[esnvancouver]

Hi my fiance and I just brought home our king charles caviler X poodle. He's 11 weeks old. So far he's been pretty good; he's gotten used to his crate, and he doesn't make any noise at night when he sleeps in it.

He hasn't had any accidents in our place yet, he's always been able go on his paper area in his fenced off area every time. The only problem is that now I want to shift things outside. When it should be time to go, I take him outside but he rarely goes. It's happened a couple of times, and I've used praise and treats when it's happened. When we come back in after a failed attempt I have him go in his fenced off area instead of risking a mess. (we rent and I've been extremely careful) He always does end up going there.

I still praise him when he goes on the paper since I'd rather have him go there than on the carpet, but now it feels like I'm reinforcing something I should be moving away from.

I've heard of the method of slowly moving the paper closer to the door each day, but it's carpeted there and I'd have to move it out of the fenced area. I'm paranoid about any potential mess. Are there any other strategies anyone could recommend?

thanks!

 

[Trainer]

When he goes toward the paper, pick him up and take him outside. It will be more difficult to teach him to potty outside now as he has already be taught to potty on paper.

I have never thought of this until now but what would happen if you had some papers at the door and you took a paper outside with you when you go? This will only be until he has gotten the message.

 

[esnvancouver]

Thanks.

What I'm going to try and do for this week starting today is to remove the mat altogether. I've cleaned the area with some enzyme stuff to get rid of the odour. I'm using the crate training method to schedule bathroom breaks with him outside. Then I read if he doesn't go right away crate him for 5-10 mins until he has to go.

We'll see how this goes. I'm fourtunate to have spring break off! : )

 

[jesterjigger]

My husband and I got a big piece of linoleum from Lowe's to put under our puppy's pen because it stays in the carpeted living room. I wouldn't leave the puppy unsupervised when you're home so that it can even move toward the paper. When my puppy was that young she would go out to potty every hour to hour and a half unless she was sleeping, then it'd be as soon as she woke up. She would be allowed to play for up to 20-30 minutes after going out, then she needed to lay on the couch with us or go in her pen or crate, that way we didn't have accidents. Something that really helped us was to start tracking when she went so that we knew her "schedule". If we took her out to go potty and she didn't go we'd put her in her crate for 10-15 minutes and then try again and just keep repeating until she went. We would only stand outside with her for 10 minutes, since if they need to pee they do it within a couple of minutes and pooping takes longer. Also make sure you stand in just one spot with him until he goes, then give him a treat and throw a party, we would run around with our puppy on the leash as a reward since she loved that, before going back inside after she got her potty treat.

You can see her schedule here from when she was 12 weeks or so...just click on the top part of the picture to enarge it...

 

[PattyU]

Could you place newspaper on top of puppy pads that you gradually move closer to the door? The puppy pads have plastic on the bottom for leaking. It's just an idea. I didn't paper train my puppy. I just started taking him outside at the start.

 

[esnvancouver]

Thanks for all the advice everyone.

Today I started trying to do the whole outdoor thing. So far it seems to have worked ok, because we've keep a strict schedule between his crate, supervised playtime and going outside. He's actually been able to pee outside every time today. The only setback today was that he pooped on the carpet. It was my fault since I should have realized he had a poop coming after his breakfast.

As for the long term confinment, I guess I'll just leave a pee pad in his fenced area in the kitchen. Hopefully it doesn't become too confusing for him.

I've never looked at my watch so often!

 

[iSaidNoSprinkles]

Could you place newspaper on top of puppy pads that you gradually move closer to the door? The puppy pads have plastic on the bottom for leaking. It's just an idea. I didn't paper train my puppy. I just started taking him outside at the start.

I am about to get a new pup and was thinking of doing this. How did this work for you PattyU?