[rebeccanalbrecht]

I have a 12week old puppy who I've been struggling to get to fully empty her bladder outside, using every trick I've been able to get my hands on, but none of them had any luck. She always came in and peed on my carpet no matter how many times I took her out or for how long. I had already been considering trying to use training pads while she builds up some more bladder control and learns to empty her bladder all the way when I visited the vet and found out that she has both roundworm and giardia (not showing any symptoms of either, thankfully) and now I'm even more hesitant to take her outside to do her business thinking about how she hasn't been fully vaccinated yet and there's just no way to avoid being about other dogs and their excrement outside my NYC apartment, even if I try my hardest. I know that a lot of trainers say that you absolutely should never use training pads, but I'm at a loss for what else to do. And I know it will just make it that much harder to train her to go outside, but I feel like it's more important to keep her safe, is it not?

 

[LeoRose]

I know a lot of dogs, puppies especially, that need to pee two or three times before their bladder is empty. After the initial pee, they will play for a bit, and then pee again. If she doesn't immediately pee once you have her outside, then going for a brisk walk down the block can get things going.

If you do decide to use pads, just know that it can be very hard to switch from "pee on this thing inside" to "don't pee inside at all, only outside".

Oh, I do have a thought... where was she raised before you got her? I've found that dogs who's earliest experiences were having to eliminate in the same area that they played and slept in (like living in a concrete kennel run and/or pet store cage) are ridiculously hard to house train.

 

[rebeccanalbrecht]

I've done every trick in the book to get her to go several times outside. Walked her for an hour and there was nothing beyond the initial pee, tried bringing her back inside and putting her in her crate for 15 minutes and taking her out over and over until she peed again, tried playing with her for a bit after she peed the first time, tried just standing in place and not giving her any attention until she went pee again, tried bringing her in and letting her eat and drink before immediately bringing her back out, and more. It just always leads to her eventually coming in to pee again. She's so happy to go outside the first time and loves getting her treat, but after over an hour of trying to get her to go outside a second (let alone a third) time, she just won't. She never goes in her crate (except one time that I, admittedly, screwed up, but she hasn't done it ever again, so it doesn't seem to have done any long-term harm).

I think, at this point, I just need to do the harder thing for training and use pee pads or turf+litter because her vet is concerned about where she picked up these parasites (i.e., the sidewalks of NYC), and says I should really try to limit her outside on the ground time 🙃

 

[rebeccanalbrecht]

I know a lot of dogs, puppies especially, that need to pee two or three times before their bladder is empty. After the initial pee, they will play for a bit, and then pee again. If she doesn't immediately pee once you have her outside, then going for a brisk walk down the block can get things going.

If you do decide to use pads, just know that it can be very hard to switch from "pee on this thing inside" to "don't pee inside at all, only outside".

Oh, I do have a thought... where was she raised before you got her? I've found that dogs who's earliest experiences were having to eliminate in the same area that they played and slept in (like living in a concrete kennel run and/or pet store cage) are ridiculously hard to house train.

And she came from a small breeder, with a great big yard where the puppies spent a lot of their time, so no pet store cage, etc. for her

 

[DaySleepers]

I don't like puppy pads, personally, because my eldest was trained on them before he came to us and took a LONG time to understand that not everything fabric-like and absorbent on the floor was for peeing on. Rugs, bath mats, a shirt dropped on the way to the laundry... it was frustrating. If you do go the route of having an indoor potty area, I'd suggest the turf/litter option - something with a substrate that either mimics where she's peeing outside, or at the very least something completely different than any other surface inside the house so it's easier for her to differentiate between her potty area and the rest of the indoors.

Keeping notes about her potty behavior can help too, since it's much easier to identify patterns like "she has more accidents on rainy days" (an issue my youngest had) and then be better prepared to manage her in those circumstances.

 

[rebeccanalbrecht]

I don't like puppy pads, personally, because my eldest was trained on them before he came to us and took a LONG time to understand that not everything fabric-like and absorbent on the floor was for peeing on. Rugs, bath mats, a shirt dropped on the way to the laundry... it was frustrating. If you do go the route of having an indoor potty area, I'd suggest the turf/litter option - something with a substrate that either mimics where she's peeing outside, or at the very least something completely different than any other surface inside the house so it's easier for her to differentiate between her potty area and the rest of the indoors.

Keeping notes about her potty behavior can help too, since it's much easier to identify patterns like "she has more accidents on rainy days" (an issue my youngest had) and then be better prepared to manage her in those circumstances.

She seems to be doing pretty well with differentiating the pad from other surfaces so far (because so literally have to keep her inside for now, because the vet is really concerned with how she managed to get roundworm and giardia + giardia is SUPER contagious, so I'm not gonna put other dogs at risk by letting her poop outside).

As for tracking her potty behavior, I keep a very extensive journal of when she eats, sleeps, pees, and poops, and honestly, a lot of the bathroom habits are crazy sporadic. Regardless, I know that she likes to pee after we come back inside from going potty no matter how long we stay outside and walk or if I try the "put her in her crate for 15 minutes and try again until she goes again" method, etc.

 

[rebeccanalbrecht]

Um, I don't have a golden retriever, but thanks, I guess

 

[RonE]

Please don't quote spam. It greatly complicates the cleanup.

 

[rebeccanalbrecht]

Please don't quote spam. It greatly complicates the cleanup.

Gotcha, sorry!