# Potty outside... train for inside



## taimoor (Jul 23, 2008)

Our Hero is coming along very nicely... he has very few accidents now.. and can hold it all through the night and waits patiently for us to wake up and take him out.. he knows the drill.. he knows the spot... we live in a condo and its about a 3 minute walk from the condo to the elevator to the spot but he knows exactly where he is going.. does his business and back.

Now the rainy seasons and winter is coming... and i would like to train him for a second spot... the first spot was easy because it had grass.. this second spot will either be an area on our patio or a pee pad in a litter box thing in our bathroom... whats the best way to teach him that it is ok for him to go there as well... hes a sniffer and ebfore he potties he sniffs for about a minute to find just the right spot to go... 

ive taken him to both palces.. numerous times a day.. but he will jsut sit and stare at me... saying.. please take me out so i can pee... any thoughts on how people have done this...

Much appreciated

Taimoor


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## LuvCicero (Mar 31, 2008)

Cicero learned early to go outside and stopped using a pee pad. I got the little box and put the pad in it to teach him it was okay. He has "never" used it to pee...only uses it when I give him a flossie and he thinks that is the best place to chew. ound: One day when it was rainy here, I did put a pee pad at the back door he uses and he went on it 3 times that day. He didn't want to go outside and I think he figured he was at the end of the line and peed.  Good luck, maybe Hero will understand the pad better than Cicero.


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## Missy (Nov 6, 2006)

Taimor, I had luck doing it the other way...we concentrated on the indoor potty spot until they were 5 months... and never made a big deal of outside pees... that being said my boys not at almost 2 and 3 would rather hold it for 25 hours than use the pee pad. They will use it every now and then if we are busy with company, but otherwise they would rather wait til we are willing to take them out. It's their natural instinct. 

That being said, I think you will have better luck with with your patio it is still outside. I would try to collect some of Hero's pee when you go to your spot ---blott it with a paper towel and then bring it to the spot on your patio you want him to go on...And as hard as it might be, don't give him any other opportunity to go anywhere else. And when he goes on the patio do the whole praise thing with pats and treats... you basically need to go back to square one. once he is going consistently in the new place, you can take him back outside...he will go there it is only natural. Are there any flower beds, with mulch or gravel or is it all stone? My boys love mulch as a place to go. Is it enclosed? will you be able to just open the door and let him go? 

Good Luck--keep us posted.


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## Tom King (Aug 2, 2006)

We had an owner who wanted to train one of our litter trained puppies to go outside. He bought a couple of squares of sod and made a box with some dirt in it and put the sod on top. The box of grass was kept on their deck for a while. He put a couple of handfuls of the litter on it and in no time the pup was going on the grass.

It would probably work pretty easily the other way too since he knows what grass is and has to go first thing in the morning anyway. Maybe half sod and half piddle pad and gradually make the grass side smaller.


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## Pixiesmom (Jul 31, 2008)

I cannot say enough about the UGODOG. I had to train Pixie to go inside because she was too small to take heartworm medication. She took to it with no problem. There is nothing more to buy (uses newspaper), and it's easy to clean and nothing for her to shred. She'll still go potty outside with no problem (I know that has to be instinctual). Just put something in there with pee on it-maybe a little piece of paper towel-anything with the scent. Give the command to pee, go potty or whatever you say, then praise. It's worked out beautifully.


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## bullwinkle (Oct 5, 2008)

My new havanese has been pretty good with going outside. She is now going on 14 weeks old. I decided not to use pads and have her in laundry room with gate. Just started closing her kennel door tonight. Will see how she does.. I still carry her most of the time to go outside where I drop her in an enclosed pen and she goes pretty much when I tell her. Today was our first rain and I put a beach unbrella securely in the ground in the center of her pen so I didn't have to grab an unbrella.. Looks funny but works so far and she doesn't get wet. Just have to close when windy... Wonder if I should be trying to get her to walk outside by herself more and down the back steps. ?Just figured she was still too young to hold it all the way out back and down the steps but I do think she should be learning to walk out the door by herself more. Don't know if I am unneccesarily worrying as she still pees at times when excited or just when I didn't catch her.. Guess I have to understand she is still young. Maybe I am hoping for too much too soon but I am with her all day and really trying to take her out often.. Just dissapointing when they do make mistakes.. Any advice on how not to worry so much about the potty training....??wonder by what age they should understand it more??


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## iluvhavs (Jul 21, 2008)

bullwinkle....as I remember from Rico (now 3) he didn't totally "get it" until he was over 6 months and we weren't mistake free for a full year!

Lucy, at 17 weeks, understands but still thinks that the dining room, which no one ever uses, is OK for impromptu pees and it has been dubbed poo-land by my DH. I've started playing with her there, and giving her treats there so she realizes it a good place to hang out in, not pee in.

I do carry her down the garage stairs, but let her walk to her area and come back in the house herself. She knows to ring her poochie bells to go out (or when she wants attention) and will run to the door, but I give her a lift down. On scheduled trips outside, I let her do the stairs herself coming and going. She can get down off the deck very quickly now and feels impowered by that freedom!

If it's raining, I use the umbrella myself and let her walk around. She seems to have to walk around and find the right spot and the right position, so I;m better letting her roam on her own. She doesn;t mind the rain. The wind can be distracting, but the rain is OK.

It's an artform!


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## Sheri (Oct 11, 2008)

Tucker was 5 months old before the light-bulb suddenly went on in his little brain about pottying only outside. I had made no progress with him until then. Once he was 5 months, and I could tell he suddenly understood, he was really good, and only had about 1 accident. Of course, I was watching him like a hawk and never left him off leash indoors for quite a while. He was harder than any of my bigger dogs to train.

Sheri


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## bullwinkle (Oct 5, 2008)

iluvhavs said:


> bullwinkle....as I remember from Rico (now 3) he didn't totally "get it" until he was over 6 months and we weren't mistake free for a full year!
> 
> Lucy, at 17 weeks, understands but still thinks that the dining room, which no one ever uses, is OK for impromptu pees and it has been dubbed poo-land by my DH. I've started playing with her there, and giving her treats there so she realizes it a good place to hang out in, not pee in.
> 
> ...


Thanks so verrry much! appreciate the information and realizing I just need to relax as Shadow has been pretty good! Never knew how great this breed seems to be and haven't read anything negative about them bullwinkle, Shadow's mom


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## DanielBMe (Nov 25, 2007)

Well I started the other way with both my guys, pee pad first then moving outside. I too am in a condo. Once they knew to use the pee pad, it was fairly easy to transition them to outside.

What you might want to do is take the pee pad outside with you. When Shadow pees dip the middle of the pee pad into the pee. Then put the pee pad in the bathroom. In the morning, once Shadow wakes up go into the bathroom and show Shadow the pee pad. Shadow will hopefully smell the pee and get the idea. Don't let Shadow out of the bathroom until he pees.

I found that having pee on the pee pad was key. Even though they are scented it seems to work better. Both my guys now wait to do their business outside. Brando will on occassion use the pee pad if he really has to go but I keep them on a schedule, out 3 times a day, in the morning, when I come home from work, and again around 9:15pm.


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