# Potty training



## rag1256 (Jun 15, 2017)

So Oliver, only 3 months old, hates going outside which means 90% of his poop / pee goes inside. He does pretty well with the pads, I'd say 70% of his pee goes on the pads, so that's good. I'm worried about long term potty training to get him to do his business outside. He spends a lot of time at dog grandma's house, Monday-Friday from 8am til 4pm, and dog grandma has 2 other dogs who sometimes do their biz outside, are often let outside and told to "go to the bathroom," but still regularly go inside. I'm nearly certain that Oliver is going to pick up the "ok to pee and poo inside" habit from them. 

Is this a hopeless situation? Can I, in the limited time that I'm with him, train him to move from the pads to outside, with the bad influence from the other dogs? I have been pleasantly surprised by how quickly and easily it's been for him to use the pads. I have also read that it's normal for a Havanese to take up to 12 months to get fully potty trained. Thoughts?


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## krandall (Jun 11, 2009)

rag1256 said:


> So Oliver, only 3 months old, hates going outside which means 90% of his poop / pee goes inside. He does pretty well with the pads, I'd say 70% of his pee goes on the pads, so that's good. I'm worried about long term potty training to get him to do his business outside. He spends a lot of time at dog grandma's house, Monday-Friday from 8am til 4pm, and dog grandma has 2 other dogs who sometimes do their biz outside, are often let outside and told to "go to the bathroom," but still regularly go inside. I'm nearly certain that Oliver is going to pick up the "ok to pee and poo inside" habit from them.
> 
> Is this a hopeless situation? Can I, in the limited time that I'm with him, train him to move from the pads to outside, with the bad influence from the other dogs? I have been pleasantly surprised by how quickly and easily it's been for him to use the pads. I have also read that it's normal for a Havanese to take up to 12 months to get fully potty trained. Thoughts?


A dog who is properly trained to potty on an indoor potty will AUTOMATICALLY learn that it is also OK to potty outdoors. Once they learn that, most of them soon PREFER going outdoors, and you have to work hard to maintain their interest in using an indoor potty.

That said, trying to potty train a puppy who is spending large amounts of time with dogs who pee and poop inappropriately indoors is an uphill battle. I'd REALLY be looking for other day care for him. When Kodi was younger, and an only dog, I looked into several at-home boarding situations for him for when I need to travel. I passed on several that otherwise might have been nice, because I could tell that other dogs were potting inappropriately in the house.


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## Henry&Kate (Mar 29, 2017)

> A dog who is properly trained to potty on an indoor potty will AUTOMATICALLY learn that it is also OK to potty outdoors. Once they learn that, most of them soon PREFER going outdoors, and you have to work hard to maintain their interest in using an indoor potty.


I know this is an older thread but I've been reading through various ones on potty training. And this is exactly my question - keeping the indoor option but having the outside be the primary potty location. Henry came home just yesterday and was trained to use litter by the breeder (yes!) and to potty outside as well. Of course at the moment, not having to rush him outdoors after every single meal, short nap, play time, all of which add up to a lot of potential potty trips, is convenient. But should I be trying to make sure that most or every potty happens outdoors?


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## Barbara Levy (Apr 22, 2016)

Contrary to lots of folks stories, Loki was so easy to potty train I have almost forgotten how we did it. He was using pee pads at the breeders, so I gave him a UGoDog option at home. (First potty at home I had go just on the pee pad and then put the wet one under the grate of the UGoDog so he would know it was ok). We left him in his crate/ex pen (I have a 6' x 2' crate so I used it as an expen with UGoDog and bed.) Otherwise we left it open, and let him be in the family room (puppy proofed) if we had eyes on him. We both work but I had dog walkers in 2x a day for the first year. When I was home, I took him out after every nap, play, meal, etc. and treated and had a party when he went where he was supposed to. If we were playing and he used the UGoDog we also treated and had a party. He clearly preferred outside from the beginning and would go to the door. I also started bell training immediately. Every time we went out the door, I would ring the bell with his paw or nose and say let's go potty. He figured it out in no time. 

We did have a small set back when he had to go stay at the vet in insolation for 4 days with Parvo, but he got right back on track. I can't remember exactly when I thought he was completely trained but we went to my mom's in Florida just before he turned 5 months. I was nervous about accidents but he didn't have one in 4 days. They are on the 7th floor and he quickly decided if he sat by the balcony door that would tell us he needed to potty. I had a UGoDog there for him but he never used it. 

I think the keys are consistency, not giving them too much space, treats and parties. He still comes inside after going potty, we have a fenced yard so he goes by himself, and runs to the treats. He is spoiled but I will gladly treat him to tell us he needs to go outside. LOL! DH wonders why no one gives him treat to go potty.:laugh2:


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## Henry&Kate (Mar 29, 2017)

Thanks Barbara. This is my first time housebreaking with an indoor option. I guess my concern is should I be taking him out for every potty I can if I want eventually to have them be outside. So for example if he needs to go at 4 am can I let him use the litter or should I rush him outside?


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## Barbara Levy (Apr 22, 2016)

beatrice said:


> Thanks Barbara. This is my first time housebreaking with an indoor option. I guess my concern is should I be taking him out for every potty I can if I want eventually to have them be outside. So for example if he needs to go at 4 am can I let him use the litter or should I rush him outside?


We only kept Loki crated in our room for a couple of weeks, and then moved him to the expen with UGoDog and bed so he could just go when he wanted. I did take him outside at first though. Loki won't use the UGoDog if we are home - he would rather go outside in rain or snow - I just have to keep a towel by the door to dry him. If you want him to use the litter with you home, you might want to try having him use it during the night. If you only want it for when you aren't home, then I would take him out.


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## ShamaMama (Jul 27, 2015)

Beatrice, I would say that if you ultimately want Henry to prefer pottying outside to pottying inside, you should take him out frequently when you are home, and you should be willing to get up with him at 4 AM right now if he needs to. Hopefully he will start sleeping through the night shortly. When Shama was little, we had a training tray in her ex pen. If I recall correctly, however, she soon preferred not pottying at all in her little 2 by 6-foot apartment. She would wait five hours for her dog walker to come over and then again for us to return home from work, and then she would sleep all night long, preferring to wait for us to take her out over using her tray. We ultimately removed the tray completely when it became clear to us that she didn't want to use it day or night. Good luck! Don't hesitate to ask questions in the forum. rag1256, how is it going?


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