Puppy weeing inside

[misspopsicle]

Hi there!

We've recently bought our first ever puppy,  an 8 week old show type cocker.  He's adorable and we all love him, such a cutie. We're having trouble with toileting though.  He had his crate which us inside a larger pen. He has a puppy pad in the own in case is emergencies. Initially,  he used this but it seem that the more I'm trying to recognise when he needs to wee and get him outside,  the more he's just doing it on the carpet!  Not even anywhere near the pad.  Should I eliminate the pad completely? As I said,  I'm very new to this so I'm sure I've confused him somewhere along the line.  Was hoping you guys could put me right!  Thanks in advance

[PollySpaull]

Hiya, congratulations on your new puppy!

Are you taking him outside regularly enough? With my pup I would take him outside after he had eaten, when he woke up, pretty much every hour. He soon realised that outside was the place to go and began telling us when he was in his pen that he needed to go outside.
Monty hated having accidents anywhere in "his" pen so would tell us as soon as possible!

I would leave the puppy pads down in the pen just to make it easier to clean up. You are going to have accidents, he's only little, but with regular trips outside they should lessen.

Lots of people also use a trigger word while the dog is going to the loo! Then repeating the trigger word every time the dog goes means eventually your dog will understand when they hear that word that you are asking them to go to the toilet.

I'm sure someone will come along with better advice as I'm still pretty new to this myself!

Good luck!
X


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[Joules]

He is only a baby and it can take some time for him to learn.  At this age his bladder is tiny and he just cannot hold it.  Some people don't use the puppy pads as it is confusing for pups - it just teaches them that it is sometimes OK to wee inside and sometimes not.  I gave up on them as Coco used to just rip them up anyway 

Best thing is not to wait for warning signs, but to take him outside at regular intervals - I did it every half hour at first, wait for him to wee and then praise like mad.  After a while you can start to introduce a cue word (I use " quick, quick")

There will be accidents for some time yet, so relax, enjoy your pup, and take him out very frequently.  He will soon get the idea. 

This guide is also worth a read: 

http://www.cockersonline.co.uk/discuss/index.php?topic=2014.0

Good luck 

[elaine.e]

Hi and welcome to COL

Lots of people advise against puppy pads altogether because they can cause confusion in the puppy's mind about where it should pee and poo. Some will advise making his night time space in the crate small so that he has space to lay down but not much more, thereby discouraging him from peeing or pooping in his bed.

Last time I had a puppy he was in a pen at night (hated his crate) and I put pads down at night time. My take on it was that I'd work really hard at getting him clean in the day time by taking him out very frequently, but I'd sooner he slept through the night with puppy pads than get himself in a state by being in a small space and trying to hold on before he was physically capable of doing so. He very quickly learned that the garden was the place to pee and poo in the daytime. He was slower to be clean through the night, but I didn't worry about that. Once he was physically capable of going 7 or 8 hours through the night without using the pads he stopped using them and was clean through the night.

In the daytime try taking him out every time he wakes up, or has been playing for a while, or has eaten a meal, and in between times too. Stay with him until he pees or poops and then tell him how clever he is. If he's distracted by exploring the garden could you temporarily fence off a boring area of the garden for him to use while toilet training? If he doesn't pee or poo within a few minutes bring him back in the house and keep him very close to you, watching him like a hawk, for several minutes. immediately you see him circling or sniffing take him back out.

When he has an accident in the house don't tell him off or show any signs of frustration. Puppies are sensitive and pick up on facial expressions and body language as well as verbal communication. If he associates peeing/pooping when you're around with you getting cross he won't want to pee or poo outside when you're with him and may start peeing and pooping in places where you can't see him! Just clean up with a non ammonia product when he has an accident.

Teach him a cue. I use "go pee" and taught it by initially waiting until the puppy was mid pee or poo before saying it. Once the puppy associates the cue with the action you can use it to encourage him to pee and poo when and where you want. It's useful with my adult dogs when I want to make sure they pee or poo before I go out or before bedtime.

Looking forward to hearing more about your puppy, and hopefully seeing some photos too

[zenon_bass]

May I suggest that once your pup is reliably toileting to cue, that you add a distinctive hand signal too!

Although Millie was an OAP when she came to me, she learnt the commands 'wee wees' and 'Toilet' without hand signals and she's now deaf.... 

[misspopsicle]

Thank you all, so many replies! No accidents inside today yet! I seem to be spending most of my day standing in the garden at the moment hehe. I've been saying peepee while he does it, so hopefully he will get the idea. Can I ask re: puppy in a pen - is it still advisable to take him out for night time loo trips? I've been taking him out last thing at around 11, then setting an alarm for 2.30 and 5.30. The problem with the 5.30 alarm is that he thinks it's time to get up as it's light. I did notice he hadn't used the pads to wee on through the night last night (although did wee on the floor as soon as he was out of the pen - my lesson to carry him to the garden in the night!!). I'm off to see if I can figure out how to upload a profile pic of young Henry

[Joules]

Aaaw, Henry looks adorable in your profile pic 

If you can stand to get up in the night, then it is a good idea to - I didn't, but next time I think I would    Know what you mean about standing for hours in the garden - but then I got Coco at the end of October, which I now know to have been a silly idea 

When you take him out in the night try not to interact with him at all, just praise him when he performs and then back into his crate, no fusses, no playing.  If you cover his crate with a blanket at night, then he might learn that it is not time to get up yet 

Sounds like you are both learning as you go along - it will take a bit of time he will get there - sounds like he is already doing great 

[MIN]

you fed up with him yet. he is only going to get worse and worse    Orrible little creatures. Best you pack his spotty hanky and send him post haste to me and do not let him pass any other COLer on the way 

[Mudmagnets]

you fed up with him yet. he is only going to get worse and worse    Orrible little creatures. Best you pack his spotty hanky and send him post haste to me and do not let him pass any other COLer on the way 

Oh you naughty person

[PennyB]

At night I don't always get up so if they pee in the house they pee and I just clean it up - it doesn't make any training go backwards or be detrimental - in time he will get it and different pups do it at different times and sometimes its 2 steps forward 3 back then 2 forward 1 back or for a little while the get it - as he gets older this will fall into place

During the day I tend to take them out at different intervals - after they wake up, before play, after play, before food and after food and so on.

As it gets warmer don't rely on fact door might be open either, as you also need to show/ask them to go out (to us its obvious the door is open to them it then becomes all one area ).

[misspopsicle]

Thank you all! One accident yesterday but I know we've got a long way to go yet!  I'm slowly getting into a routine though.  Not helped by the fact that the summer holidays started last week, so I've got my 4 children often plus a friend each so all a bit on the hectic side . Ha ha he's on his way Min, really for holibobs already! I'm just going to focus on day time at the mo,  he doesn't seem to know whether he's coming or going at night. I got up at 2.30 with him and he'd gone in his pen so didn't do anything outside.  Didn't take him out at 5.30 and he didn't whine once last night.

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[Mjjackson43]

Sounds like you are making real progress. The trick is definitely to take him out as much as possible And he will get there in the end. Make sure you praise him lots when he goes outside and always take him to the same spot. I found with our Labrador that the puppy pad just confused him and as soon as we removed it he never had an accident inside the house once after that.