House breaking a puppy?

[luvmylittleboy2003]

What is the best way? She is a 8 weeks old Pom, I have a pee pad down for accidents inside, but, mainly training her for outside.
I put her out about every hour and she is doing really good. I'm going to teach her to ring a bell (I did this with my long hair chi's, and it worked great).
I never used a pee pad for them (chi's) and I'm wondering if this could be confusing?
Also not sure what to do with her when I leave, I stay at home during the day, but, there are times I run out to do errands.
Thought about just putting her in the kitchen with a baby gate, toys, her bed and pee pad.
Would love feedback on what has worked the best/quickest with you.
Thanks

 

[golfgal]

Personally I think using a pee pad in the house is confusing, it's ok to go here, but not over there?? One thing we were told was to put the dog in the kennel before the next potty break-for 30 minutes or so and then carry the dog outside and put her in the grass so she feels grass underfoot and connects that to going potty.

 

[Mermaid02]

Get rid of the pee pads and get a crate.

 

[SaraJayne]

Get rid of the pee pads and get a crate.

And since she's a Pom, she may never be housebroken.

Which I believe more than one person pointed out to you in the thread where you asked about them.

 

[luvmy3]

I started out with pee pads because I expected accidents and I wanted to protect my carpet. Eventually I removed all but one and put it near the door, and then finally got rid of it all together. I thought the same, that keeping them in the house would "train" her to go in the house. We have had our pup almost 3 months and she still does have the occaasional accident but for the most part she is trained.

She was just spayed last week and the day I brought her home she didn't want to go out so I put a pad near her crate and her bed so she could use it, by the next day she was back to herself and going outside.

 

[luvmylittleboy2003]

And since she's a Pom, she may never be housebroken.

Which I believe more than one person pointed out to you in the thread where you asked about them.

Yes they did , but, I don't understand why they (Pom's) wouldn't housebreak just like any other dog guess time will tell.

Should I crate her when I leave the house?

 

[luvmylittleboy2003]

I started out with pee pads because I expected accidents and I wanted to protect my carpet. Eventually I removed all but one and put it near the door, and then finally got rid of it all together. I thought the same, that keeping them in the house would "train" her to go in the house. We have had our pup almost 3 months and she still does have the occaasional accident but for the most part she is trained.

She was just spayed last week and the day I brought her home she didn't want to go out so I put a pad near her crate and her bed so she could use it, by the next day she was back to herself and going outside.

Thats what I have done, taken up all but the one by the door.
Did you ever crate her and when?

 

[Kae]

Get rid of the pee pads and get a crate.

Agreed.

Kae

 

[MichelleVW]

Get rid of the pee pads and get a crate.

Exactly. I really don't understand the use of pee pads. I never ever want my dogs to think it's ok to go in the house.

My last puppy is just a year old so it hasn't been that long since I housebroke one. He came home at 6 weeks (which was too early in my opinion, but they wanted to get rid of them). I took him out every 20 minutes or so during the day and every 2 hours or less at night. He wouldn't sleep in the crate until he was about 8 weeks old (when we should have brought him home) but he slept curled up on my bed and never once peed on the bed.

I was totally sleep deprived for about a month or so and I was totally neurotic from following him around every second of the day, but he never once peed in the house.

Like the others have said, Poms are next to impossible to train so with that in mind I would never want them to learn that it's ok to pee in the house at all.

 

[Mermaid02]

Yes they did , but, I don't understand why they (Pom's) wouldn't housebreak just like any other dog guess time will tell.

Should I crate her when I leave the house?

Small dogs can be like that. My Mother had a toy poodle that NEVER was housetrained. Nasty little thing- LOL

Yes, crate her when you leave the house (even for 10 minutes). Put her bed right in her crate, train her to sleep in there. Many times dogs won't soil where they sleep- thus training her to "hold it".

 

[luvmy3]

Thats what I have done, taken up all but the one by the door.
Did you ever crate her and when?

Yes, but at first I made the mistake of having a crate that was too big and she would go in it. After I got a much smaller one she stopped going in it.
I crate her when I leave the house and she sleeps in it all night. Its been just over a month since I stopped having to take her out in the middle of the night

 

[Breezy_Carol]

Get rid of the pee pads and get a crate.

Should I crate her when I leave the house?

You crate her whenever you are not directly watching her. In the shower, cooking, out of the house, whatever. Then when she is out of the crate, if you see her starting to circle or squat, grab her and get her outside. And lots of praise when she does her business outside.

We are on dogs 5 and 6 and they have all been crate trained. It is a wonderful thing.

 

[Hannathy]

if you see her starting to circle or squat, grab her and get her outside. And lots of praise when she does her business outside.

to me that is the big thing! learn her signals! when they are tiny smelling or looking down, then as she got a few months older Our puppy would get can't think of the right word but frisky like getting into everything chewing, hyper, for a couple of minutes and then we would be like OUTSIDE grab her and take her out and sure enough!

You have to praise her when she goes outside like you are a fool and she just did the greatest thing ever.

 

[mjkacmom]

I used a wee-wee pad with my minpin, and she was never fully housebroken. Get a crate.

 

[golfgal]

to me that is the big thing! learn her signals! when they are tiny smelling or looking down, then as she got a few months older Our puppy would get can't think of the right word but frisky like getting into everything chewing, hyper, for a couple of minutes and then we would be like OUTSIDE grab her and take her out and sure enough!

You have to praise her when she goes outside like you are a fool and she just did the greatest thing ever.

That is what our dog does-at night anyway because she has a dog door and uses it just fine during the day but is afraid of the dark so she won't go outside at night without someone going downstairs with her-baby. It also took us a while to figure out that she would go more than once on each trip outside. When she was done sniffing the ground and started playing she was done going. Before we figured that out we would take her in after she went once and then she would pee in the kitchen--owner error not dog error .

 

[Breezy_Carol]

-owner error not dog error .

 

[Pakey]

Definitely ditch the pee pads. I have a small dog rescue who obviously had experience with pee pads (I got her when she was 3). We can't have any small rugs out (like in front of the shower). She never goes in the house until we put a small rug out and then she thinks it's okay to pee on it.

 

[Skatermom23]

I've had three poms over the years and all were very easy to train. I didn't use pee pads for them but did crate them when I left the house. I learned their signs and took them outside alot. My 12 year old Pom still loves his crate and sleeps there every night.

I now also have a little 4 pound yorkie that is litter box trained. She has a large pen area that has a bed and a box with a pee pad in it. She only goes there. During the day the gate is left open and she runs in and out as needed. At night and when I am gone she is contained in that area. It's great for me because I don't have to rush home all the time to let her outside. Everyone warned me how difficult yorkies were to train and I found mine to be the easiest yet. You just have to put the time and effort into it. Good luck!

 

[gillep]

I just finished potty training my beagle and the things that worked best for us were:

1. AMAZING reward for going potty outside -- we were having a hard time getting him to consitently potty outside for the first 3 months of having our beagle until we started giving him a little piece of roast beef from the deli after going outside. From the first time that we started doing this he has not even tried to potty anywhere but outside 5 months now and he lets us know when he needs to go out (although he will sniff around inside if it is pouring out, like today, and we just have to keep sharp eye on him but eventually he sucks it up)

2. Know your dog's signs -- I know exactly when Riley needs to potty by how he acts, this makes it much easier to anticipate when to take them out

3. Use the crate -- Riley loves his crate, he has been using it since the moment we brought him home. He goes there if he is sleepy or just needs some down time, and all we say is kennel up and he runs to get inside, and we always give him a tiny treat for doing so. Make it comfortable for the dog and make sure that it isn't too big. Not only does Riley feel secure in there but it is the safest place for him, as I know he cannot get into anything harmful or dangerous when he is in there. (Just make sure you use common sense like no collars when in the crate and no bones or other non crate-safe toys while in the crate)

I have no experience with a pee pad but I want to comment on the small rug post --The only place that Riley would have accidents before the AMAZING reward was implemented was on my throw rugs that were by the front and back doors and we never even used potty pads. I imagine this is even more of a problem for those that use those pads as those throw rugs seem to be potty magnets.

 

[luvmylittleboy2003]

Thanks for all the great replies everyone! I went and bought a crate today and when I can't watch her or we are away she goes in it. She doesn't see to mind it at all. She did pee in there once so far though (first time I put her in it) but I just cleaned it up, washed the bedding and she hasn't did it since.
I'm going to try to not use the pee pads right now and see how she does with going outside. I've got a bell by the door and going to teach her the same way I taught my long hair chi. Its what saved us with him, since he would bark or anything to let us know he had to potty.