Transitioning from pee-pads to going outside

Posted by Rill on | 0 comments home title

farfl_and_the_red_dog

It was going to have to happen sometime.

Now that it's warmer in Toronto and I want to take Farfl places, she needs to be properly house trained so that she knows that it's not appropriate to "go" indoors. But how do you make that transition?

Farfl is so used to being able to go whenever she pleases because she's had access to a pee-pad at all times - I wondered how to teach her that it's best to wait and go outside. Overnight she's fantastic in her crate - she will hold it for a good nine hours. She normally sleeps through my husband and daughter getting up around 6.30am and waits until I get up at 8 or 9 o'clock. So I know she can hold it!

I took her to PetSmart to have her nails clipped (I'd rather pay the $11 and not be stressed about cutting her black nails too short!) and her trainer Heather was in the store. So I asked her advice. Heather told me it was best to crate her a lot for two whole weeks and take her out regularly and often to poo and pee. And so the new regime began.

The first day seemed to be an absolute triumph until I discovered the little pool of pee in the hallway - I wasn't keeping a close enough eye on Farfl! So I changed to either crating her or having her on a leash tied to me or the chair I was sitting in. This worked well for a couple of days - until it started raining.

Yesterday it rained torrentially - I did try taking her out first thing in the morning for a walk, but she was soaked through and shivering by the time we got back after five minutes. She's so close to the ground and has so little hair on her belly that it's just miserable walking in the rain. It didn't let up all day so I gave up and used the pee pads.

Today I was back to the regime and she seems to be getting the hang of it. Luckily she's really good off-leash so I can take her out to the front garden every so often in-between walks without putting her on a lead. We don't have a back garden - just a deck and a garage - so I can't just open the back door to let her out. I've also been saying "go pee...go pee" every time she squats to pee or poo and then following it up with "good pee!" when she's been. She seems to be responding to this. Eventually she should almost go on command.

Thanks so much to Heather for her help and advice - I'm seeing her again this Sunday when Farfl begins her intermediate training.