[Kinsuk]

Hi everyone. I need advice on training my 4 month old morkie puppy. When I first got him, he had time be trained using potty pads. This is because I live in Minnesota, and it was too cold for him outside. Also, he is home with our other dog during the work day for two four hour periods. He was trained well on the pee pads. He had occasional accidents, but nothing crazy. Recently we have been trying to get him to go outside. He seems to be doing well with that especially when he watches the older one. Whenever he goes outside we praise and celebrate him. However, now that we do that, during the day when we are gone he has began peeing and pooping wherever he wants instead of on the pad. Can I fix this? I want to stop this before it becomes a problem. I would take away the potty pads, but I don't want him to have to hold it. I'm very worried about this and afraid it's too late. Any fool proof advice? Thankyou so much.

 

[gingerkid]

The usual benchmark for potty training is that a pup can hold it for their age in months + 1. So, a normal 4 month old puppy should be able to hold it for ~5 hours, or close to it. This is a rule of thumb, of course, and doesn't always apply to every puppy, but continuing to give him the opportunity to potty inside at this stage is just going to make it harder to transition him to going outside. He's going to have to learn how to hold it sometime, and continuing to have the pads there isn't giving him any incentive to try.

And, if it helps, my 4.5 month old papillion x border collie went from pottying only on the pads, to pottying wherever she wanted (even when pads were available), to pottying outside ~90% of the time.

 

[Jen2010]

If he's having accidents in the house you're not taking him outside often enough. Take him out more frequently and watch him like a hawk when he is inside so you can catch him and take him out if he does start to go. When you can't be home he should be crated.