# Train 3 yr old dog to use puppy pads??



## Midnight

Is it possible to train a 3 yr old poodle/schnauzer dog, otherwise known as a schnoodle??, to use puppy pads for periods of adverse weather and times when I need to be gone?? My Midnight does not like rain and snow and will just stand there with this look of "you expect me to go potty in this?". 

By the way, Midnight is a shelter rescue dog who, in five months, has turned out to be my best buddy and a true delight to the family children. 

My Midnight definitely has a bit of the schnauzer stubborn streak in him so I will certainly need plenty of patience, at least at first. Ideas or comment on whether this is even a good idea and how to go about it would be most welcomed and appreciated.


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## xellil

i would also be interested in this. When there's an inch of snow in the ground it's hard for Snorkels to get out there. And she hates the rain.

She's well housebroken so she will eventually go out - when she does, she's so short she has a hard time in an inch of snow and her belly gets wet and cold.

But she will not use those pads.


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## maplewood

Are you prepared to alway's allow the dog to potty in the house? Accept the dog relieving himself next too but not quite on the potty pad?

I've dealt with a lot of people who get small dogs in the winter and teach them to use potty pads who later get extremely frusterated when it warms up and the dog refuses to stop eliminating in the house. In my opinion teaching him it's "ok" to potty in doors only when it is cold is unfair and confusing to the dog. Also when it comes to potty pads, the area around the potty pad is fair game as far as your dog is concerned. So if he potties within 3 foot of the potty pad, he pottied on the pad.

Anytime someone asks me "how do I train him to use a potty pad" I give the above speil. If they still want to have an indoor potty area for their pooch I recomend the fallowing.
1: Make your potty area in a room that has easy to clean floors(tile, lenoleam), that aren't going to be ruined if the potty isn't always on the pad(rules out hard wood).
2: A potty box is better than a potty pad. YOu can use the pads inside of a potty box. The box gives your dog a visual location "I go potty inside the box, not "next" to the pad."
3: Collect some of your dogs urine and feces to "seed" the box. Sounds weird I know, however dogs will potty where is smells like a "bathroom". With my own dogs I notice they usually urinate and defficate in one general location of the yard, and different dogs prefer different locations. My big guy poops in the same 5 square feet 90% of the time. This is also why if your dog potties "next" to but not quite in/on, he pottied in the right location.

Once you have your designated area and have seeded your potty spot. Take your dog to it on a regular basis and praise him when he uses it. After drinking, sleeping, playing and eating is when dog's usually ned to go. Make sure he alway's has access to his "bathroom". Don't punish him if he potties any place else, clean it up and forget it. 

For any extremely stubborn dog I recomend a leash on anytime he is not in his crate. Tie the leash to your belt so the dog is with you constantly, if he acts like he has to go potty, take him. If he starts to go it makes it easier to stop it and get him to the correct location fast.


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## xellil

Well, i sure don't want her to think she only has to go in the house. That's something to think about.


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## maplewood

xellil said:


> Well, i sure don't want her to think she only has to go in the house. That's something to think about.


Have you ever considered clearing her a potty area outside? Using a shovel or snow blower so the snow isn't so deep in a small area...

Generally if you have a toy/small breed that doesn't like the snow, rain or cold a covered porch or garage are better in my opinion than teaching them use eliminate in the house.


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## xellil

maplewood said:


> Have you ever considered clearing her a potty area outside? Using a shovel or snow blower so the snow isn't so deep in a small area...
> 
> Generally if you have a toy/small breed that doesn't like the snow, rain or cold a covered porch or garage are better in my opinion than teaching them use eliminate in the house.


yes, we have a small area under the overhang where she could pee, and we also shovel a big square in the snow. But if there's alot of moisture or it's blowing she will always come back in soaked - we put a little thing on her to cover up her tummy but her legs are so short it just seems to get wet everywhere. 

I always thought if she could just pee in the kitchen on those really awful days when it's pouring rain or sleeting or the snow gets so old we can't get down to the grass any more she wouldn't have to get so miserable out there. 

Maybe we could extend the overhang somehow, that might work. Being lazy and reading what it would take to get her to pee inside, I am reminded of why I don't have puppies . That sounds like alot of work. Plus i would hate it if I trained her to pee all over the house. 

I know the foster lady has pee pads but maybe that's because has dogs that aren't well trained.

But


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## magicre

that's what we did with bubba who came to us at 2 years old, not potty trained and stubborn as a rock.

we first kenneled/crated him either in the living room where we were or in the bedroom when we slept...he did not have run of the house...

then i leashed him to me....i also took him out frequently....

we also used belly bands for the accidents....

i was going to use the pee pads and then i realised he would think it okay to pee in the house, even on a pee pad.....and i never wanted him to pee in the house.....guys notoriously have bad aim


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## maplewood

xellil said:


> yes, we have a small area under the overhang where she could pee, and we also shovel a big square in the snow. But if there's alot of moisture or it's blowing she will always come back in soaked - we put a little thing on her to cover up her tummy but her legs are so short it just seems to get wet everywhere.
> 
> I always thought if she could just pee in the kitchen on those really awful days when it's pouring rain or sleeting or the snow gets so old we can't get down to the grass any more she wouldn't have to get so miserable out there.
> 
> Maybe we could extend the overhang somehow, that might work. Being lazy and reading what it would take to get her to pee inside, I am reminded of why I don't have puppies . That sounds like alot of work. Plus i would hate it if I trained her to pee all over the house.
> 
> I know the foster lady has pee pads but maybe that's because has dogs that aren't well trained.
> 
> But


I am really NOT a fan of potty pads in general!!! However I do see how they can be useful for certain dogs. Tina a 2 pound Chi. I worked with comes to mind. Her "Dad" had issues with her going "next" too the bathroom however. Or half on/half off the potty pad. We used a sterilite bin from wall-mart and cut a hole in one end so she would have the visual barrier and that helped. (Yes, a lot like a cat litter box only cheaper)

Toweling her off when she comes in is IMHO much better than allowing her to potty in the house if she's already house trained. 

I had a client that adopted a Neo puppy that was very small and sickly in Jan. They thought it was a good idea to teach him to use newspapers/potty pads because he was sick, didn't like the cold and it was Jan in Iowa. Once it warmed up she was crying to me several times a week that the dog REFUSED to potty outside, she'd take him out for an hour, he'd come in and pee in the kitchen. He'd been taught for 4 months that the kitchen was the appropriate place to "GO". He didn't potty anywhere else in the house, just the kitchen where they had put the potty pads/newpapers. Six months later the dog still urinated in the kitchen on occasion, because he was taught from day one that it was an appropriate place.


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## magicre

the other thing we did to train him was to take him out, rather than let him out....

now we can let him out and he will pee.....


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## maplewood

magicre said:


> the other thing we did to train him was to take him out, rather than let him out....
> 
> now we can let him out and he will pee.....


Ya that is one thing even I forget sometimes to tell people! You don't know if the dog "went" unless you're out there with them. Also, if someone is working on getting the dog to "go" outside and the dog enjoys the outdoors don't have him "go" then take him right back in. The dog will learn to hold it to prolong the out door experience. After he "goes" walk him around for 5-10 minutes or play a brief game of fetch/tug or let off the leash, being outside becomes a reward to "going". 

However those bit's didn't seem pertinent to the thread "How do I teach my dog to "go" inside"


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## magicre

maplewood said:


> Ya that is one thing even I forget sometimes to tell people! You don't know if the dog "went" unless you're out there with them. Also, if someone is working on getting the dog to "go" outside and the dog enjoys the outdoors don't have him "go" then take him right back in. The dog will learn to hold it to prolong the out door experience. After he "goes" walk him around for 5-10 minutes or play a brief game of fetch/tug or let off the leash, being outside becomes a reward to "going".
> 
> However those bit's didn't seem pertinent to the thread "How do I teach my dog to "go" inside"


true, but i'm kind of trying to talk the OP out of doing that...teaching a dog to go inside to me, is a recipe for disaster down the pike....


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## xellil

I am sorry to say that I do watch them outside, but when it's cold I stand on the deck under the roof and let them go out there in the cold, freezing wet weather all alone.


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## maplewood

LOL Yeah, however if they are going to use an indoor potty area, they should have all the info they need for it. I guess after spending so much time trying to "talk" people out of it I just tell them once they do it they will alway's need to allow it and then how to go about it.


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## MollyWoppy

How about one of those pad things that has the artificial grass? Thats what I'm going to use when/if we can ever go back cruising. Well, not me use it personally, but you know what I mean. 
My plans are to teach Mollie that is has a specific name, such as green mat (haven't thought that far ahead), so sometime before we leave, I'd teach her to 'go pee on your green mat'. She knows what the word pee means and I think she's right capable of putting two and two together, given time. I'd also start teaching her with it outside and then bring it indoors and then on to the boat.


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## maplewood

MollyWoppy said:


> How about one of those pad things that has the artificial grass? Thats what I'm going to use when/if we can ever go back cruising. Well, not me use it personally, but you know what I mean.
> My plans are to teach Mollie that is has a specific name, such as green mat (haven't thought that far ahead), so sometime before we leave, I'd teach her to 'go pee on your green mat'. She knows what the word pee means and I think she's right capable of putting two and two together, given time. I'd also start teaching her with it outside and then bring it indoors and then on to the boat.


If she goes outside I wouldn't use it in the house unless I planned on keeping one in the house for forever. You could teach her it's ok at home in the yard, watch her to figure out where she goes the most in the yard. Or teach her to use it while she's on-leash someplace she doesn't generally have access too. When you put it on the boat "seed" it with some poo and a bit of urine (if possible) from home so it smells like the right place to go.


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## magicre

xellil said:


> I am sorry to say that I do watch them outside, but when it's cold I stand on the deck under the roof and let them go out there in the cold, freezing wet weather all alone.


i know it sucks, believe me. at night, when it's raining and my pug is still looking for that perfect blade of grass....i've got treats, still, even after two years of house training...to give him.

if i just let him out, then he doesn't get the immediate gratification....so during the day, both dogs can go out as and when, but early morning and before bed we walk them....even it's just around the block...or up to the pee spot.....

when we lived in our house, we would leash up our reluctant blockhead shih tzu and walk her to the back yard and walk her around until she peed....same thing....the power of the leash and us being right there.


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## cprcheetah

I tried every method known to man to get Ziva to 'house' train, and she is still bad....she spent 4 months of her life at a puppy mill/pet store. So I have a litterbox with potty pads for her and she does quite well with that method. Zoey was on a lifetime of steroids up until a year ago, so I potty pad trained her as I couldn't always be home to let her potty 12 times a day. It worked well for her as well. Ziva still goes outside potty with Shellie, and Zoey will potty outside too, but they have the luxury of using the potty pad if needed, which in a lot of cases they do. For me it was taking them to the potty pad in a box so they couldn't 'jump' out when they had to go potty then gradually removed the box. I gave lots and lots of treats/praise when they did go potty where they were supposed to.


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## Midnight

Wow, THANK YOU for all the comments and ideas. From the sounds of it all, the "potty box" or "litter box" sounds like the best ideas for my situation. 

I wouldn't use it all the time, especially not during decent weather, and certainly wouldn't want him using the box all the time so this may require some forethought before I jump into it.

BTW, I live in an apartment and so quick acess to the outside is not possible, which is why the idea of the "puppy pads" seemed like such a good idea in the first place. Plus, I also suffer with the affects of a serious back injury that cold weather just makes all the worse. Even so, the ideas and thoughts presented here are something to give thought to.


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## xellil

Midnight said:


> BTW, I live in an apartment and so quick acess to the outside is not possible, which is why the idea of the "puppy pads" seemed like such a good idea in the first place. Plus, I also suffer with the affects of a serious back injury that cold weather just makes all the worse. Even so, the ideas and thoughts presented here are something to give thought to.


If I lived in an apartment and had to go out a door, down a staircase, around a sidewalk, etc. etc. etc. to get to a potty place there is no way in heck I wouldn't be training my dog to pee inside. 

I would figure when I moved to a place where outside access was easy it would be easier to re-train than trying to re-train from the same location.


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## magicre

if i lived in an apartment with, let's say, a balcony, i'd put the potty thing out there and i'd walk the dog to it...even though it means just opening the door to the balcony....

same thing with a front door or back door with a little overhang....those grass things look intriguing...is it possible to put it right by the door and leash up the kid and take the dog to it? 

we've had shih tzus who would just stand there in the freezing rain, getting soaked and looking like drowned rats....until it finally occurred to us to put a leash on them and just take them outside the door. 

i wish we had those fake grass things....that would have worked too..but use the leash.....and lots of treats..


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