[JSnowWinterfell]

Hi All,

My wife and I recently (after many years of discussion) got a puppy. We brought the pup (female cavachon) home 2 weeks ago and have been trying to potty train since. We work fulltime, however my wife and I work from home on alternate days each week, and the other 3 days we have a dog walker come in at lunch time. She sleeps in a crate and will hold her pee / poop all night, and gets taken out at 6am each morning to do her business. During the day she has her crate and is confined via a pen in which we put down puppy pads. Her bowel movements are a bit random, sometimes for a poop she will go 5 minutes after eating and other times it is 1 hour, it is the same for Peeing.

She knows in her crate to pee on the Puppy Pad (we cover the entire area because she was pooping on the floor), and I am planning to reduce the coverage each week. However, when we are present we leave one puppy pad down with the pen removed but she has a tendency to walk off and pee somewhere else. I am struggling to teach her how to tell us she needs to go. I say 'toilet' everytime we go out. Is it just a matter of patience? I haven't been able to find much advice for potty training when using a pen.

 

[Knute]

2 weeks......you are just getting started. Some dogs can take nearly a year for reliable elimination outside of the home. Remember, pups do not know how to control their elimination and their tanks are small. She would probably need to urinate every 2-3 hours, possibly more frequently.

Many books and techniques are available. Zack George has several YouTube on training, as well as many others. Numerous sources are around.

Patience and consistency are your allies. Set a routine and follow it. NEVER scold, smack, rub nose in it. Just simply clean up the accident without saying a word or getting upset or emotional...... There are many products to eliminate the remaining smell traces. I have found white vinegar and water work very well to eliminate the scent marks. Mix in a 1 part Vinegar with 4 parts water. Clean the bulk mess, clean with water, then spray and wipe with the V/W mix, let air dry.

Good Luck and remember Patience/Consistency