Orange County Dog Lady 1-888-80-OCDOG
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Potty Training with Potty Pads
While crate training is a huge fad in the American pet industry, there has been an influx in apartment and condo living which is forcing owners to train their dogs to potty on potty pads versus outside. This is particularly true in areas such as Orange County where land is at a premium and few owners have access to an actual yard to potty their dog in. So what does that mean for the pet? Training your pet to use a potty pad is a fairly simple idea in iteself. When dog training began over 50 years ago, owners were "paper training" their dogs to potty on newspaper, and then eventually were transfering it outside. To train a dog to use a potty pad is a very similiar idea. Owners must simply reinforce enough times on the potty pad and condition the dog that this is the place where it is to potty. But its not always that simple and I often hear clients complain that the pooch isn't hitting the potty pad, or is using other areas of the house as well.
So hear is my run down of Potty Training with a Potty Pad.
First, make sure the potty pad is a distinct area to go on. Many companies make trays to hold the potty pad in place so its more distinct. When you look at the potty pad itself, there isn't much difference between peeing on the pad and peeing on the wee little corner of the pad and onto the carpet. Using a potty pad tray or holder will help the pet distinguish the difference. I would even go so far as to put the potty pad in a litter box or in an exercise pen so there is no chance of the pet learning to pee on a corner of the pad.
Secondly, never use potty pads in a crate. Often times owners think that by putting a potty pad on one side of a crate and a blanket on the other side, they will be training their dog to use the potty pad. Unfortunately, this is also teaching the dog a very bad lesson: to potty in their sleeping area. Instead, it is better to set up a seperate potty area for the dog so that the dog knows there is a seperation between where it sleeps and where it goes pee. Again, using an exercise pen and putting several potty pads close together in the area helps the pet to distinguish this as a "potty area."
Third, don't let the puppy make mistakes. Just as with any kind of potty training, you should put the dog onto a schedule so that you know exactly when it will have to pee or poop. Once you establish this, you can easily make it so that there are set times that you take your puppy to the potty pad. You have to establish an association between having to potty and where they should go (i.e. the potty pad). This may mean that every two hours you are putting your puppy on the pad. The more you put your puppy on the potty pad, the less chance of mistakes there will be.
Finally, just because there is a potty pad available doesn't mean that your dog will know to use it every single time. Don't give your puppy free access thinking it will "know better." If you find your puppy making mistakes, you should reduce its freedom in the house so mistakes are impossible to make.
