# How do you train to go "on cue"...



## preciouspups (Apr 13, 2008)

...if your dogs use pee pads and have access to them day and night. My boys are 100% reliable using their piddle pad to go potty, but they only use them when "it's their idea to go". At times, it would be so helpful for them to go potty on cue...like before going out in the car. Every time I catch them in the act on their on, I will say "go potty" and then praise & treat. But so far that has not helped. When I take them to their piddle pad myself and say "go potty", they just look at me and usually sit or lie down or try to walk away. Btw, my two have never gone potty outside (I would like them to.) even on walks. As we walk, I'll stop and say "go potty" but again they just stare & wait until I walk again. As soon as we come inside from our walk, they make a mad dash to their piddle pad. So I know they had to go. 

Any suggestions would be appreciated!


----------



## jmm (Nov 23, 2004)

Start like they were new pups and they only get access to the potty area when you take them on a leash. Yet another one of the problems you encounter when dogs are left to their own devices for potty time.


----------



## Myah's mom (May 19, 2010)

Myah will go on her pad when I take her to it. But she will never potty outside. I do not believe she has ever gone potty outside. I put her in the grass, on sidewalk, in mulch. when we go for walks she will not go. I even took her pad outside. nope. I tried to get her potty on the fire hydrant LOl she would not do it.


----------



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

Nikki goes on command when we need her to. 

When she was a puppy, if we'd see her head toward her potty pad, We'd say "go pee-pee" as soon as she got there, and while she was going. I repeated the process every time I saw her go toward her potty pad. 

Now if we are going somewhere or it's bedtime, I'll say "Go pee-pee" and she runs to her potty pad and goes. (Only if she has to go. If she doesn't, she walks over to her potty pad, and then looks at me like I'm crazy....lol)


----------



## llf060787 (Nov 19, 2007)

Our Bianca wouldn't pee outside until she turned 2. She now uses both the pee pads at home and goes on the grass outside, they both do.

Both our girls pee on command we use the "do pee-pee" and "do ca-ca" words. We trained them this way since they were pups. We would make a big deal of it after they peed with excited words and clapping and treats (for both of course even though only one of them did it).

They now go as they need to during the day but when we need to go out I tell them to "do pee-pee" and they pee. Same thing when we go up to bed. I take them to the downstairs pee pads and tell them to "do pee-pee so we can do nonnies" and they both pee to get ready for bed. If Bitsy doesn't need to go then she'll lay on top of the peed pad. At that point I will take her upstairs and bring her to the pee pad in the upstairs bathroom and give it another try since she's still little. Bianca who will be 4 next month all I have to do is tell her its time for "nonnies" and she walks to the pee pad herself and then heads up the stairs. Bitsy is only 9 months old and she needs a little more encouragement. 

Of course it will take some time, use your commands words over and over again, before, during and after the act so they to associate the words to the action. Just keep at it, they'll get the hang of it.


----------



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

Nikki will also pee on command outside when we are traveling. She always gets a treat afterward.


----------



## silverhaven (Sep 6, 2009)

Lola is like Nikki for this. I did the same thing too. I keep it up now by at night saying go pee and she runs to her pad and goes pee pretty much every time, even if it is dime sized lol. She also has no issues with going on command outside in the grass. When she was tiny I just took her out early morning with a full bladder and told her go pee, and had treats handy.


----------



## momtoboo (Jan 30, 2006)

I didn't have any problems training Boo to pee on command.I just said the word & praised him each time. He picked up on it real quickly. Hannah was a different story. It took her a while to catch on. Since she was already 4 yrs old & pottypad trained, she refused to go outside. I just kept trying using the same method. Now she will potty outside if she needs too,but she still prefers her pottypads. She will now pee on command,but only if she has to. In the begining,when I took her to her pad, she'd just turn & trot off. But I tried blocking her path & kept telling her to p-p. It took a few times, but then she finally did it & I made a big deal out of it & gave her a treat. A few more times & she actually got it. Now she will sniff her pad & circle a few times & get down to business. I aways stand there,she knows what I want & that she can't get by me. If she has to P,she will do it. But if not she tries anyway & if she doesn't have to go, she just sits down & stares at me. Of course then I just let her make her exit. It me about a yr to train her to P on command.


----------



## Ladysmom (Oct 19, 2004)

Nikki's Mom said:


> Nikki goes on command when we need her to.
> 
> When she was a puppy, if we'd see her head toward her potty pad, We'd say "go pee-pee" as soon as she got there, and while she was going. I repeated the process every time I saw her go toward her potty pad.
> 
> Now if we are going somewhere or it's bedtime, I'll say "Go pee-pee" and she runs to her potty pad and goes. (Only if she has to go. If she doesn't, she walks over to her potty pad, and then looks at me like I'm crazy....lol)





Nikki's Mom said:


> Nikki will also pee on command outside when we are traveling. She always gets a treat afterward.



That's how I trained Lady to go on command. She is very food motivated to it was pretty easy.

Of course, now she abuses her talent. If I feed the cats or fix something to eat myself, she will run to the pad to pee! Every time I sit down to dinner she uses her pad hoping I will share!


----------



## preciouspups (Apr 13, 2008)

jmm said:


> Start like they were new pups and they only get access to the potty area when you take them on a leash. Yet another one of the problems you encounter when dogs are left to their own devices for potty time.


I agree, it is a problem of my making! :smilie_tischkante: I appreciate your reply.


----------



## Miss_Annie (Mar 3, 2010)

and this is why I love SM so much!! :thumbsup:

The wealth of information available is astounding!! :w00t: I just love it. I honestly thought that it would be just fine to train a puppy to pee at its leisure... and I'm so glad that I learned the opposite before I even have him!


----------



## LJSquishy (Feb 27, 2008)

Ladysmom said:


> That's how I trained Lady to go on command. She is very food motivated to it was pretty easy.
> 
> Of course, now she abuses her talent. If I feed the cats or fix something to eat myself, she will run to the pad to pee! Every time I sit down to dinner she uses her pad hoping I will share!


:HistericalSmiley::HistericalSmiley: That is too funny!! They sure are smart little ones... :wub:

To the original poster: You are on the right track, just make sure you are able to catch them in the act each time and say "go potty" or whatever cue word you want to use WHILE they are peeing/pooping on the pad. It could take months and months for them to really be able to do it on cue, so be patient! My two are outdoor trained but I still walk out with them each time and say "go potty" to get them to focus and go...but they learned.


----------



## preciouspups (Apr 13, 2008)

Thanks to everyone for your replies. I can see now I should have kept up with giving the command & treating every time they pottied! Once they were well trained and reliable I stopped even noticing when they pottied. I'm going to try Jackie's suggestion to go back to the basics and reteach! I'm also going to try Maureen's suggestion and take them outside first thing in the morning and try to teach them it is o.k. (in fact, great!) to go outside.


----------



## almitra (Apr 24, 2009)

Neither of mine ever learned to potty on papers/pad/etc, only ever outside. I brought them ouside every 30 mins at first (when I got them at 12 wks), then gradually increased the time, praising highly each time they did their collective business outside. Yup, they each made mistakes in the house when I let my guard down or lost track of time, but we prevailed due to consistency and repetition. So will you.


----------



## maltlovereileen (Jan 19, 2009)

Ladysmom said:


> That's how I trained Lady to go on command. She is very food motivated to it was pretty easy.
> 
> Of course, now she abuses her talent. If I feed the cats or fix something to eat myself, she will run to the pad to pee! Every time I sit down to dinner she uses her pad hoping I will share!


:HistericalSmiley::HistericalSmiley:You GO Lady!!! :HistericalSmiley::HistericalSmiley:



Nikki's Mom said:


> Nikki will also pee on command outside when we are traveling. She always gets a treat afterward.


Haven't quite gotten the new ones to this stage yet, but still working on it. But never failed to get a few amused looks when I was outside coaching the previous doglets to do the deed (possibly because I always used a sing song/baby voice when I was telling them what I wanted) LOL


----------

