Advice on potty training my doodle?

[philodoodle]

My doodle is now five months old, and she does not want to potty outside. It seems like she thinks that she isn't allowed to potty outside. When my mom and I come home, we let her out in the backyard immediately, and she starts whining. When we let her in, she runs to her training pad and pees or poops right away. If we leave her out there to force her to potty outside, she gets frustrated and starts digging. When I scold her, she thinks I'm playing some sort of game and starts running around and nipping me as she passes.

We've put pieces of her poop and training pads outside for her, but she ignores the poop and rips up the training pads. I know she's not stupid; she learned to potty on the training pads in the house within a couple of hours of bringing her home (and we got her when she was only three months old!). But she just doesn't equate the backyard with potty. She thinks it's playtime. If she's not whining to come back inside, she's running around like a maniac or digging. I'm not sure why she's thinking that way because there are no toys for her back there, and when I've gone out with her, I've never engaged her in playtime. I just tell her, "Go potty," or "Go to the bathroom!"

We also tried taking away the training pads from the house, to kind of force her to go outside. When she started pacing around the house looking for the training pad, I put her in the backyard, where she started to dig/play as usual. I let her back in, thinking I misunderstood, and then she peed in the kitchen (where we keep the training pad). Even if she does have to go to the bathroom when we put her outside, she holds it in, throwing herself off schedule, which leads to accidents in her cage at night.

The few times that she has pottied outside, which only happened because we didn't let her in when she started whining, we rewarded her with treats and kisses and lots of praise. But she won't potty outside unless she absolutely has to, i.e., we don't let her inside to potty on her training pad in time. I know she's still a baby, and is still learning, but maybe I'm not doing something right? The black lab I had before her learned very quickly in comparison. I know all dogs are different, but I would like to get her house trained to avoid her occasional night time accidents and alleviate my own and my mom's frustration. Thanks for your help, and sorry this is so long!

[Ace's Place]

Dog sounds confused because you've invited her to go inside for five months with the pads. I guess you need to start from the beginning. Take her out or let her out every four hours to relieve herself plus after meals, no pads in the house. Yes she might have some accidents, but I think this is how I would do it...

[philodoodle]

Well, she's only been using the training pads for two months, because that's how long we've had her. We started her on that because when we first brought her home she didn't understand stairs (there are two steps to go into the backyard) and she was afraid of going outside. Plus, my first dog, the black lab, was started with training pads in the house, and learned to go outside when we moved the training pads outside. Again, I know all dogs are different, so I guess I shouldn't have assumed I could house train my doodle that way.

I do let her out every few hours, immediately after we come home from a store or something, and about ten minutes after she eats, but she holds it in, gets off schedule, and has accidents in her cage in the middle of the night (and she doesn't bark or whine, to tell us she has to go).

[Ace's Place]

I never used those training pads. How does the manufacturer recommend that you transition the dog to stop using them? Wonder if they maybe offer some suggestions that might be helpful on their website? Or maybe someone here used them that could be more helpful...

[philodoodle]

The usual advice is to keep moving the training pad closer and closer to the back door, and then finally moving it into the back yard. After a while, you take the pad away when your pup has been going with it in the back yard. That's how I trained my first dog, and how others I know have potty trained their dogs.

My dog has no problem when I move the pad. It could be anywhere in my house, and she'd find it and potty on it. But when I bring it outside, she ignores it or rips it up.

[Hays]

My recommendation would be to physically walk her on leash. When she goes in the house, watch her like a hawk...so you can catch her in the act and say "NO, Potty Outside". This is why my husband and I don't like training pads. You are training them to go in the house, so when it's time to go outside (when they are "potty trained") they are confused. Continuously tell your pup on the walk, "go potty" like you are doing and when she does, "say good girl" right away and give her a treat so she knows she is being rewarded for going outside! Let us know how she does!

[ziit]

Didn't worked pads with as too. We tried a few days and at the end I hang the bell at the beginning of the stairs and every time I took Archie out I would say "let's go pee"" it took about 3 times him to get the message. From then we go outside with the bell

[jodysh]

I never used pads with Malcolm, but I'll tell you how we went outside to potty. I got him at 11 weeks old. And per instructions from the breeder I did the following...

I took him out every couple of hours and used the same door every time. I put his leash on at the door and said "outside" when I opened for us to go out. We went to the area for him to potty and as he started to potty I said "go potty". When he finished I praised and treated. Then as we opened the door to head inside I said "inside.

I always had him sit to get his leash on to go out and to get his leash off when we came back in as well.

They say you should treat them while still outside because if you wait until you get in they might rush and not finish because they know they're going to get a treat when they get in.

I watched him like a hawk inside and if you catch them in the act make a loud noise (like clap loudly or whatever) and he would stop then I would get him, put the leash on and say "Outside" as we opened the door to go out. I took him to his area and sometimes he would finish, but not always.

Also something else I read somewhere was if they go potty inside you make sure they are watching as you pick up or soak up whatever and say "bad potty". Then go outside with them and the bad potty and put it in the area they are supposed to potty, make sure they see it and say "good potty".

I also added in poochie bells when Mal was about 4 months or so and that works really well.

I'd ditch the pads and just start from the beginning as someone mentioned previously.

Good luck!

[Daisy'sMom]

Ditto to Hays and Jody - that's what we did from the moment Daisy came into our home. I took her out every 30 minutes and then started to stretch it out as 30 min. was too often. I literally put her on a leash every single time and took her out in our backyard. I would say "outside" and take her out. I would then walk her in our backyard on the leash and constantly say "go potty" until she went. We were all business, no play and excessive sniffing, I kept the leash short and firm. Then when she pottied it was major praise and excitement. Then to go inside when we were done I would say "home" and we'd go in. She caught on and did well with the peeing, pooping was a whole other story but that's because she was sick and didn't know it so she didn't have much control over pooping I've never used training pads so I don't know how to transition other than basically starting over with training outside. Good luck!

[lindamarie]

Also something else I read somewhere was if they go potty inside you make sure they are watching as you pick up or soak up whatever and say "bad potty". Then go outside with them and the bad potty and put it in the area they are supposed to potty, make sure they see it and say "good potty".

Whoever did this must have the patience of a saint!! lol
That just sounds too confusing for a puppy to understand.
I'd stick to the other suggestions made here. It's unfortunate that you had to start off with the pads. That or paper training only delays the housebreaking process.
I would do what what someone said and get rid of the pads and start over.
When she goes potty outside, praise her until the neighbors think you have gone bonkers.

[Daisy'sMom]

Originally Posted by lindamarie

When she goes potty outside, praise her until the neighbors think you have gone bonkers.

That is hilarious Linda! That is EXACTLY what my hubby and I thought when we were training Daisy, my husband could've sworn our neighbors thought we were totally and completely nuts. LOL!!

[Dara8182]

Hello! I also have a 5 month old doodle. We must have got them at the same time. Perhaps the same litter? We had our little guy potty trained within 72 hours of bringing him home. To this day, I think its the only thing we did right with him.

I got Caesar Milan's book: How to Raise the Perfect Dog and followed his instructions to the letter. I found the book to be alright - but the potty training section is excellent. This is what we did.

1. Crate train - for the first few days he was in the crate and we would take him out of the crate and immediately go outside for potty. If he went potty he would be praised and rewarded with 15-20 minutes of playtime and treats. if he didn't go potty outside he would go back in the crate and we would try again in a few minutes. Instinctively, dogs will not go where they sleep. He has never had an accident in his crate because he will just hold it.

2. When we take him outside to go - he was on his leash. I would stand in his "spot" and tell him to "go pee." I didn't let him sniff or walk around. He would roam as far as the leash would take him and eventually got the message that he had to go. My cousin was having the same problem where her puppy wouldn't go in the yard when she let him out. I told her to do this with the leash and it worked.

3. Praise! As much as possible.

4. Schedule - at first we just took him out every 2-3 hours. Always take them out after a nap and after you take him out of the crate.

5. Lose the pee pads ASAP. She is naturally smart and always trying to "figure things out" - the mixed messages may be confusing her. She really wants to please you so when you give her only one option she will do it.

6. Always take them out the same door. Now my guy will go sit next to the door to tell us he has to go.

Good luck!

[philodoodle]

Dara--
I wish I had seen your response sooner! We're still struggling with pottying outside. I tried standing out there with her on the leash, but she doesn't seem to like me hovering around when she's trying to potty because she always looks up at me, as if she's thinking, "Do you mind?"

Plus, it's hard for me to stand out there with her till she potties since she can hold it for HOURS when she wants to. I think, from now on, I'll definitely begin using your suggestion to keep her crated till she goes. Thanks for that!

Right now I'm having such hard time controlling her... I hate to ask, but have you had any experience with e-collars? I've been thinking about getting one because she's a maniac. I'll just be walking around my house, and she'll jump on me, rip my clothes, pull on my sneakers, and gnaw--yes, gnaw!--on my fingers! I have so many scars from her scratches and bites I love her so much, but she just doesn't behave. She has an appointment with the vet to get fixed in a couple of weeks, so I'm hoping that helps to calm her a little. But I'm just so sick of her craziness! I love her, and I want to enjoy life with her, instead of yelling/putting her in time outs. It's come to a point when my friends don't even want to come over because they don't want to deal with her. I don't want to resort to an e-collar, but I don't want to yell/put her in time outs forever. She is such a child.

[deepnite10]

just like trying to potty training babies..time and patience is what it takes..

if she already potties on the pads..take them outside..idea is not to get them to potty on the pads..just outside will do..

you ll just have to wait them out..but, when they do finally potty..praise..but, i would nt use food as a reward..hugs and kiss s would do..same on a walk..rewarding them with positive attention will eventually
get thru..

[Moe]

I wouldn't try an ecollar with a puppy. I'd get some good books and enroll in puppy obedience class.