# Forgetting how to use peepad?



## veridea (Apr 26, 2012)

Hi again! More advice needed, if you don't mind. We took Pickles to the cottage this past long weekend, and he had a few accidents inside, which we expected. Since we've come home, he's continued to have accidents in the house. He's hitting his peepad only half the time over the last two days, and before we left for the cottage he was almost 100%. Is peepad training something they can forget if they go a few days in a new environment? I'm taking him on vacation again in a few weeks, and I'm afraid he'll stop using peepads all together. 

I should mention he's only 14 1/2 weeks old right now


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## veridea (Apr 26, 2012)

Oh, and here's more info that could be helpful. We've also just started letting him sleep on the bed at night. I take him downstairs twice at night to use the pad, and he seems to get it then because I'm watching over him. Could that sudden change from kennel to bed be part of it?


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## krandall (Jun 11, 2009)

Potty training at this age is all about establishing habit. They don't really "know" to use the pee pad (or whatever) you are just establishing a habit. When you go away, you disrupt that habit. You will need to be MUCH more diligent for the first week or two after you get home to re-establish that habit. You should ALSO be diligent not to allow accidents to happen while you are on vacation, because part of the "habit" you need to build is that pee pads (or outside) is the RIGHT place to potty, no matter WHERE you are. Dogs are not good at generalizing, no matter what you are training. Training them to carry over behaviors to different circumstances is called "proofing" and is just as necessary for potty training as it is for recalls and sit-stays later on.

NO 14 1/2 week old puppy is TRULY potty trained. They may not be having accidents, but that is because their owner is diligently setting them up for success. You just need to work a little harder to get Pickles back on a "success" roll. It won't just happen by itself, but you will find that after each of these interruptions, it takes LESS time than the time before to get them back on track!


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