8 month old potty problems

[yyzt4e]

Hi all, new Maltese owner here. We have a 8 month old maltese that decided to start relieving himself wherever he wants in the house. We live in a upper apartment in the snowbelt so we decided to pad train in the house. I think we have been giving him a bit more freedom to roam. we usually crate him at night and let him out in the morning to potty on his pad in the kitchen and let him free. I am going to assume that this is probably not a good thing and is why he is doing what he wants now. Any and all help would be appreciated. Thank you in advance.

[Yogi's Mom]

I Think You Are Right-You will get great advice here-iam new also.

I Have Alot of Potty issues with Yogi-So My Advice Would Not Be Good--I Did It All Wrong From The Get Go* Its Been Hard.
Read These Post And I Do Wish You GoodLuck-It Will Be All Worth It.
Nickee&Yogi in Pa!====Oh Yogi Is 9mo Old So You Have A Way To Go. Hang In There.

Remenber Puppys Dont Make Mistakes/We Do.

[Summergirl73]

I'm afraid you'll likely need to start back with potty training 101. Confinement, schedules, rewards etc. There are some great threads through the search section that can help you with that. You'll also want to be sure to get ALL of the urine stains and odors up to reduce returning to those potty spots. Good luck!

[IvysMom]

Hi and welcome! I am relatively new to this site too; there are lots of great people here who will try to help.

First off, has he been neutered yet? If not, that may be a big part of your problem. He is hitting puberty which tells boy doggies that it is time to mark, mark, mark and pee everywhere. If he has not yet been neutered, I would definitely get that done as soon as possible - this week - before instinct turns into ingrained habit that will be very hard to break. Plus, unless you are REALLY cleaning every soiled area with an enzymatic cleaner that leaves no trace of odor (to him, not you), he will continue to return to those same areas because they smell like a proper potty place to him.

Don't give him free run of the house where he can be out of your site. Easily movable baby gates are a lifesaver so you can keep him confined to whatever room you are in at the moment. The moment he starts sniffing, immediately move him to his pad. Pick one word to mean pottying and say it every time you take him to his pad and particularly when he is using his pad so that he learns the meaning of the word. Make your voice sound happy when you use the word when he's on the pad so that he doesn't develop a negative feeling toward pottying where he's supposed to. Most of all, lavish him with praise when he goes in the right place. Don't punish him when he goes in the wrong place, just take him to where he should have gone. It is ok to use a lower tone voice - but not loudly, just sounding sad and disappointed - "oh dear no-no" - as you clean it up. I find letting them watch me clean it up helps them learn more quickly that this was a no-no. They lie there next to me watching me, looking sad and worried. But I don't make a big deal about it.

If neutering, always keeping him confined to the room you are in and in sight, cleaning oops areas thoroughly, and being VERY consistent in taking him to his pad on a regular schedule still fails to work, there are belly bands and doggie diapers for boy doggies that will protect your home. But obviously training him in proper house manners would be far preferable.

Good luck and let us know how the training goes!

[Leila'sMommy]

Welcome!! Ivysmom gave you some good advise. Don't give up...he can be trained. I have potty pad trained Leila and for the most part, she does great. Every once in awhile she thinks she's on the pad because her feet are. But her back end may be hanging off and it gets on the floor instead. Oh well, I just clean it up because she thinks she's got it in the right spot. She doesn't like to use a pad more than twice. So make sure to change them frequently and if you aren't going to be home for awhile to be able to do that, make sure to set out more than one. I can actually get Leila to go pee pee potty on command most of the time. That comes in handy if we are about to go somewhere with her because it'll hold her for a bit.


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[Ladysmom]

Has he been neutered? If not, he is probably marking his territory.

[Zoe's Mom88]

I agree with the others, if he isn't neutered this is what male dogs do....they mark their territory.

[Yogi's Mom]

Ivys Mom That Was Great--Please come to Yogis house and train him--done all of the above--He eats The PeePee Pads--Might Need a belly Band. Love This Post

[IvysMom]

LOL! That's why I gave up on the piddle pads. Ivy thought dragging them around the house shaking them was lots of fun, even though we have a little tray that the pads were supposed to stay in. It wasn't really a problem for us though because from the beginning we trained her to go outside instead and now she wouldn't think of using a piddle pad and only goes outside. Her breeder also did a wonderful job with her and she came to us 95% house trained and has only had 3 oooops since we got her, two on the first day when I hadn't gotten accustomed to her signals of communication yet. Days like today - heavy rain that has now turned to freezing rain that is turning to ice on every surface - I wish that she would use the piddle pads again! But nope, she insists on going outside.

I do think that it is much more difficult to house train boy dogs than girl dogs. I think most girl doggies are naturally more fastidious while he-man boy doggies want everyone to know where their territory is and are proud to have their turf smelling like them. But with absolute consistency of training and perseverence, little boys will learn too, as long as they are neutered. If they are not neutered, well, there are lots of cute belly bands on the market these days.

[nwyant1946]

What is a belly band?????