# Is this a Maltese or small dog trait???



## ConnieVa (May 9, 2005)

I am so confused about Tucker and his potty habits. First let me say I have been a dog trainer for years as well as have showed dogs for years in Obed. 

Now for the problem. Tucker is a crated dog, he has an indoor pee pad that sits in a pan like you put under a washing machine. My husband is retired so during the day when hubby is working in the computer room where the crate is he will let Tucker out of his crate. Tucker might lay at his feet, lay on a blanket on the floor or he might get in his crate. It is not a huge room so Hubby can keep an eye on him.

Sometimes hubby might go to the kitchen or to the great room to get something, Tucker will follow him. Here is what happened yesterday. Tucker followed hubby to the kitchen, he ran to get his ball for hubby to throw. Hubby threw the ball a couple times then got something to eat out of the fridge. Hubby went to the Greatroom to get the ball again and Tucker had pooped!!!! (greatroom and kitchen are attached) He is confined a lot. He has a pretty small area he can be loose in but only when we are with him. 

One day I was in the computer room with him and he was playing chewing on a bone. I left long enough to get a cup of coffee. (less than a min) When I came back he had pooped on the floor!!!

This morning I got up, went to the crate to let Tucker out. He went to the pee pad and peed. I was bringing up the computer and looked around and he pooped on the floor.!!!!! There seems to be no rime or reason for this. He gets treats for pooping in the pad. The pad was clean and no reason for him to poop on the floor. He will pee on the pad and then poop on the pad lots of times. I can't seem to break him.

I know I am not alone in this. I have talked to others that have the same problem. A friend of mine has two Malts. Malt #1 is 4 years old, goes outside to pee and poop. Malt #2 is one year old and she goes where ever she wants. She refuses to go outside and will go inside. She has a pee pad but will only pee on it one time and after that she goes on their carpet. Last night she was watching t.v. and her little Malt came right over and squated right in front of her. It's not just My Malt but others as well. 

I have talked to over 15 people that are having this problem. Anyone have any idea's as how to break this bad habit? 

Before you answer remember these are crated dogs and several of us are dog trainers. I have NEVER had this problem with any other breed and none of the people I have worked with training their dogs have had this problem. 

I am at my witts end over this problem. Any idea's? How many of you have this problem? Maybe those that have this problem and have corrected it can help the rest of us.


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## Deanna (Jan 14, 2005)

I have never had a dog that was as hard to train as Wilson. I read some where that the reason larger dogs are easier to housetrain is because they view the entire house as their den, while small breeds are so small their radius is smaller, giving them more options of places to go. However, Molly- who is a 3lb Papillon was completely potty trained by the time she was 7 months old. She has 2 accidents in the last 7 months, both were because it was around -37 outside, and she couldn't stay out long enough to totally finish. 

One reason he might not be pooping in his pee pad bin could be that the bin is too small? I know that if Wilson doesn't have a large enough area to do his poop squat/spin routine he won't go. 

My two go outside- so I don't know if this is an option for you but this is how we did it. 

For 2 weeks I took Wilson outside on his leash ONLY to go potty. I took him out morning, afternoon, 2x in the evening, and once before bed. He was ONLY allowed outside to potty, no playing and no walks for 2 weeks. At the end of that 2 weeks he was house broken- and has never had an accident again. I did the same thing with Molly. And as I said she has only had 2 accidents since. 

Good luck!


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## momtoboo (Jan 30, 2006)

I thinks it's a small dog problem, not a Maltese problem. Boo, my male, was easy to outside pottytrain. He's 100% trained & has never had an accident since before he was 6 mths old, he's now 3 1/2 yrs. old. Hannah my adopted retiree(5 yrs.old) is pottypad trained & does have occasional accidents.I've only had her about 3 mths & we're still working on it.She can go up to 2 weeks without an accident. I do have friends & family who have other toy breeds, Poms, Yorkies & Shitzus mostly & they are much worse than Hannah. I think if they are crated a lot or get confined to small areas for a long time, they never get the feeling that the whole house is their den. I noticed that Hannah will have "accidents" in rooms that she is rarely in, but not in the rooms we hang out in the most.In the beginning though, she would go on the floor in any room & right in front of us, with a pottypad only a foot away. I'd love to retrain Hannah to outside potty, but she's turning out to be quite stubborn about it & the weather has not co-operated at all this year.But she is much better about using the pad now, I'd say 95% pottypad trained. I noticed a big improvement when I put down a large hospital mattress pad, it's about twice the size of a puppypad & is washable.


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## Deanna (Jan 14, 2005)

> I think if they are crated a lot or get confined to small areas for a long time, they never get the feeling that the whole house is their den. I noticed that Hannah will have "accidents" in rooms that she is rarely in, but not in the rooms we hang out in the most.[/B]


I think you might be on to something! Mine are not crate trained, Molly is in a pen when we are not home, although we are working up to her being left out. In fact today is the first day that we are leaving her out for the whole day. 

I am interested to hear from those who have had a hard time with house training if they crate their furkids, and if they use potty pads, or outside, or a combo. 

I am always amazed and in awe of those who can potty pad and outdoor train- it just seemed to confuse Wilson and Molly.


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## ConnieVa (May 9, 2005)

First let me say Tucker's pee pad area is 31 x 31 so the space is not an issue. Most of the day he can been free in the computer room with my husband. That room is 12' x 20' so to me that is plenty of space. Most of the time he ends up laying in his crate while husband works. Tucker will still sometimes poop on the floor. Not often but sometimes.

Once my husband leaves the computer room if Tucker goes with him he then is in a room that is 18' by 40'. I think that is large enough for him to feel it's his den. When we leave or shower or go out or can't be around him he is crated. That still doesn't stop him from pooping when he feels like it. Most of the time he poo's on his pad. 

It can be clean and if he decides to poo on the floor he just does.

As far as outside goes. There are lots of buzzards, owls, and hawks in this area. Anytime I go out with him they show up out of no where. I have had them swoop down at me before so outside training is out of the question. Just this week we found 8 white chickens in our back field that had been carried from a neighbors chicken house to our field. The chicken house is 1/2 mile away. I am not willing to take that kind of chance.

As I said before, in all my years of dog training I have not run into this problem before.

He 90% ok but the other 10% is really confusing me.


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## jmm (Nov 23, 2004)

This is not a Maltese problem or a small dog problem...its a training problem. People just tend to let small dogs get away with it (you wouldn't let a 9 month old lab puppy do it). Your dog has too much freedom and is not yet consistent enough in his potty habits to handle it. DON'T let him out of your site. Put him on a schedule so you know you can give him freedom after he's gone potty. 
Any puppy I have in the house ONLY gets out to play after pottying where they're suppose to. And I go with them every time, even if its to the pee pad. And we go on a schedule.


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## Max & Rocky (May 20, 2004)

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I believe you are exactly right with your observation.



When I was on MO (the other Maltese website) and was giving advice on potty training, I would always advise people to use baby gates to restrict their Malts ability to roam in the house. If you are like us, you probably spend most of your time in 2 or 3 rooms, which means your Malt spends their time in the same rooms. Keep them out of the other rooms you use much less frequently and especially if these rooms have carpet where it is difficult even in the best of situations to totally get the scent of any accidents out.



You can over time do things to slowly introduce them to the "new" spaces. I have not done this for some time but our front room and dining room are rooms we do not use often. When I did try and introduce them to these new spaces, I got in a habit of taking a book in there and spending the entire evening there... thus insuring they spent time in these new spaces.



That did greatly help resolve our potting training accidents in these two rooms but I do have to say that even to this day, we will, maybe every month or two, have an accident in the front room if we allow them to roam to these spaces on their own.


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## louis' mom (Jul 7, 2006)

This is my first pet. I found Louis to be easy to train. He does have accidents occasionally (once every 5 or 6 months or so - he is now almost 4) - but they are usually due to a mistake that whoever is taking care of him has made. 

What I have found is, what goes in, must come out. If he goes on his regular walks, he goes when he goes on his walks and doesn't have accidents. If he doesn't go on his regular walks, then he may have accidents. Also depends on what he eats, if he only gets his food, no accidents and he eats regularly. If he is with my dad, he eats all day and basically has to go all day (i.e., no set time). He has had more accidents with my dad in the past year, then the entire time that I have had Louis.

I think activity makes him go as well, so if we want him to go, we take him for a walk, or my husband plays chase, fetch with him for 5 - 10 minutes then sends him outside and he usually goes. I have also heard people say that the smaller the dog, the smaller the bladder and everything else, so they can't hold things as long. Also, Louis tries to tell me if he has to go - he will pester me with barking and jumping until I take him outside. So maybe Louis isn't trained but it is me that is trained.









Good luck.


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## Deanna (Jan 14, 2005)

Yesterday I was chatting with Molly's breeder, she has always bred toy breeds and fosters rescues. I was mentioning this thread to her and how many of us have struggled, especially with our Maltese. Malts were the very first dogs she bred in the mid 1970s when she first started. 

Anyway, she said she does think part of it is the breed. We discussed how Malts do not have a keen sense of smell like some other breeds, she thinks thats part of it.

She asked me to share a tip with everyone, especially those who crate train or confine their furkids to a gated area. She said that if you are having potty training issues, put the dog on a leash (or if they will follow you thats ok too) and walk them all around the inside of your house- 2 times a day, she said pick weird areas like a hallway or any small area where your dog has accidents, to sit on the floor and play with them. She said this extends the area they see as their den. She said this, combined with a potty schedule, has always worked with her. 

As we discussed this I realized that when Wilson was having accidents it was always in the parts of the house that he is never in- the front entry way, the guest room, the laundry room. Same with Molly. 

Connie- it doesn't sound like this would help with the issues you are having.







When I started on that strict routine with Wilson I timed it so it was right when we were ripping up all the carpet and putting down new hardwood flooring. I washed the subfloor with bleach, and in the areas he had most of his accidents I painted the subfloor with a primer called Killz, that promised to cover up every single odor. Between the strict routine we kept and doing that- it solved our issues. 

How do you and your husband feel about changing all the flooring in your house??









Good luck!!!!


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## ConnieVa (May 9, 2005)

> Yesterday I was chatting with Molly's breeder, she has always bred toy breeds and fosters rescues. I was mentioning this thread to her and how many of us have struggled, especially with our Maltese. Malts were the very first dogs she bred in the mid 1970s when she first started.
> 
> Anyway, she said she does think part of it is the breed. We discussed how Malts do not have a keen sense of smell like some other breeds, she thinks thats part of it.
> 
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We have changed the flooring in the house. We leave the bedroom door closed so he won't go in there and pee. He thinks the carpet in the bedroom is his pee pad. SOFT.

As for the laminate/hardwood and tile floors. He will sneek in there if we are not looking and poop. The thing is HE knows BETTER. He has no problem going on the pee pad to poop. But if HE doesn't feel like it he will go on the hardwood or a 5'x7' rug in the Greatroom. It is not a fully carpeted room. It was wall to wall carpet but we took it out.




> This is my first pet. I found Louis to be easy to train. He does have accidents occasionally (once every 5 or 6 months or so - he is now almost 4) - but they are usually due to a mistake that whoever is taking care of him has made.
> 
> What I have found is, what goes in, must come out. If he goes on his regular walks, he goes when he goes on his walks and doesn't have accidents. If he doesn't go on his regular walks, then he may have accidents. Also depends on what he eats, if he only gets his food, no accidents and he eats regularly. If he is with my dad, he eats all day and basically has to go all day (i.e., no set time). He has had more accidents with my dad in the past year, then the entire time that I have had Louis.
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I will admit that is one problem I can't get my husband to agree with me on. He will leave his food down all day. I say, give him breakfast, if he doesn't eat take it up until dinner time and try again. Tucker needs to learn he needs to eat with we give it to him. Maybe it's my husband that needs training. Even at that, I am not sure Tucker will go where he is supposed to. Your thoughts???


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## Mollys humans (Apr 16, 2007)

This is one area that I am so thankful for......that we've been successful in. At nine months, Molly is completly housebroken. 

She runs loose in the house.........with a pet door in the door leading to the garage and one from the garage to the back yard. When we first put the pet doors in, we still took her out first thing in the morning and around noon and at the end of the day a couple of times. Eventually, she got use to the pet doors and started using them on her own.

At a point, we moved her food and water to the garage........then eventually outside. I think that also helped. Now she's good to go, even if we have to leave her all day......there's not a problem.


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## gottagettamaltee (Dec 1, 2005)

> We have changed the flooring in the house. We leave the bedroom door closed so he won't go in there and pee. He thinks the carpet in the bedroom is his pee pad. SOFT.
> 
> As for the laminate/hardwood and tile floors. He will sneek in there if we are not looking and poop. The thing is HE knows BETTER. He has no problem going on the pee pad to poop. But if HE doesn't feel like it he will go on the hardwood or a 5'x7' rug in the Greatroom. It is not a fully carpeted room. It was wall to wall carpet but we took it out.
> 
> I will admit that is one problem I can't get my husband to agree with me on. He will leave his food down all day. I say, give him breakfast, if he doesn't eat take it up until dinner time and try again. Tucker needs to learn he needs to eat with we give it to him. Maybe it's my husband that needs training. Even at that, I am not sure Tucker will go where he is supposed to. Your thoughts???[/B]


this has been the first time i trained a dog to go on peepads. i thought bentley was pottytrained after the first month and a half. after about a month or two, he started having accidents, not reallya ccidents, but it was like he did it on purpose. he'd go potty on the carpet then he'd go hide from me and when i'd find his accidents, he'd give me a look like "i did it, please don't be mad" but i think it was all because i gave him too much space. i started confining him to the bathroom only for a few days, i put a peepad down in there and i left his food in there and his bed. then i started taking him outside to go potty. i did this for a good week of only the bathroom and outside to potty. he goes outside and if im not home he uses the peepad. but he still stays in the bathroom. i let him in the other rooms to play, but unsupervised, hes in the bathroom. 
now as far as the food part goes, i switched to NB food and he didnt like it and wouldn't eat until night time! so i started picking the dish up at around 6 or 7 if he didnt eat all of it. and let me tell ya, now when i put his dish down he eats half of it and eats half later on because if i pick it up for the night, then hes gonna be starving. 
i hope this helps you! i had a hard time and was telling myself that i had him trained, there must be some other reason why he is doing this. i posted here for help and everyone said to pottytrain again like he's a new puppy and its working. im still afraid to let him out for free run of the house but no accidents so far since i started retraining him. good luck


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## camfan (Oct 30, 2006)

I'd say start from scratch DON'T let him out of your sight--just like you wouldn't let a toddler out of your sight nearby an inground swimming pool while you run in to get a cup of coffee. You can't leave any margins for accidents. Or keep him crated and ONLY let him out to pee/poop and then right back in the crate. Really, the only way to train or retrain is to start from ground zero. It's hard work, time consuming, etc. 

We never had a problem with Ollie. Got him at 12 weeks old and I swear a month later he was completely housebroken. He is my first dog.

If there's certain rooms he's ordinarily not in he may not recognize that as part of his den yet and doesn't see why he shouldn't pee/poop there. He should only be allowed in those areas when you're with him or keep them gated off.

Also consider things like is the pad big enough--you say it is but if he pees on it first but does not have enough room to circle again to poop without getting his feet on the pee, then it makes sense that he's going poop elsewhere. Also make sure the pads are not too close to where he sleeps--they should be at least 6 feet away. Once a dog is old enough to know better they won't want to poop/pee anywhere near their bed.

As far as WHEN he eats being a factor, I don't think it matters--Ollie has always been free fed.

Good luck!!



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I would NEVER let a little dog go all day long without food--you're asking for some serious hypoglycemia probs. Ollie is a good, solid boy and there's been a few times where he didn't eat right away in the morning and a few hours later he'd dry heave from not eating. I highly recommend free freeding. Many people on the forum here do.


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## Lacie's Mom (Oct 11, 2006)

I had to completely retrain Tilly when we returned from our trip to Egypt. She had been upset when we were gone and started doing her potties in the house even though we have a doggie door and she had been trained and going outdoors for months.

It took about 3-4 days of refresher training, but now she's back on schedule. Lacie has always been perfect at using the doggie door, but here in NM and when she was a baby in California.


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## Joey's Mom2 (Aug 24, 2004)

I really appreciate everyone who contributed to this thread because Fendi is also crate trained. I also have a VERY difficult time potty training her. For the first six months of her life, we were in a bigger apartment, and she had accidents pretty frequently. We moved to a smaller (however, much cozier!) apartment and she has had less accidents. 

I have come to the conclusion that it MUST be because she didn't see the first apartment as her den since there were rooms she was not allowed in yet because she ALWAYS pooped there. This makes so much sense, and maybe now I can get her to NOT have accidents PERIOD.


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## LitGal (May 15, 2007)

I'm so glad we're having this discussion. My malt was initially difficult to housetrain (I've housetrained other dogs with much more ease). At about 4.5 months she was well trained (she uses pads). Then when she was 6 months I moved and her training deteriorated completely, and it took about a month to get things back to normal. 

She's now over a year and I leave her losoe in the condo when I'm not home - she's never had an accident when left alone. Occasionally, when I am home, she'll have an accident in the house. It's as if she sometimes forgets where she's supposed to go, then she resumes her normal potty habits. I've never had this happen with other dogs.

She also is very picky about the cleanliness of her pads - after two pees, the pad must be changed or she won't use it.

I find it interesting that so many people have issues with housetraining these dogs.


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## Princess D (May 16, 2007)

> I'm so glad we're having this discussion. My malt was initially difficult to housetrain (I've housetrained other dogs with much more ease). At about 4.5 months she was well trained (she uses pads). Then when she was 6 months I moved and her training deteriorated completely, and it took about a month to get things back to normal.
> 
> She's now over a year and I leave her losoe in the condo when I'm not home - she's never had an accident when left alone. Occasionally, when I am home, she'll have an accident in the house. It's as if she sometimes forgets where she's supposed to go, then she resumes her normal potty habits. I've never had this happen with other dogs.
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I am glad that this topic was brought up. I am going to change my training methods. I am going to put Diego with his crate and puppy pad in the front foyer gated off with a baby gate during the day when I am away and whenever he is unsupervised and try the method of taking him out in the morning, 2x in the afternoon, after dinner and before bedtime. I am hoping to be able to housetrain him well, but I am not too confident in my ability. Wish me luck.

Can someone tell me how you get the tickers onto your signatures? I created one, but cannot get it to apply on my postings automatically.

Thanks For All the Help


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## LitGal (May 15, 2007)

To get the ticker on the signature, you click on "My Controls" near the top of the screen, then click on "edit signature". Then cut and paste the url (or whatever) into your signature and it should automatically appear on all of your posts. Good luck.


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## Snowflake's mom (May 18, 2007)

My Snowflake was very difficult to train. It took almost 3 months, and I work at home, so I was there with her all the time. But now, she's completely trained and doesn't have accidents unless we're somewhere where another dog has peed on the carpet. Once in a while, she'll pee in that same spot. 

Here is what I did. When I wasn't home, I crated her (never more than 2-3 hours at the beginning). When I was home, I kept her on a short lease tethered to me or to a table leg right next to me. She had about 6 feet in diameter. I took her and sat her on the pad every 2 hours. She's still pee on the floor, but not while she was leashed. I NEVER free fed her. I gave her 3 meals a day (until she was 6 months old - then we backed down to 2 a day), at approximately the same time each day. I gave her water every 2 hours. That way, I could predict her toilet needs a little better. Right after eating or drinking, we'd go to the pad. I used one of those clickers from Petsmart and treated her EVERY time she pottied on the pad. I also made a really big deal of it, praising her, tickling her, etc. She eventually figured it out. For a while, I tried keeping her in a small pen in the living room with a liner under it, but she consistently peed in the pen, so I gave that up. 

I laugh at the training books that say to grab your puppy when he starts to go and move him to the pad. Snowflake could squat, pee, and empty her bladder in about 2 seconds!

I really don't like it







when people tell me about their dog being trained in only a few days. <grin>

Now she has the run of a 1500 sq foot condo even when I'm not home. She has wee wee pads on the main floor and upstairs. I travel with her a great deal. When we get to a hotel room, I get out a pad immediately when we arrive, put it otu with a flourish, and call her over to it. She circles on it, sometimes christens it, and then does not have accidents in the hotel room, even when she's alone all day. I also use them at airports after flights. I don't expect her to hold it, so we go find a quiet place as soon as we get off the plane to let her potty.

I hope that this helps somewhat. I know how incredibly frustrating it can be. I wondered if I'd ever get her trained.


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## Eddie's Mama (Jun 10, 2007)

This may sound really stupid but what is meant when you say my dog is a crate dog? or is created?









Eddie took a couple of months to train, he's all good now.


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## trvlnut (Sep 14, 2008)

To OP:
Did you ever get your Malt trained?


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## Nikki's Mom (Feb 13, 2008)

Nikki is 13 month old. She has always been inside potty pad trained. She was crate trained for about 1 month. Now she has the full run of the apartment all the time. She sleeps in our bed. She hasn't had a pee accident in a long time, and she's never had a poop accident. 

I have NEVER left food down/out for her all day. I feed her twice a day. In between, she'll get some small training treats (organic cheerios) and an occasional piece of apple or veg. She has NEVER had hypoglycemia. 

So I am not sure that it is a Maltese problem. I think all dogs are different and although breed types do share some characteristics, I don't know how much you can generalize


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## biancasmom (Jun 24, 2008)

QUOTE (trvlnut @ Dec 2 2008, 12:25 AM) index.php?act=findpost&pid=681052


> To OP:
> Did you ever get your Malt trained?[/B]


yes I am curious to know if Tucker ever became potty trained.. 

I really think it depends on the dog.. and not the training method.. because with bianca.. when i got her from the breeder she was already pee pad trained.. and she is soo good about it!! if she has to go she will run right to the pee pad and go. She has never had an accident (knock on wood) The only time that its been bad is if she is squatting over the pee pad and her 2 feet are on the pad.. but her rear end is hanging off the pad.. and then she went on the carpet.. I dont blame her for that though, because i think she still feels she is on the pad then.. I fixed that problem but putting 2 pads together.. the other thing that does happen sometimes is when she is going #2.. if some of it gets stuck in her fur.. she will run to me for help and as she is running, it might go flying off on the carpet.. but again thats not her fault

when im not home i keep her in a playpen with a pee pad at the end of it.. .. she only recently discovered that she can go outside too.. but i dont take her out too often because i live in an apartment with a lot of dogs and its kind of gross out there..

now my previous dog was a Pomeranian.. Over the 11 years i had her.. i had to have the carpet replaced in at least 3 apartments if not more.. she went EVERYWHERE!! she was crate trained and sometimes she would even go in her crate! now she was not pee pad trained.. i took her out everytime she had to go.. and she would circle and circle and circle.. sometimes taking 5 minutes or more just to pee. 

I honestly do not know what it takes to train a dog.. im lucky with bianca (again knock on wood)

janie


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## cloey70 (Jan 6, 2008)

QUOTE (ConnieVa @ Apr 16 2007, 05:27 PM) index.php?act=findpost&pid=364848


> First let me say Tucker's pee pad area is 31 x 31 so the space is not an issue. Most of the day he can been free in the computer room with my husband. That room is 12' x 20' so to me that is plenty of space. Most of the time he ends up laying in his crate while husband works. Tucker will still sometimes poop on the floor. Not often but sometimes.
> 
> Once my husband leaves the computer room if Tucker goes with him he then is in a room that is 18' by 40'. I think that is large enough for him to feel it's his den. When we leave or shower or go out or can't be around him he is crated. That still doesn't stop him from pooping when he feels like it. Most of the time he poo's on his pad.
> 
> ...


I am telling u males like to spread their wealth everywhere. Clifford use to be litterbox trained, but the box wasn't big enough, and switched to outside, and now is about 95 percent trained. I just feel no matter how big the pad is, when it comes to pooping they like a large space to circle in and check out. Clifford spreads his glory all over the back yard and NEVER in one spot. So, seriously a 31x31 tray still won't be big enough. Some males don't like the confinement of a tray to poop in. They like to do the pooping thing in various areas. I am so glad I switched to outside, its so much easier.


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## wolfieinthehouse (Dec 14, 2007)

I have no clue what scoop is.

Wolfie has a problem with it (pooping on the sly indoors).

A small dog I had years ago did too. She was a long hair chihuahua mix. 

I never totally broke her of the habit.

I never, knock on wood had issues with other dogs.


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