Cross Breeds

How to train 2 maltese puppies to use the yard to potty on when they were trained to use pads by their owner?

Public Comments

1. This is why I think pee pads dont work other than as a cage liner with litters of very small puppies. :) Unfortunately, you just have to start from scratch. The pee pads did nothing to teach them that they can't pee inside. Take them out 1st thing in the morning, after eating, about every 2 hours through the day, and before bed. Encourage and praise when they go where you want them to and give a firm NO when they go where you don't want them to. If they go in the house, pick them up and place them outside. **Also, if you haven't already done so, you might want to try crating them at night to avoid nighttime accidents. p.s. why are you training them and not their owner? Are you the new owner? Just curious.
2. Well they have a start with being pad trained, since they know there is a certain spot to go. Now you just have to transition that spot from the pad to outside. The way I know how to do this is to start bringing the pads outside and have the dogs go on the pads outside. Everyday or two, fold the pad in half, making it smaller. Eventually the pad will be too small for the dogs to go on, and they will be going on the grass. Then you won't need to bring the pads outside with any more. Continue to praise and reward them for going "outside" and be sure to say "outside" in a happy voice every time you take them out the door. There is also a great pod-cast I found called "Creative Dog Training" they have a 15 minute episode about transitioning an indoor trained dog to go outside with a bit of a different method than I have given above. I know the above method works because I have a couple of friends that used it very successfully when they got their puppy in the dead of winter. But the pod-cast trainers also have some very good advice! Some will say to start from scratch just ditching the potty pads all at once, but this really just sets you back to the point where you are cleaning up accidents. Potty pads DON'T train your dog that it's okay to pee in the house. It trains them that it is okay to pee in a specific spot (the pad), which is more specific than outside, where they pee anywhere. So really, transitioning from potty pads to outside is NOT a difficult, start from scratch type of training. Good Luck!
3. One other thought is to make sure you don't leave anything on the floor resembling a puppy pad or the dog might go there. I adopted a dog in this situation and had a blanket on the floor for her, and she went over to the blanket later in the day and went to the bathroom. I really think that she thought that was where she should go. When I got her I just started from scratch with crate training, but she got it in a week with only a few accidents. I like the idea of putting the pads outside thought.... I should have thought of that! I bet it would help with the transition.
4. The real TRUE way to potty train a dog is attentiveness! YOU the human, the dog owner are the one who really needs to be trained. You have to know what to look for. You need to know the signs of a dog who has to pee or poop. DO YOU KNOW THE SIGNS? Basically, it's like if you were potty training a child. If you were potty training a child would you say, "Ok kid, go pee!" No you wouldn't, because the child wouldn't understand. Instead, the way you do it is you SHOW them. You take them to the potty, teach them to do their business, teach how to flush the toilet, teach how to wipe, and repeat until the child can do it on it's own. So, it's the same for a dog. You have to show it. The way you show him, and correct his behavior is this: You need to pay attention!!!! When he or she starts sniffing around, you take them outside. It's going to take YOU some practice to be able to determine the difference between potty-sniffing, and just plain sniffing. Once you recognize the signs it is up to YOU to correct the behavior by taking certain steps. OK so your dog is doing the potty sniff. He lifts his leg/ squats and you're a little too late to prevent it from happening. Don't yell at the dog from the other side of the room, don't startle him or her by running toward them. Calmly (I know it's hard to not react when they are peeing or pooping on your rug, but this is how it's done) walk over to the dog and pick him up. Usually the dog will stop peeing/ pooping when you pick them up but beware- SOME DON'T! So, you might get peed on. The joys of training your pets :) ANyway pick them up right in the middle of them doing their business and bring them outside. The 1st time the dog will probably look at you funny and confused. This is a practice run for both of you. He probably will NOT continue his business outside the first few times, as he will be confused. You can buy a pharamone spray to spray on the grass, this sometimes helps them identify/ realize that this is a good place to potty. Also, when you pick the dog up, ALWAYS take the SAME EXACT route outside. Eventually he'll be able to find outside from anywhere in the house, but to keep his training simple, for the time being always take the same exact path outside. After repeating this several times, and having to clean up several puddles, the dog will eventually go potty outside. Keep in mind this is a joint effort. You DO NOT take the dog outside and leave him there until he's done. YOU GO OUTSIDE with him. You sit and wait, and wait, and wait and wait until he pees and or poops. When he does, you give him the celebration of a lifetime. Treats, petting, praises, kisses, belly rubs- the works. Let him know that his pee and poop outside makes you VERY VERY happy! Dogs live to please humans. At first he won't quite understand what the big deal is, but he does understand that he LIKES THE ATTENTION he got. So he says, how can I get that kind of attention again? Well, repeat this EVERY SINGLE time he goes potty outside. He will soon learn that peeing and pooping on the grass makes you very happy!!!!!!!!! Then he will want to do it all of the time! If he has an accident after so long of going outside, it is ok to scold him, but don't hit him, and never ever rub his nose in it! But ONLY scold after he has learned the behavior and shows the behavior consistently, and THEN screws up. If you scold him from the beginning you will have a VERY confused dog who is afraid to pee or poop AT ALL, EVER! This makes for a sad, and stressed out dog the rest of his life. So, POSITIVE REINFORCEMENT. BE PATIENT. All dogs are different. One of my dogs took 2 weeks to potty train, one took 4 months, and the other took 6 months! YOU MUST BE PATIENT, and even more important CONSISTENT. There is no such thing as a bad dog, or a stupid dog. There are only bad owners, and stupid owners!