# Housetraining Question



## kristin06 (Mar 18, 2006)

Hi. I have been member of this forum for a little while, learning all I can about the Maltese breed. I am about to get my puppy (little boy) this weekend. I've just about gotten everything together. I have a question about the best way to start housebreaking. 

I'm going to get my little boy on the weekend and I'll be off of work for the first couple of days, but I work an 8 hour day. I plan to come home everyday at lunch (after 4 hours) to take him out and give him some exercise. But, while I'm at work, I plan to put him in the kitchen with a gate and puppy pads. I want to use the crate method when I am off and in the evenings. How do I go about mixing both the crate and pen training. Will he get used to the pads and not going outside? And how do you get them used to using pads ? How do you alternate between the two successfully?

Hopefully all that made sense... I appreciate all the help I can get.


----------



## KimKarr (Feb 4, 2006)

Hi Kristin and welcome. I bet you are so excited about your new little one. 

I'll be anxious to hear what others have to say about this. There's lots of great help on this forum. We're doing the same thing with Noelle and, to be truthful, it's not working out real well - YET. She does use her pads about 90% of the time when she is in her "suite" behind the gate during the day, and she will go when she's outside -- it's just the rest of the time when she's in other parts of the house that she doesn't know to ask to go out to or to use a pad that isn't in her pen. I feel like we're confusing her by trying to use the pads and take her outside.









What's your new little guy's name?


----------



## kristin06 (Mar 18, 2006)

That's what my concerns are... confusing him with pads and outside. But I know I don't want to crate him for 4 whole hours.. wish I could just take off for a couple of months...lol

I haven't decided on a name for him yet... I'm hoping I'll come up with one by this weekend.


----------



## hambys97 (Feb 25, 2005)

I can't offer much advice, but would recommend picking one method and sticking with it. And I wish you best of luck, and CONGRATULATIONS!!!
Pictures as soon as possible please.


----------



## momtoboo (Jan 30, 2006)

I agree with Hambys about it being best to stick with one method.I think I confused Boo at first.I was crate training & using puppy pads.When he didn't seem to pick up on it,I would try something different.Poor little Boo thought area rugs were puppy pads & I moved them around so much trying to get him to use them,that he thought it was ok to go anywhere.I finally made my decision to outdoor potty train only using the crate training method,stuck to the guidelines & had him trained very quickly.I was lucky that I only worked part-time & was only gone 4 or 5 hrs at a time.The longer you have to stay away,the harder it is to potty train a puppy.It's just not humane to lock a puppy in a crate for 8 or 10 hrs & expect them to hold it.In that case leaving them in a gated area with puppy pads is much better for the puppy.Some people have been able to train to both the puppy pad & outside,but it didn't work for me at all.


----------



## LMJ (Feb 16, 2006)

I would suggest spritzing the middle of the pad with some ammonia for a few weeks. Urine has ammonia in it and it will tell your puppy that he has peed there before. This made pad training a breeze for me. I also work and gated Jeffery with toys, bed, pad and water only during the day. When I was home, I took him out every 45 minutes at first. 

Now he holds it all night and all day. I haven't woke up or come home to a wet pad in months. Also, you can control his poop by the feed schedule. I feed Jeffery twice per day and he only poops twice per day. he does this in the am before I leave for work and in the evening when I come home.

I had a hard time having Jeffery in a crate while I was home. I wanted him out so we could play with him, so this method didn't work for me. I just took him outside very often at first.


----------



## Guest (May 4, 2006)

Hi Kristin, You are going to be a busy person when you get your "buddy". I will tell you what we do with our 2 yr old "Tucker", and previous "Fritz". I know nothing about pads, diapers etc. They must be good or people would not use them. We have always trained our dogs, all breeds to go potty outside. Yes it is a problem in inclement weather, but it works for us. When "Tucker was a pup, he would go in the house anyplace he wanted, from day 1. As soon as we saw him do it, we had a rolled up newspaper and gently swatted him on the rear and Sternly said "NO"!. We then took him outside on a leash and stood there with him. Sometimes he went again, sometimes not. If he went, we praised him with a pat on the head, bought him in and gave hin a treat. (a pece of dog food) If he did not go we bought him in and he got nothing. Doing this requires a great deal of time and effort. After a couple of weeks + or - ! he caught on and has been good. Now the question about the crate. When we go away he is put in his crate which he likes, with the door closed. If he is in there after 8 hrs, he may wet, As soon as we come home we let him out and if he has wet in his cage hed does not get hollored at. 8 hrs is a long time to hold it! Even now every time he goes out and hten comes in, he gets a treat. Guess he has us trained! We leave the crate in our living room with the door open. When he gets tired he will go in by himself and take a nap. We do not close the door, that may make him feel punished or he may think we are going away. Training him at night was a problem. We always let him out just before we go to bed. In the beginning we put him in his crate in the kitchen. He barked quite often, we did not sleep well. Then we put him in his cage in our bedroom. Same barking. We then put him in bed with us and everything was fine. Hesleeps better than we do! We have to lift him up onto the bed, and lift him down. The bed is too high for him to jump on and off and do not want him to get hurt. That is what we do. It work with us. Other people have other ways of training their dogs, it works for them. What ever it takes, I wish you well. Malteses are full of love and energy. Hope you enjoy.


----------



## wagirl98665 (Jan 5, 2006)

Again with this rolled up newspaper crap! Richard the only posts I see you reply to are the potty taining ones, why is that? And why do you always suggest the same thing, Rolled Up Newspaper? You know most of the people on here disagree with the hitting issue, but you still continue to advise people to hit their dogs. I don't care if it's called lightly tapping as you put it because in my opinion it's still a form of hitting and another word for it would be "Dog Abuse". I'm beginning to think that you do this on purpose to upset people, but this will be the last time I address this issue with you. From reading your entire post it sounds like your a good dad to Tucker, other then the newspaper thing. I'm not picking on you, I just can't, don't and won't agree with hitting these sensitive, delicate little guys with rolled up newspaper. It's WRONG!


----------



## MellieMel (Mar 11, 2006)

> Again with this rolled up newspaper crap! Richard the only posts I see you reply to are the potty taining ones, why is that? And why do you always suggest the same thing, Rolled Up Newspaper? You know most of the people on here disagree with the hitting issue, but you still continue to advise people to hit their dogs.[/B]


I have to say, I'm very new here and in fact am still waiting for my soon-to-be puppy to be born. However I agree with Mikeysmom. Richard you ONLY post about potty training. It seems like you really love your puppy, so why is this the only issue you feel interested in, or experienced enough to post on? Each time you do it there are several posts disagreeing with your choice, which is acceptable and common in a forum- but you never seem to back up your logic, and you never seem to elaborate on your other puppy-raising methods.

Honestly, I'd be happier if you just linked your next potty post to another thread instead of posting your long-winded newspaper advice over and over again. At least that way I wouldn't have to read it in every potty training post there is.


----------



## Scoobydoo (May 26, 2005)

> > index.php?act=findpost&pid=185560
> 
> 
> 
> ...


I wasn't even going to comment on this but it also annoys me that if a person knows that such a post is going to cause contraversy, which I think must be copied and pasted every time as it is identical each time it's posted, my thought is to ignore it completely and disregard such advice. None of us want to keep reading about how a tiny little Malt is tapped with a rolled up newspaper. Intimidation and instilling fear is absolutely no way to train any animal. The comment I would really like to make about that rolled up newpaper is inappropriate to put here in the forum.


----------



## jmm (Nov 23, 2004)

Is he 3 months old already? If so then 4 hours is fine for being crated. You can definitely cause some confusion doing both though many have success. I train just to pads and once they've got that down encourage pottying outdoors.


----------



## I found nemo (Feb 23, 2006)

Richard,

I just had a quick question for you..? When you cocky in your pants does your wife smack you on the but with a rolled up newspaper?.....Just curious.



Andrea~


----------



## Deanna (Jan 14, 2005)

I totally disagree with richard's view on discipline, however I don't think it is at all necessary to personally attack him. Instead, why not offer to supply him with information on why using physical discipline is not suggested? 

The rude, crude and immature post leaves a nasty taste in my mouth and reflects badly on this community.


----------



## I found nemo (Feb 23, 2006)

Sorry, I do not mean to offend you or anyone else. But when the same answer is giving over and over and over again, I get a little birdie in my ear that tells me he does not want to be educated on this topic. As others have tried to do..


Thanks,
Andrea

PS... As you can see I changed my words...


----------



## MissMelanie (Feb 13, 2006)

> Again with this rolled up newspaper crap! Richard the only posts I see you reply to are the potty taining ones, why is that? And why do you always suggest the same thing, Rolled Up Newspaper? You know most of the people on here disagree with the hitting issue, but you still continue to advise people to hit their dogs. I don't care if it's called lightly tapping as you put it because in my opinion it's still a form of hitting and another word for it would be "Dog Abuse". I'm beginning to think that you do this on purpose to upset people, but this will be the last time I address this issue with you. From reading your entire post it sounds like your a good dad to Tucker, other then the newspaper thing. I'm not picking on you, I just can't, don't and won't agree with hitting these sensitive, delicate little guys with rolled up newspaper. It's WRONG![/B]


 OHHHHH I SO agree with you on this "tapping with newspaper" crap.

Again we have to hear about this. I thought he might have gotten the message the last time he posted about it but oddly enough he sure didn't. SHAME.

Melanie


----------



## 3Maltmom (May 23, 2005)

> Richard,
> 
> I just had a quick question for you..? When you cocky in your pants does your wife smack you on the but with a rolled up newspaper?.....Just curious.
> 
> ...


























Good One...


----------



## I found nemo (Feb 23, 2006)

> > index.php?act=findpost&pid=187084
> 
> 
> 
> ...
























HAHAHAHA... At least some people have a sense of humor!!!


Andrea~


----------

