# Training Problem



## Wanda (Oct 2, 2007)

Hello,

My name is Wanda and I just joined today. I really love this community and this is my 3rd post already. I've been looking for a community like this one.

Anyway, my problem. I have a soon to be 8 month old by the name of Casper. When I first trained him to pads, he did so well. Then, I had to move his pads to another area and I've had problems every since. He will go to the pad and pee sometimes but then goes someplace else to pooh. Sometimes he doesn't use the pads at all. Sometimes he does do both on the pads. I went back to the same training routine and immediately afterwards he does good for a couple of days and then it's back to the on and off routine.

Any suggestions?

Wanda...


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## ShilohsMom (Jun 25, 2007)

I don't have any suggestions as my dog potties outside but I am sure you will get alot of helpful advice as many here use the pads. Good luck and you have come to the right place.


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## jmm (Nov 23, 2004)

You changed the rules on him, so now he's not sure. Go back to the very basics like he was a brand new puppy. Take him there to potty every time and reward him. Restrict him so that he is only out when you are actively watching him and he has recently gone to the bathroom. Stick to a schedule for feeding, potty time, playing, etc.


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## Wanda (Oct 2, 2007)

Hi JMM,

I've done exactly that at least twice and it works for a couple of day or so and then it's like he forgets again. I guess I need to continue to do it until he always remembers.

Thanks for the advice.

Wanda Love...


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## jmm (Nov 23, 2004)

> Hi JMM,
> 
> I've done exactly that at least twice and it works for a couple of day or so and then it's like he forgets again. I guess I need to continue to do it until he always remembers.
> 
> ...



Wanda, how could he forget if he doesn't have the freedom to make a mistake? Your job is to prevent him from having an opportunity to make a mistake. He should not get freedom after 2 days of consistency. You need WEEKS of consistency first. Dogs learn by reward, repitition, and consistency. You cannot expect them to master something as detailed as house training in a matter of days.


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## Wanda (Oct 2, 2007)

That's true, the first time I trained him for 3 weeks and he was perfect until I moved his pads, then I trained him for 1 week the next two times so since that hasn't worked, I'll go back to the 3 week training or more if needed.

My question now is I'm about to get another maltese that is 6 months old. I don't believe she is house trained. Do you think it will be difficult to train them both? I haven't had two dogs at the same time since I was a kid. My last dog was a Schnauzer and he died at the age of 19 which was about 3 years ago. My husband and my boys trained him.

Wanda...


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## Max & Rocky (May 20, 2004)

> Do you think it will be difficult to train them both?[/B]


Possibly. It depends on lot on how consistent you are with your training routine over the space of weeks, how well you clean up when accidents do occur, and it depends where the new dog is with respect to potty training.

As the other poster has pointed out, you can not consider them trained by their just not having any accidents for a few days.

If you watch how a group of dogs behave... I can't help but refer to my family of five dogs... Rocky and Snowy have this routine where one of them will pee, then the other one will walk over and sniff the area... then the first one will go back and essentially pee over the top of the last one. :smpullhair: I guess the two of them are having a little competition for dominance where the other three seem to just go do it... (even though they will sniff around), they don't seem to be engaged in the competitive aspects of peeing... :new_shocked: 

Anyway... if you have two and they are having problems and do this inside, then you will be compounding your problems by the addition of a second dog.

The behavior of other dogs will be very important in how the new dog behaves. When we recently added Snowy and Gordo, they were not well house broken and we had quite a few accidents in the first few days. However, they quickly adjusted to the new routine simply because they will tend to do what the other 3 were doing.


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## wooflife (Aug 8, 2007)

As they've said before - repitition repitition repitition. If you add another dog stick to the same repitition for both. Also if you want to be able to move the potty pad around make sure that you move it little bit every day so that they associate going potty with the pad and not with the location of the pad. 

Leslie


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## jmm (Nov 23, 2004)

Dogs do tend to model their behaviors after other dogs in the house. This is the reason I highly recommend not adding another dog until your first is trained exactly how you want them. Good behaviors rub off, too. A good general estimation is 12+ months. Just remember you will need to put in a little extra work. 

Since your new pup will likely follow your older pup, I would be very strict and consistent with both of them for a good long time (a month or so). Then SLOWLY add small amounts of freedom (laundry room to kitchen, slowly expanding). 

Another suggestion is to be sure they each have time alone with you and each get worked with in obedience individually. This is an important part of building their relationships with you instead of depending on each other. I've even kept dogs crated in two different rooms.


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