# General potty training questions.



## 1stclassnana (Dec 31, 2007)

I have had Casey for just four days now...he is an absolute delight! He is fairly reliable peeing on pads inside. The first two days, I took him out on my deck regularly and he would often do his business. The third morning it was pouring, so I threw a pad down in the garage and took him there and he promptly peed on it. He has yet to poop on a pad, indoor or out. 

I decided it made more sense to take him in the garage for now because:

1. Have a couple more months of bad weather here in Michigan.
2. When the weather improves, I will take him out, but since my yard isn't fenced, we will go for a walk in the front. We would pass through the garage to get to the front, so what's the point of having him familiar with the deck.

Now for a couple questions. I keep him with me almost all the time when home. Should I keep pads in each room we are in in case we don't make it outside? If so, how do I encourage him to poop on the pad? When in the garage, should I worry about this as I pick it up immediately and dispose of it which is what I will be doing once we start going for walks in front. I would always like to keep the garage as an option in the event of really bad weather.

He is in a crate in my bedroom at night and when I leave the house (I don't work).

TIA...haven't had a puppy in years and want to do it right.


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## Thumper (Feb 18, 2007)

I will tell you that I was frustrated for a few weeks when I first got Gucci *until *I figured out that she had this quirk..she will NOT poop in the same place she pees. lol

I wouldn't put a pad in every room. I keep one in the laundry room (downstairs) and the master bathroom (upstairs), but before we transitioned to outdoors. I had an extra pad that I'd keep near the back door, which is the one she'd always poop on.

Gucci doesn't like to poop inside, well...she seldom does, so most of the time she'll ring the bell to go out..and even outdoors, she has a section of the yard to pee..and on the OTHER side of the yard, she poops! lol

After talking about it on the forum, I noted that a few other people had Havs that didn't want to poop in the same place, so maybe that is something you can consider when you are figuring out the places for the pee pad.

The bells on the door have worked GREAT to get her to notify me. I recently hung some upstairs on my bedroom door for night, but that is still a work in progress. A pack of pads lasts us a long time, though..she'll really only use them during inclimate weather or late at night.

But, as to potty training..the more you can focus on watching them ALL the time, every second of the day and redirect to the pads or outdoors, the more reliable they'll be. Havs are smart dogs and learn quickly, but..some have quirks and regression.

Kara


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## Tritia (Nov 17, 2007)

I'm sure you'll get some great answers. I'm going to keep an eye on this, cause I'm hoping to maybe try again for the pads if we ever get another puppy. We didn't try them with Daisy, and Cooper only wanted to drag them around the house :suspicious:


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## luv3havs (Jul 27, 2007)

Welcome to the forum.
Your puppy is adorable.

I used the Pads with Cali , who is now 8 months old. She came pad trained so it was easy for me. As a little puppy, she peed constantly and even though I took her out all the time, she couldn't hold it for long inside, and used the pads whenever she needed to. It was so cute to see her stop playing and run over to pee on the pad. She never missed the pad! Then, she'd run right back to play.
I loved using them, especially in bad weather.
However, she never pooped on them, didn't like to. Guess that goes to what Kara said about Havs not wanting to pee and poo oin the same spot.

Since I was home a lot and took her out often, that was okay with me. (She did have a few poop accidents when I let her free in rooms she wasn't used to.-still does if given the chance)

I would love to have her use the pads, but once she got used to outside and could "hold it" for longer periods of time, she wouldn't use them.

Too bad, because it would be so convenient if we ever travel on a plane with her.People just take the dog and pad into the lav and have the dog go!

I'd suggest that you keep using the pads, in the garage, not the deck, until spring. 
Good luck with Casey, or whatever you end up calling him.
Enjoy the puppy days, they go by so quickly.


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## Sissygirl (Aug 8, 2007)

Casey sure is a cutie.

I think the garage is a good idea - it is still outside the house. You might try putting bells on the door to the garage. That just seems to enhance the idea of - oh yeah I need to go out there.


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## irnfit (Nov 21, 2006)

I use pee pads and have one in the kitchen, one in the living room and one in the den. Shelby will not use the one in the kitchen, but she does use the other two. She picked the spot (if you know what I mean) in the living room, so I keep one there, but it is seldom used.

The one in the den is near the back door, and that is Shelby's preferred spot.
I have noticed that they are pooping less lately. I don't know if it is because I switched their food a little, or just because they go out more to do it. Kodi prefers to go outside and will ring the bells. Sometimes he will come and get me, run to the back door and ring the bells to let me know. 

The weather has been so mild that they are outside a lot. I hope it has a positive effect on their potty habits. Kodi never has an accident, but Shelby still does on occasion.

I also like to use the pads for when we go on vacation. If they have to go in the middle of the night, I know I can just have them go on the pad and not have to walk them in a strange place.


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## Lynn (Jan 2, 2007)

*Should I keep pads in each room we are in in case we don't make it outside? If so, how do I encourage him to poop on the pad?
*

I started with a pee pad in the kitchen in the ex-pen, where when we bought Missy home she spent all her time in the kitchen. Slowly she moved to explore the dining room, living room....so I put another pad in the corner of the living room. I kind of watched her potty habits and put a pad in the spot she liked.

I think it depends on how big your home is....I now have one pad upstairs in master bedroom bath and downstairs in tv room. She would not go up or down stairs to look for pee pad.

Missy doesn't like to poop on pee pads because she does some kind of circle dance before she poops and I think she has a had time hitting the pad....with this funny circle dance she does. So I got the pee pads for large dogs and she is doing better.

Watch your dog... and her habits and go from there...if she is not making it to the pee pad from one room to another, probably want to put another pad down.


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