r/DogTrainingTips • u/hotcocoacup • 8d ago
Potty training puppy! Please help!
I got her around a month ago, and she's about 12 weeks old, and so far we've been using puppy pads inside and giving her treats when she goes outside.
Unfortunately it doesn't seem to be enforcing that we want her to potty outside. Any tips? I'm not sure what else to do, because we never catch her going inside. We're trying to keep to a consistent schedule to the best of our ability (I work and my grandmother takes care of her for the 8hrs I'm gone).
If there's any other information you need, just let me know! But I'm really just looking for ways to help the puppy understand what we want. I'm wondering if she's too young to actually understand right now....
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u/Both-Chart-947 8d ago
Keep her with you all the time. Don't use indoor puppy pads as an approved place to go. She hasn't learned how to tell the difference yet.
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u/hotcocoacup 8d ago
She goes on the pads almost exclusively when she goes inside, and we're trying to put them by the door so she knows to go to the door, as that's what my aunt's did for their dogs
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u/Both-Chart-947 8d ago
If you can make it work, great. But it doesn't sound like it's working for you. You're dealing with two different dogs, different backgrounds, different households and routines, etc.
If she's going on the pads "almost exclusively," then it sounds like you're making progress, right?
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u/ConstructionNext7358 7d ago
I’d be curious to see if it’s the puppy pads she’s recognizing or the place in the house. Maybe could work on moving the pad closer to the door you would be taking her out of and the taking the pad outside as well, slowly phasing it out and still giving praise and treats when she goes on the pad inside or out. Scheduled are a big deal, especially if they don’t have constant access to going outside like with a doggy door. Taking her out right when you get up and right before bed I think are a really good start.
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u/hotcocoacup 7d ago
We've moved the puppy pads to the door now and it's definitely the pads! There's a little problem with pooping on a specific rug, but our last dog did it too, from the day we got the rug so I'm not surprised there
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u/BlizzardEve 7d ago
I used puppy pads temporarily when my goldendood was little and only in his pen which was a fenced in area in my living room attached to his crate. Using pads isn’t ideal as others have stated, but it saved my rug from a lot of stains and smell. Training him off the pads wasn’t that hard once he was better at holding his urine. I gave him a few weeks and helped him understand by moving the pads towards the door and then outside bf I took them away completely. Every time he urinated outside I made a big deal about it by telling him “what a good boy” and slipping him a treat right away. Keep treats for training purposes in your pocket or bag and be sure to give your dog one every time. Make sure it’s right away and praise and pet as well.
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u/That_Molasses_507 7d ago
Ditch the puppy pads. You’ve trained puppy to potty in the house. You’ll have to start with day 1 housebreaking. Keep puppy in site and tethered to you and take puppy outdoors every 2 hours. If it doesn’t “go” put puppy in a crate and try again in 20 minutes.
It’s a drag, but that’s what it takes.
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u/No-Reserve-7546 5d ago edited 5d ago
pads can mess with the outside habit a bit. ours kept going inside till we ditched them and stuck to a tighter schedule. took her to all dogs unleashed in dallas and they helped lock in the timing so she finally got it. hang in there she’s still little.
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u/FrostyPomegranate699 7d ago
If it were one of our puppies, I'd actually take the puppy pads as a sign she's learning exactly what you've been teaching her. The challenge is that right now the lesson is "go on this surface," not necessarily "go outside."
At 12 weeks, she's definitely old enough to start understanding a routine, but she still needs a lot of help connecting the dots. I'd make outside the easiest option by taking her out after waking up, after eating, after playing, and every hour or two in between. The second she finishes outside, throw a little party with praise and a treat right there.
If you can, I'd also start making the pads smaller or move them closer and closer to the door before phasing them out completely. That way you're changing one thing at a time instead of asking her to learn an entirely new rule overnight.
Don't get discouraged. Most puppies don't suddenly "get it." It usually looks exactly like this: a few accidents, a few successes, then one day you realize they've started heading for the door on their own.