HELP -House breaking

I need help.

I dont know HOW to do it and need to.

We live in an Apt. ...and so we have Abby currenlty using Wee wee pads, but I cant take it no more. And with a baby coming soon, I dont want them on my kitchen floor.

WHERE do I start?

All the websites, books etc are for puppies , and shes almost a yr old and set in her ways and I am not sure where to even start?

And how do I know how many times to take her out etc?

Is this gonna be impossible?

Any tips/hints etc WELCOME!

Re: HELP -House breaking

Don't worry. It will take some patience, but you can do it.

We got Dottie when she was 9 months old and she only knew the inside of a crib.

Our vet instructed us to keep her in a gated area. To walk her before we fed her, feed her (only leave the bowl out for 15-20min), then take her out again. If she doesn't eat when the bowl is out, too bad. She'll learn to eat at her next feeding. Then to only reward her with treats when she makes OUTSIDE.

ETA: Vet also said get rid of the pads. It's all or nothing. They will get confused if they get to do both.

It's worked really well.

We also say OUTSIDE to her when we are near the door every time we take her out. Like a code word. So when we say it she gets excited and knows she's going out.
We were worried at first because she wasn't "warning" us that she had to go out. But that came with time. Now she'll bark or whimper at the door.

She still piddles a little when she gets excited. And if she's left too long, she has a minor accident. But those are few and far between.

Good luck!!!

Once she stopped making in her little area, we let her have freedom in another room. Now, she gets to have free roam of the house.

Message edited 3/20/2007 4:07:37 PM.

Re: HELP -House breaking

I had a hard time training my dog to, I live in a apt. also. You need to watch them like a hawk! I noticed that when she had to go she would sneak over to the dining room table, so then I would ask her if she had to go potty, and I would take her right out. Some days I would also keep her on the leash in the house so she would be right by me, and I would know if she had to go out because she would try to get away from me. But everytime before we take her out we ask "do you have to go potty?" and she will bark, now she will bark once at us when she has to go and when we ask her, she gets all excited. We also got rid of the pads, I think it confused her, you really just have to keep a close eye on her, and look for signs that she has to go out.

One other thing, is she going frequently inside? I told my vet that she was peeing inside the house about 10 minutes after she would go outside, and it turned out that she had a bad UTI and once she was better her accidents stopped.

Re: HELP -House breaking

Re: HELP -House breaking

In your apt. do you have easy access to outside? A gated area or do you need to put a leash on her?

It's a huge PIA I'm not going to lie - and I was obsessed with it for awhile.

Molly goes first thing in the morning so we automatically get her outide for the first morning pee.

When we let her out to play in the backyard and she would go on her own - we would praise her to no end.

I still have two wee wee pads in the house. There is one in our upstairs bathroom so that she can go in the middle of the night if she has to (we are both honestly too lazy to bring her out in the middle of the night and would sleep right through it) And then there is one in the office for times when I don't catch her.

I watch when she drinks - that is the big thing. Once she drinks something I know that anywhere from 10-20 minutes later she will have to go to the bathroom. I will either bring her right out into the backyard and she'll go - or if I see her walking to one of the wee wee pads then I will bring her out.

We def. haven't perfected this yet - because we really started before winter and the little princess refuses to go on snow - but now that it's getting nice out I'm hoping to get her out there majority of the time!

ETA: She usually goes in the same spot outside - so when I bring her out and want her to go - I will stand there and say "Go Potty" -- she will also try to trick me sometimes in the morning if she is being lazy and I will literally stand in the sliding glass door and say "Go Potty" and not let her in until she does. She tries to sneak through my legs but I'm too smart for her!

ETA One more thing: - She only gets a treat when she goes potty outside - not when she goes on the Wee Wee pads.

Message edited 3/20/2007 6:14:17 PM.

Re: HELP -House breaking

We have to leash her to take her out and we have to take her kinda far from the door...so yes its a project and hence half our laziness issue to take her out.


Our big problem is we have tried before and she just WONT go outside, she has no clue to do it ...and how do i convince to go?

Once she held it at the beach for a LONG time ( think hours) and when we got her inside she flew to the pad....

Do I bring the pad outside to start?

Re: HELP -House breaking

Someone has suggested one of those sprays. Maybe you can spray an area outside and just let her sniff it out?

At first Dottie was TERRIFIED of the leash. We would carry her outside, drop the leash and let her sit there on the leash until she got up and started walking.
Is there an enclosed area where you can try this?

Re: HELP -House breaking

she'll eventually get it... maybe when she's peeing on the wee-wee pad that's when you can start the word association... Ex. She pees on the pad you say "good pee-pee!" and then you take her outside and say "good pee-pee"... maybe she'll see the association.

Also a tip for while you're training her... stock up on Nature's Miracle... it's a cleaning spray that you use on your rugs... it's AMAZING!!!!!!!!!!! Because if you decide to remove the wee wee pads completely, she will have accidents.

Good luck!