# Combination of potty quirks



## temmie (Jan 27, 2017)

Hi again! Our pup, Harlan, is almost 12 weeks old and came to us very much used to paper and it being his toilet. That made it easy enough to introduce him to the ugodog, which he uses with no problem when there is paper on top and he is in his pen (he will ALWAYS use it and not the floor when he's in the pen). But we have a couple of problems we'd like to resolve:

1. He has started to shred the paper when in the pen. He will still use the paperless ugodog when enclosed, if there is no soft alternative. He never slept on his bed anyway, so we removed it -- but 2 times (out of many) when he shredded the paper, he did use his bed for pee. We'd really like to get rid of the paper due to the shredding AND because it's just extra effort to switch out, his feet are wet, it's just gross to avoid pouring pee on ourselves, etc. We got the ugodog for a reason. 

2. He was trained to use paper in a way where the breeder would see him sniffing, drop paper nearby, he would hop on it and use it. When in the limited open space he has while supervised (an area of our living room), he will sometimes run back into the pen to use the ugodog on his own. But most of the time we have to place him there when he begins sniffing/showing signals. He can be literally 10 inches away, and sometimes he will go in, and sometimes he will squat. No real rhyme or reason. We did figure out that he wanted BOTH doors to the pen open so he knew he wasn't getting shut in. We also tried pulling the ugodog out of the pen (next to where it usually is), in case it was just worry about being penned. But that made no difference. He gets lots and lots of praise when he goes back on his own, and lots of praise when he goes after we put him there. So lots of consistent positive feedback, either way.

He is attending really good puppy classes and has learned a several commands already after 1 class. Treat and clicker motivated! So he is a clever little guy and we are very dedicated to working with him. We just need to figure out how to help him get over the hump of needing paper and seeking out his indoor potty spot. We really want him to have more freedom to hang out with us elsewhere in the house asap.

For problem #1, I'm thinking we need to use a smaller crate within his pen for a while and place him on the ugodog without paper. Proper crate training style. I am hopeful he will pick that up fast. Does that make sense as an approach?

Any hints on #2?


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## Askavi (Nov 5, 2015)

You might try using potty pads inside the UgoDog. Most have a scent added to them that attracts the dog to use it. You're doing the right thing by being consistent with supervision and praise, though. At 12 weeks, he will only get better as long as you stay consistent with that supervision and praise.

Raffy took longer for me to potty train to consistency than Sassy did. He wasn't allowed past the gate and onto the carpet until 5 months old, while Sassy was by 14 weeks. Even with her, that was a tiny bit early as we had a couple of accidents and I had to go back to more confinement for a few days a couple times. Also, I keep a potty station in each area of the house that I spend a lot of time. There's one in the ex-pen, another in my office, and a final one near the slider to the backyard in case I miss signals from my older dogs who would prefer to go outside most of the time. The one in my office is very rarely used, but I keep it there just in case because I do spend a lot of time there.


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## Molly120213 (Jan 22, 2014)

The biggest mistake many new puppy owners make is giving too much freedom in the house too soon. Puppies should only get freedom after they have immediately gone potty, and even then they must be supervised every minute. Having a smaller crate in the pen is not going to help with potty training if you are using a ugodog. Size of crate matters more if you are using it to potty train to outside only. I think with an indoor set up with a potty area in an expen you usually keep the area smaller until your puppy is consistantly using the potty, then you gradually expand the area. The goal would be that eventually they will go to the potty from any area they are in the house. Having multiple potty areas sounds like a good idea to me also.


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## Tom King (Aug 2, 2006)

Sounds to me like he's doing pretty good for a 12 week old. You have gotten some good advice in this thread so far!


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## smemft (Feb 22, 2017)

*Metal frame for pads...*



temmie said:


> Hi again! Our pup, Harlan, is almost 12 weeks old and came to us very much used to paper and it being his toilet. That made it easy enough to introduce him to the ugodog, which he uses with no problem when there is paper on top and he is in his pen (he will ALWAYS use it and not the floor when he's in the pen). But we have a couple of problems we'd like to resolve:
> 
> 1. He has started to shred the paper when in the pen. He will still use the paperless ugodog when enclosed, if there is no soft alternative. He never slept on his bed anyway, so we removed it -- but 2 times (out of many) when he shredded the paper, he did use his bed for pee. We'd really like to get rid of the paper due to the shredding AND because it's just extra effort to switch out, his feet are wet, it's just gross to avoid pouring pee on ourselves, etc. We got the ugodog for a reason.
> 
> ...


- - -

I saw somewhere that a dog owner had a heavy metal frame made for his dog's wee wee pads and I think I have also seen devices that hold them down so they can't be shredded. It sounds like you don't want to use the pads, but just in case, I thought I'd mention that.

:smile2:


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