I have a three month old chihuahua/terrier mix. She was potty trained from the day I got her to go on those wee-wee pads. But then one day she decided to be "unpotty trained". She now picks and chooses when she goes on there. I want to get rid of the pads and teach her to go outside. The only problem is I live on the third floor of an apartment building, plus I work three days a week for about 5 hours. I want to get her trained to go out on the patio for now so when I'm not home she can walk out there to a certain area and go. What's the best way to go about training her to do so? And instead of having her just go on the patio what could I put down to let her know to go her? but I do also want her to be trained to tell me when she needs to go potty so when we go other places I won't have to worry about it. Obviously I'm new at this whole potty training thing, just need some good solid advice.
Answers & Comments
Verified answer
Have you tried "crate training" your dog? (Using a pet taxi or crate to kennel her in when you cannot be there to monitor her) If you want her to use the restroom ONLY outside and no longer on the "pads", stick with taking her out frequently and rewarding her for positive behavior. Don't confuse her with having the pads and attempting to train her to go outdoors. Whichever training method you decide to use, you need to stick with it and not sway back and forth.
Everytime she wakes up from a nap or eats or if you see her starting to squat scoop her up and take her to the patio. Don't let her go back in until she pees or poops. When she does praise her like crazy. She should learn this is the place to go pretty soon Good Luck
I potty trained my dog pretty fast by putting up a barrier around my doggy door. I only left enough room for his bed, his food bowl, & water bowl. I put a few toys on his bed to keep him entertained.
They don't like to pee or poo in the area they hang out in so it forces them to walk out the doggy door or a cracked door/sliding door to go outside & when they're done...they can just walk back inside & hang out again.
They eventually get the point that they have to pee or poo outside only!!!
I would do this everytime you leave the house & at night if she's also doing it at night. Give it a month just to make sure & see how well she does...then you can get rid of the barrier & she'll know to go outside always. If she untrains herself again....put the barrier back up. PS: She'll probably hate it & cry like crazy but just let her get used to it.
Barrier can be a small doggy fence or chairs...or whatever to keep her contained in a small area.
you cant try to put the pads outside on your patio, or
every time she goes on the pads in the house drag it
outside and show her that thats where she needs to go.
be consistant!