I made the mistake of training my puppy to use pee-pee pads. She uses them perfectly. The problem is that I can’t get her to relieve herself outside AT ALL!!. She must think she’ll be doing something wrong if she doesn’t go where she’s used to going. I’ve tried moving the pads closer and closer towards the door (didn’t work), tried bringing the pad outside when I walk her (didn’t work). How can I possibly turn this around?? On top of it she’s a big dog – part Beagle, part pointer – 35 pounds at 7 months. So when she goes she really, really goes!! PLEASE HELP HER!!!
It’s not a mistake.
Try moving the pads gradually to the door. Do it very gradually (maybe 6″ at a time) Then halfway inside and halfway out. And so on.
She’s a good girl, she’s smart ! And she’s doing exactly what she was trained to do. You don’t need to undo anything — you just need to continue with (and complete) the process that has worked wonderfully for your pup.
Its going to be tough, but its possible. First get a crate, then get rid of all pads inside the house.
Next and you’re going to have to tough it out. Bring the pad outside and wait, no play, no walk until she goes. If you have her on a schedule that’ll make it a little easier. If she doesn’t go, back inside and then in her crate, try again in 15-20 minutes. Repeat. Do this over and over until she goes. She can’t hold it forever (although it seems like it). When she finally does go, praise her like crazy, give her most favorite treat, lots of them. A few times of this and she’ll get the idea that you like it. It’ll only get easier after that, its getting them to go the first 2 or 3 times. Using a previously used pad can help as well.
Once she has the hang of using them outside, start to gradually cut them down in size until they are gone. It should take a few weeks to accomplish cutting them down.
You did such a good job the first time around, I know you can stick out the second, even though the second time around, is usually a little tougher than the first. It’ll happen, just be patient.
Good luck.
This is the number one reason why I don’t believe in puppy pads. I’m sorry that your having to go through such an ordeal. Heres what you need to do. Take away the puppy pads for good. Get a crate and start all over by crate training her. Take her outside every 2 hours to start out and if she goes give treats and lots of praise. If she doesn’t go then put her back in her kennel and let her out 15-20 min later. Keep repeating this process and I’m sure that you’ll have all the kinks worked out in 2 months or less. Good luck and I hope all is resolved very soon.
LOTS of work. Its going to suck but get rid of the pads at this point they won’t save you. If you want you can leave them outside where you want her to go potty but thats it. All you can do is watch her and if she looks like she needs to go potty take her out side and wait up to 15min in the same exact spot. Try saying “go potty” or another code word you might have used. This will retrain her to go. The hardest part is watching her to make sure she doesn’t go in the house. If you don’t have a yard (with a fence, living in an apt etc). Then I suggest getting a krate to keep her in when your not home, that way she won’t go while your not there to correct her. Then when you get home take her outside. If you do have a yard, I would leave her outside when your not home with water of course so she will go to the bathroom outside. ALSO if she does go potty outside LOTS and LOTS of praise so she will know she’s not in trouble and it was a good thing. Good luck, retraining is sooo hard.