How to train a dog to potty indoors AND outdoors

Share your favorite training tips, ideas and methods with other Positively members!

Moderators: emmabeth, BoardHost

mjemere
Posts: 32
Joined: Fri Dec 06, 2013 1:44 pm

Re: How to train a dog to potty indoors AND outdoors

Post by mjemere »

gwd wrote:
Nettle wrote: because it's a rare dog that can manage a 'sometimes' situation - they are much happier with consistency.
Dogs believe it's 'always' or 'never'

Yes, I'm learning this as a new dog parent. I'll leave it simple with him and just take him out.
Ned
Posts: 5
Joined: Mon Jul 01, 2019 3:44 am

Re: How to train a dog to potty indoors AND outdoors

Post by Ned »

Hi Folks
I have a similar issue with my 9 mos old chihuahua.
She has been potty pad trained the whole time, she also would do it outside when we would go for our daily walk. Then suddenly a couple of weeks ago she stopped using the pad. she will hold it up to 12-18 hours, with her pad in the same location as before, no change there, until I take her outside.
I live in a high rise building and I don't trust the health of the other dogs in our building to have my dog sniffing around and getting sick from them.
I am thankful that she can hold it till we go outside, but I want her to have the choice if I leave her alone.
b4 she would go straight to her pad in the morning then have breakfast and we would play till I went to work, now she sleeps in and i take her out on my way to work. at first we thought she may have a UTI ( I am a contractor in IRAQ, so the VET quality is , well lets just say substandard to scary) so we put her on a 7 day antibiotics that her Vet from the states gave us. That didn't help

I tried a couple of the "potty here" sprays to encourage her, NOT WORK, it only stunk up the house.

I snuck a potty pad under her stream while she was going outside, and using it in the house, hoping the smell would attract her to it again . NOT WORK

I even put a couple of pieces of sod on my balcony, she sniffs and sits on it. but no Potty.


like I said b4 she would get up or interrupt our play session to use her potty pad, and I always followed by treat and many many praises, I never scolded or got mad at her if she had an accident or missed the pad by a few inches.
PLEASE SOMEONE HELP ME GET HER TO USE HER POTTY PADS AGAIN SO WHEN SHE HAS NO OTHER OPTION, ie. when I am not home.
JudyN
Posts: 7018
Joined: Tue Jul 26, 2011 1:20 pm
Location: Dorset, UK
Contact:

Re: How to train a dog to potty indoors AND outdoors

Post by JudyN »

Hi, and welcome to the forum. What is the longest she is actually left for? If she wants to go while you're there, does she actively ask to be taken outside? Remember that most people manage without pee pads so it is workable to build in enough outdoor toilet breaks - but I can appreciate that it is more convenient, particularly when you are several floors up.

One thought that occurred to me is if you gave her something like chicken broth, that may encourage her to drink enough that she NEEDS to go while you are there so you can then encourage her to go on the pee pad. Don't do this before leaving her though as if she's decided she shouldn't pee inside, she could get really distressed and also hold on long enough to cause actual damage. Also, I don't know if there's a danger of such small dogs drinking too much - something to research first.

Another thought is to make inside more like outside. Work out what surface she likes to go on outdoors, get a large tray, and replicate it inside. It wants to be as realistic as possible, so actual soil/turf etc. dug up from where she normally goes. There are commercial versions, like this: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Indoor-Toilet- ... B00ZFLMS5O But I suspect to a dog, that's going to look and smell more like carpet than grass. I think I'd combine the approaches - sort out the 'indoor toilet', make sure she drinks plenty, then wait for nature to take its course, encourage her to use the tray, and praise like mad if she does.
Jasper, lurcher, born December 2009
Ned
Posts: 5
Joined: Mon Jul 01, 2019 3:44 am

Re: How to train a dog to potty indoors AND outdoors

Post by Ned »

JudyN wrote: Thu Jul 04, 2019 8:29 am Hi, and welcome to the forum. What is the longest she is actually left for? If she wants to go while you're there, does she actively ask to be taken outside? Remember that most people manage without pee pads so it is workable to build in enough outdoor toilet breaks - but I can appreciate that it is more convenient, particularly when you are several floors up.

One thought that occurred to me is if you gave her something like chicken broth, that may encourage her to drink enough that she NEEDS to go while you are there so you can then encourage her to go on the pee pad. Don't do this before leaving her though as if she's decided she shouldn't pee inside, she could get really distressed and also hold on long enough to cause actual damage. Also, I don't know if there's a danger of such small dogs drinking too much - something to research first.

Another thought is to make inside more like outside. Work out what surface she likes to go on outdoors, get a large tray, and replicate it inside. It wants to be as realistic as possible, so actual soil/turf etc. dug up from where she normally goes. There are commercial versions, like this: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Indoor-Toilet- ... B00ZFLMS5O But I suspect to a dog, that's going to look and smell more like carpet than grass. I think I'd combine the approaches - sort out the 'indoor toilet', make sure she drinks plenty, then wait for nature to take its course, encourage her to use the tray, and praise like mad if she does.
JudyN; Thank you for your suggestions. Sometimes I leave her for 6-8 hours. I usually take her to work with me, I have the same setup there, food water and Pad and sleep area. There are times I may be out of the office for 8 hrs.
Like I said I am very grateful and happy that she waits to do it outside. I just want here to have the option if she needs to go, to feel like free to do it on her pad.
I have the potty pads and the fake grass potty pad inside , and I have a about a M^2 of real grass on the patio. She refuses all of them.
I will try the chicken broth thing next.
if she needs to go and doesn't have a chance to go outside she just hides in her Kennel, because the weather is so HOT here, on days I feel she hasn't drank enough, I'll give here water with a 10cc syringe .
thanks again
JudyN
Posts: 7018
Joined: Tue Jul 26, 2011 1:20 pm
Location: Dorset, UK
Contact:

Re: How to train a dog to potty indoors AND outdoors

Post by JudyN »

if she needs to go and doesn't have a chance to go outside she just hides in her Kennel
Do you mean she'll toilet in her kennel and if she does, does she seem anxious about going there? Is that inside your apartment, or on the balcony, and does she also sleep in the kennel?

I don't suppose there's anyone who could come in once a day to take her outside? 6-8 hours is quite a long time to be left - some organisations recommend no more than 4 hours, though dogs often seem quite relaxed being left longer. Having someone come in would give her a chance to toilet, which will be better for her health-wise, as well as maybe reducing any stress she is feeling at being left.
Jasper, lurcher, born December 2009
Ned
Posts: 5
Joined: Mon Jul 01, 2019 3:44 am

Re: How to train a dog to potty indoors AND outdoors

Post by Ned »

oh No she will not do it in her Kennel or anywhere else in the house. She waits till I take her outside. what I meant was, I have a regular potty pad and fake grass potty pad in the corner of one of the rooms away from her food and water and Kennel/ sleeping area. I also have a patch of real grass I put on my balcony a week or so ago. She sniffs or sits on them but no yellow or brown on those areas. :(
Like I said I am very happy and blessed that she doesn't do it on the carpet or furniture or anywhere else in the house, only outside in the yard of the apartment complex.
I seldom leave her alone that long, she pretty much goes every where with me, we get lots of funny looks in Iraq. Like I mentioned before, I just want her to have the option of the indoor potty (on her pad :) available to her. when I do leave her for any period of time, I usually leave the TV
JudyN
Posts: 7018
Joined: Tue Jul 26, 2011 1:20 pm
Location: Dorset, UK
Contact:

Re: How to train a dog to potty indoors AND outdoors

Post by JudyN »

Something else you could try (I'm not an expert, just throwing ideas at you in case something works) is teach her to toilet on command while outside the house - use a cue word when she toilets, praise and treat, and eventually she should link the word to the action. Then, after plenty of chicken broth and while you're there (again check any risks of overdrinking), if you use the cue word when she looks uncomfortable it might just convince her that it's actually OK to go indoors.
Jasper, lurcher, born December 2009
Ned
Posts: 5
Joined: Mon Jul 01, 2019 3:44 am

Re: How to train a dog to potty indoors AND outdoors

Post by Ned »

That's how we got her potty trained in the beginning, we used "Potty" and we would get excited and give her goodies and praise, every thing was great, till a month ago.
I got a used potty pad (P only) from another dog, hoping the smell would attract her or want her to cover it. :( to no avail. she smells it and walks away.
in the mean time we go outside as often as necessary to potty, hoping she will one day use the potty pads again.
JudyN
Posts: 7018
Joined: Tue Jul 26, 2011 1:20 pm
Location: Dorset, UK
Contact:

Re: How to train a dog to potty indoors AND outdoors

Post by JudyN »

She's obviously made up her mind, hasn't she? :lol: Good luck, and do let us know if you have success.
Jasper, lurcher, born December 2009
Ned
Posts: 5
Joined: Mon Jul 01, 2019 3:44 am

Re: How to train a dog to potty indoors AND outdoors

Post by Ned »

yea, I learned long time ago not to argue with a lady once she has her mind made up. :D
JudyN
Posts: 7018
Joined: Tue Jul 26, 2011 1:20 pm
Location: Dorset, UK
Contact:

Re: How to train a dog to potty indoors AND outdoors

Post by JudyN »

:lol:
Jasper, lurcher, born December 2009
Post Reply