Click here to visit the most complete Maltese site on the WWW

Archived Message

ORIGINAL MESSAGE:
by Carla

Hello Everyone! When I got Bailey, he was used to being kept in a crate all day long (he was 8 months old) He is now 11 months old and I have him trained to go outside whenever I am home and to use a wee-wee pad when I am not. I have him gated in the kitchen. Here's the question. ... Did I make it worse by now letting him go in the house?? I would like to eventually be able to let him have free run of the house when I am not home. So I would like him to graduate to only going outside. I am gone for about 8 hours. He holds it at least that long while we are sleeping. I used to keep him in his crate in our bedroom but now he is sleeping with us and doing just fine...no accidents!!! I just don't know how to go about making the transition for during the day. I have read all the archives about housetraining, but I think I am doing this a little in reverse. I don't want to go back to the crate thing during the day! If I remove the wee wee pad will he just go where it used to be? I would appreciate any advice. I hope I didn't do the wrong thing! Thanks Carla

DISCUSSION:

Going all night without going potty is different than going for 8 hours when your puppy is more active and perhaps has access to his water. You may think you want to train Bailey to go outside totally but consider this: when he is older and infirm and needs to go more frequently, when he is temporarily out of kilter, for one reason or another, and needs to relieve himself more frequently, when the weather is too bad for him to go out.. There are just so many reasons to have a dog that is both trained in and out. There have been times when I was too sick to let the dog out, etc. I applaud you for not wanting to crate Bailey for 8 hours. The kitchen is so much kinder.
-Sharon

I am not an expert, having only had one Maltese, but we wish we had trained her to both inside papers and outside. We it was rainy she would resist going outside and sometimes err inside, and when it was snowy she would be swallowed up by the snow and could hardly squat (she was 4.5 lbs). The morning dew messed up her fur (that's when we called her "little feet"). Because of paralysis we had to put her to sleep, and when we replace her, I think I will opt for the chuck's type hospital pads that my aunt uses for hers. I wonder how hard it is to train for both? Aren't they hard to discipline because they are tiny and adoring?
-Mary Dunlap