teather her to you so she will have to follow you ;-)


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## Brodysmom (Jan 8, 2009)

If she is running off and going potty as soon as you turn your back, it makes me think that she is afraid of pottying in front of you? Like if she didn't go on a pad and was yelled at or punished, then she might think that pottying in front of you causes that. So she waits to go until you aren't right there. 

So be SURE and praise her like crazy if she goes on the pad or really, close to it at this point. And if you don't catch her and just see a poop or pee on the carpet, just matter of factly clean it up, but don't yell at her after the fact. She may be associating going potty with getting in trouble and that's why she is being sneaky and going as soon as your back is turned.

Just a thought! 

Brodysmom


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## AstronomicalDawn (Jan 12, 2009)

Thanks for all the suggestions! 

I know she isn't affraid to go potty in front of me cause she will go on & off the pads when I am right there. 
I ALWAYS praise her like crazy and give her a treat when she goes on the pads though, and I haven't punished her when she has an accident. 
Usually if I can catch her I will move her to a pad while she is in the process of the accident, or if I catch her right after I will still move her to the pad and say something like "potty here" 

I am just going to go back to having her confined rather than having access to the living & dining rooms.

And I thought she was doing sooooooooooo well too!!


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## lilbabyvenus (Feb 8, 2009)

I don't know what your home is set up like but maybe also try putting the pads out of _your_ sight. My mother-in-laws dog (Sadie) goes in the house when no one is looking. But she found that she also does it outside. Sadie will run behind a tree or something to go potty.m It may just be that she doesn't like being watched.


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## Sergeant Pepper (Jan 30, 2009)

You have two impt items which you can use to your advantage in potty training. One, pets love to stay clean so they try as much as possible not to soil their cribs/beds. If they know that they have pee time or pee pads, they'll wait for that time or go out of their cribs to pee.
Two. Most dogs have pee patterns. Like, early morning, 30 mins after meal, mid day, late afternoon and so on. Try to observe Lola's pee patterns. If you noticed that Lola hasn't peed for a while, then try to keep her as close as possible on her pad. Maybe both of you cna stay in the kitchen or a room where her pad is located. That way you lead her to pee on the right spot. 
Now, once she can recognize and identify the broadness of her home (which is your entire house) from her pee pads, she can actually hold it in until she reaches the right spot. Then, you can take her anywhere in the house and just let her roam freely!  Yey!


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## lilbabyvenus (Feb 8, 2009)

Sergeant Pepper said:


> One, pets love to stay clean so they try as much as possible not to soil their cribs/beds. If they know that they have pee time or pee pads, they'll wait for that time or go out of their cribs to pee.


Everyone has told me that and I swear I have the only chi in the world who doesn't feel like that. 
She's been doing really well for almost a month now, but before that she didn't care where she went. In the truck it was always on her pad, on her bed, or on ours. At home it's still a disaster. We try to keep her confined to our room (since we are staying with hubby's family), but they don't respect our wishes. (It's not just with the dog- these people are the most rude, disrespectful, and backstabbing people I have ever met. Hubby warned me that they were like this but I told him noone could be that bad... Should've listened...) So training in the truck goes really well, but it all goes out the window as soon as we get home and she's free to do what she wants. We've laid down the law so many times.... All we get are threats. I can't wait til income gets stable enough and we can get our tushies outta there!


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## * Bailey & Kahlua's Mom * (Nov 10, 2008)

Sounds exactly like Bailey... goes along peachy-keen and perfect for a couple weeks, then out of no where he decides he wants to be a poop head! 

Nothing has changed, everything is exactly the same.... he just decides one day, he's NOT GOING TO BEHAVE! 

Then he goes back to being good after we make his area tiny again. Eventually he works his way back to a huge area again, but soon enough he again decides that he wants to be a poop.

So far it just seems to be the way of life with a stubborn puppy... give him room til he becomes a brat, then take it away til he works back up to it. I hope its not this way forever..... but it really doesn't seem like it will ever get better.


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## lilbabyvenus (Feb 8, 2009)

lol I hear ya.


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