# Potty Training Problems at 1 Year



## souffle (Sep 9, 2012)

Would like to get some feedback on our Havanese female that just turned 1 years old. And possibly we are contributing to the problem and I need to know what to do. We have 2 Ugodogs setup side-by-side in the dining area that is just wood floors. Not having any problem if she is gated in that area with the Ex-pen. Within this Ex-pen area is the back door to the backyard and every morning I take her out of her crate (where she sleeps all night) and have trained her to the words "Outside...ring your bell"... and she rings the Poochie bell with her nose, I treat her right then at that point, then I take her out. She goes pee.... I treat her again.. then we come back in and I keep her in the Ex-pen (with her Ugodogs) until she poops. She poops on those and then I let her out and free to run for an hour within the house. 

After that it gets tricky... I don't feel like I can trust her as we've had just a few accidents where she won't run back to her Ugodog to pee. I am indeed home all day. So then I end up putting her back into the Ex-pen. Hesitating on taking her out and I do end up running her outside around lunch time but can't get her to go. Then its back to the Ex-pen. 

I'm not sure what I should be doing at this point. The vision I originally had was to have the Ugodog available to her if we are gone. But I never planned on her not running back to the Ugodog where she is 100% right on when she is in the Ex-pen. Then you throw in the Poochie bells on the back door into the mix and maybe I'm completely confusing her. 

To add to some complication we have a very open floor plan. So the dining, kitchen, and living room are all open with no doors. If I setup the gates it would be hard for my big husband to maneuver with them..but I suppose it could be done. 

I'm just wondering if I am going about all this wrong. 

Your feedback is most appreciated!

Thank you!


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## tra_po (Aug 14, 2013)

I'm by no means an expert but personally I think two methods of going to the bathroom can confuse a dog. Since you are home I would try to do away with the Ugodog method and just use the bell and the outside. (It's encouraging that yours will ring the bell. We're still training on the 'tell bell' but you've given me a major hint - I've been using the paw but I should probably be using his nose.) As to training on the pad for when you're gone, yours should be old enough to hold for as long as you're reasonably leaving her alone and the transition to just the bell might be easier than you think. 

By the way my downstairs is one large open floor plan, so I feel your pain. 

Best of luck!


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## krandall (Jun 11, 2009)

tra_po said:


> I'm by no means an expert but personally I think two methods of going to the bathroom can confuse a dog. Since you are home I would try to do away with the Ugodog method and just use the bell and the outside. (It's encouraging that yours will ring the bell. We're still training on the 'tell bell' but you've given me a major hint - I've been using the paw but I should probably be using his nose.) As to training on the pad for when you're gone, yours should be old enough to hold for as long as you're reasonably leaving her alone and the transition to just the bell might be easier than you think.
> 
> By the way my downstairs is one large open floor plan, so I feel your pain.
> 
> Best of luck!


Be careful about doing away with indoor potty options. MANY people on the forum who live in colder climates, or who travel with their dogs wish fervently that they had maintained their dog's interest in an indoor potty.

I think the confusing part is trying to TRAIN several different methods of pottying at the same time. With Kodi, the only one we concentrated on TRAINING was to use his litter box. He learned on his own to potty outside, and we praised him when he did so. But we didn't ASK him to go outside sometimes and in the litter box other times. I think it's the "if, then" thing that they have a very hard time learning.

Eventually, Kodi started, on his own, to show a strong preference to going outside. (Tom King, my breeder, says that has been true of all the puppies they have raise... and that's a LOT of puppies!!!) We had to WORK to maintain his willingness to use the litter box. He also, on his own, learned a method to alert us that he needed to go out. (a single, deep bark that he uses ONLY for this one purpose) He was a total failure with the bells, even though he takes quickly to all sorts of other training.

So I think it's FINE to ONLY concentrate on outdoor training, but then be sure you really don't care that they maintain an indoor potty option... Because they probably won't.


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## souffle (Sep 9, 2012)

Thank you for your feedback on that because I do indeed think I am causing confusion thus the situation we are in.

I definitely need to decide if I want to keep the indoor option.
That is the first issue.

If I do keep the indoor option, and I will contemplate this, how will I get her to run back to it to use it? Like I mentioned she has no problem using it if she is in the Ex-pen.

If I do the outdoor option, now I realize that I could lose the indoor option completely... so then I would take the Ugodog up completely while I'm home but if I think I will be gone a longer period of time put it back down?

Okay thanks for the input ladies!!



krandall said:


> Be careful about doing away with indoor potty options. MANY people on the forum who live in colder climates, or who travel with their dogs wish fervently that they had maintained their dog's interest in an indoor potty.
> 
> I think the confusing part is trying to TRAIN several different methods of pottying at the same time. With Kodi, the only one we concentrated on TRAINING was to use his litter box. He learned on his own to potty outside, and we praised him when he did so. But we didn't ASK him to go outside sometimes and in the litter box other times. I think it's the "if, then" thing that they have a very hard time learning.
> 
> ...


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## krandall (Jun 11, 2009)

souffle said:


> Thank you for your feedback on that because I do indeed think I am causing confusion thus the situation we are in.
> 
> I definitely need to decide if I want to keep the indoor option.
> That is the first issue.
> ...


Nope. unfortunately, if you train her to only go outside, you will lose the option of the Ugo-Dog. she will probably just refuse to use it completely. Then you will HAVE to take her out, regardless of the weather, and will have to plan your schedule so that either you or someone else can let her out when she needs to go.

As far as training her to use the Ugo Dog when she's not confined to her pen, you need to expand her territory by small amounts. To start with, you will probably have to have more than one, in places that are near her when she's not penned. Don't count on her going a long distance to find the potty for a LONG time, especially if she's still been having accidents in the house. You've got an awful lot of bad habit to undo with a year old dog.

You will have to watch her like a hawk when she's out in the house, and YOU need to make sure you get her to one of the Ugo-Dogs when she needs to go... even if it means keeping her tethered to you at all times... for as long as it takes. There's no getting around it, and no short-cuts. If you want a reliable potty trained dog, it takes LOTS of close supervision on the part of the humans to create LOTS of opportunities to get it right, while keeping the opportunities to be wrong as close to zero as you possibly can.

BTW, this is EXACTLY what you'll have to do to train her to potty reliably outdoors, if that's what you choose, too. The difference is that I believe that she will eventually learn to go outdoors, without anything more than you just letting nature take it's course. What you need (if you want to maintain an indoor potty option) is to make sure that she eventually learns the "OK" spots to go in the house, and also learns that everywhere else is "not OK".

I know this sounds like a lot of work, but the stakes are high... a dog that you can relax with and trust for the next 15 years, or one who needs to be confined for the rest of her life because you can't trust her in the house.


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## souffle (Sep 9, 2012)

Well thank you I am going to talk to my husband about way we should go from here. Never thought it would happen that she would 100% go on the Ugodog when in the Expen but not run back and to open it up a little bit is really tough with the open floor plan. I'm really contemplating taking up the Ugodog completely and tethering her to me... and do 100% outside. What I wonder though is once she is trained outside if I could put the Ugodog back in place only for the Expen if I will be out for a longer period of time.

You gave me a lot to consider and you are right it sounds like no shortcuts!

Thanks Again!



krandall said:


> Nope. unfortunately, if you train her to only go outside, you will lose the option of the Ugo-Dog. she will probably just refuse to use it completely. Then you will HAVE to take her out, regardless of the weather, and will have to plan your schedule so that either you or someone else can let her out when she needs to go.
> 
> As far as training her to use the Ugo Dog when she's not confined to her pen, you need to expand her territory by small amounts. To start with, you will probably have to have more than one, in places that are near her when she's not penned. Don't count on her going a long distance to find the potty for a LONG time, especially if she's still been having accidents in the house. You've got an awful lot of bad habit to undo with a year old dog.
> 
> ...


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## TeeItUp (Dec 20, 2012)

I just had to say that I feel your pain. We had great success on the potty pads for the first six months. Then all of a sudden, Charlie was going everywhere but the pee pads. We have an open floor plan too. It had gotten so bad that we had to put up baby gates to keep him off of the two rooms with carpet. The problem was that one of those rooms was where he slept with one of our children. I was beginning to think that my wood floors would be ruined. And I felt we had become this dirty house because we couldn't keep up with his accidents fast enough.

Then we went to start obedience class and mentioned to the trainer the trouble we were having. After a long month of work, I can say that while I'm going to dread the cold times this winter, I'm glad that we are going outdoors. Our trainer also mentioned that we were confusing him because he had a couple of spots in the house where we kept out pee pads. And he gave us excellent advice on how to focus Charlie on going outside. My house is cleaner, there is more peace in this house, and Charlie is more calm. I think the calm comes from obedience and this limit about where to use the potty. I think our dog needs simple and going outside is not simple, but stressful to us. Like others said, we don't want the next 15 years to be miserable for him or us. 

And I'm glad to report he has been able to sleep with our child again this week for the first time since the first of August. Both were very happy! And you've inspired me to try the bell.


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