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Archived Message

ORIGINAL MESSAGE:
by Sandy

Well here I was saying that my 2 year old Shelby was using the wee wee pads consistantly and now suddenly she's pottying elsewhere! She still goes in our bathroom (where the wee wee pads are located) but now uses the carpeted area and over by her food and water bowls. It doesn't happen when she's been left alone either, it's when we're home so I don't think she's "punishing" us. I caught her doing it and said No No and put her onto the wee wee pad but she looked at me like I was out of my mind! Is this typical for an older dog who's adjusting to a new home? Any recommendations? Thanks!

DISCUSSION:

Sandy: I'd say Shelby has some issues. You be firm and she will come around. We figured out what Shayna's problem was, she was upset we returned home from our 3 month trip. She has been really good lately, no wall digging and the other night she needed to go business and she used the wee wee pads. We are starting to leave her without the crate if we are gone for a few hours, longer than that she's crated.
-Shelley

I went out and bought a crate last night and Shelby will be spending some time there when we're not home! When I came home from work yesterday, she'd chewed a large hole in the carpet by the door! Shelby got up in the middle of the night last night, went all the way downstairs and pottied down there (on the carpet), and her wee wee pad were only a short distance away in the master bath. It's like she's moving rapidly backwards and had been doing so well! Firmness will be necessary...do you have any recommendations on the best way to handle this regressive behavior? I'm not sure why she's suddenly doing these things.
-Sandy

Hi Sandy, my Peanut is now 8 months old, but when I got him at 4 1/2 months he went on the paper and wee pads. We were training him to go outside and he was doing good except he wouldn't tell me he had to potty so I had to constantly watch him. Out of the blue he started doing his business on the carpet even if he just went out, then while I'm on my hands and knees scrubbing the carpet he would get between my knees and watch until I put the vinegar on the carpet, then he would start barking at the odor. I think he thought it was a game or something because he would also run all over the house. So funny. Anyway, I started back at square one with his training. Taking him out as soon as he woke up, ate, drank, or played. I figured that just tell him what a good boy he was and petting him wasn't clicking so as soon as he went out and pottied I made such a fuss (like he hung the moon) and then gave him a small treat. Boy, what a difference a treat makes! He was totally housebroken within the week and quite vocal to let me know its outside time. On reflection, I think part of the reason was we live in Japan and we bought him here so maybe he didn't understand english. Are you trying to just train Shelby to potty on the wee pads or is going outside an option as well? Maybe this method will work for you, the only downfall is now Peanut will go #1 come in get his treat then 10 seconds later want to go back out and finish to get another treat!!! I have a tip on the carpet chewing that may help. I discovered that Peanut stayed away from the areas on the carpet where I used vinegar but went back to the one area that I just used cleaner until I vinegared it then he stayed away. Maybe if you wipe the carpet with vinegar Shelby will leave it alone. I hope this helps and good luck.
-Eva

We're trying to train Shelby both for outdoor pottying and wee wee pads. My husband caught her going on the carpet yesterday...she was standing with her front half on the wee wee pad sniffing it and her back end was doing her business on the carpet! At least she was closer this time!! She had been doing so well, having always done her business on the wee wee pads. Well, we'll go back to square one and maybe just train her to go outdoors. That was how she was supposedly trained before. Maybe the wee wee pads confused her, although I have to say she has only gone potty outside twice since we brought her home three weeks ago (even though we'll keep her outside for a long time) and had been using the wee wee pads successfully until lately.

Thanks for your help!
-Sandy