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Another question about indoor potty training

1K views 13 replies 4 participants last post by  EvaE1izabeth 
#1 ·
For those of you that have trained your dogs to use indoor pottys, do you also have area rugs in the SAME room with the potty pads? Can a dog be trained to know the difference between the potty pad and an area rug? I have an open floor plan and right now while doing indoor potty training my rugs are blocked off by wire fencing. But eventually I will have to remove the wire fencing and my dog will access to them in the same room as the potty pads. Since I have an open floor plan, I cannot block off the rugs using doors or gates. I noticed that most breeders' homes that I visited did not have rugs. Please let me know about your situation with rugs. Thanks very much for your honest answer because if this is something that is difficult to do, I will switch to outdoor potty training.
 
#2 ·
I don't use pee pads, and this is one of the reasons why. I have seen too many dogs confuse pee pads and scatter rugs. (And the washable pee pads are the worst. I honestly don't know a single dog raised on washable pads who HADN'T had a long-term problem with scatter rugs or any cloth left on the floor) I've never seen a dog confuse a litter box or grate-type potty with a rug. They feel completely different under foot.
 
#4 ·
My understanding is most people just introduce new rugs and carpet just like they would introduce a new area in their home - watch vigilantly and train and play in the area so the dog wont want to pee there.

I just bought a new rug at the beginning of the summer. The way I handled it was probably overkill, considering our dog is almost 2 and well potty trained. But, I was worried because I went through a couple of rugs at my back door because he peed waiting to go out when no one was paying attention.

In addition to my area rug I bought a small rug sample. I kept the big rug blocked off for about a week and kept the small rug in the family room, which is where he hangs out most of the time, so he would get used to it. After a few days I spent some time actively playing and training with him on the big rug. So far so good. I still block it off when he’s home alone, but I don’t think I will ever leave him home alone on carpet at all because of his anxiety.

Honestly, I think my dogs nails are a bigger threat to my rugs than pee.

I agree about pee pads, assuming they are similar to paper. Our puppy was introduced to indoor training through the breeder with paper. I think it’s a million times harder for someone inexperienced to train with paper and a million times easier for someone inexperienced to train with pellets. When I switched to pellets my puppy stopped trying to proudly pee on every piece of paper he found (and I have school age kids so sometimes it feels like there are papers everywhere).
 
#7 ·
When it comes to using pellets I must confess that I am confused on how to use these. My puppy was trained with paper. I am not sure how easy it will be to transition her to pellets now. I am not even sure how to do it. I have never even seen pellets. What type of container do I use to hold the pellets? And I do not understand how to clean a box with pellets? How often do you change the pellets? Would you say using a potty with a grate and paper would work also? That would be easier for me to do.
 
#10 ·
Using a grated system with a pee pad is fine... except for the smell. I find pee pads objectionably smelly, even if picked up as soon as you get home from being out. Pellets don't smell. If you are using an open litter box, it is safest to use pine wood pellet horse bedding. "Equine Pine" is the brand name. Many of us use the Tractor supply store brand. But if you are using a grated system, where the dog can't get at them anyway, you can just use any wood stove pellets. You can get them at Home Depot, Lowes... anywhere.

The wet pellets puff up into a little pile of sawdust, so they are immediately obvious, even though they don't smell. I use a small tabletop crumb-type dustpan to remove the wet spots. because I do it daily, I really never have to empty the entire pan. I just replace the amount of pellets needed to keep a constant level of pellets in the tray. Poop, of course, stays on the top of the grate, and you just pick it up with a tissue and flush it down the toilet. Normally, my dog's poop is fairly firm, so there is no residue on the grate. If there is, I take it out to the driveway and hose it off. In the winter, I spray it down in our spare bath shower, then bleach the shower.
 
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#11 ·
Absolutely, if you do the work and train her. It isn't automatic, of course. But there is no confusion because the materials are in no way similar. All three of my dogs, from two different breeders are 100% reliable. They usually potty outdoors, but when they need to, they use their boxes indoors.
 
#12 ·
OK, I have a grated system but there is hardly any space between the grate and the pan underneath. How large are these pellets? I am picturing something larger I guess. Are the pellets the size of kitty litter? Funny, I do not smell anything. I clean up the poop right away and I do not smell the pee. The paper is scented. I will try out the grate with paper for now. easier for me. I was using a very large pad holder but it did not have a grate. I cannot find a very large pad holder with a grate so I hope my puppy will adjust to the smaller pad holder that came with a grate.
 
#13 ·
If you don't mind the smell, then it may work fine for you. I guess I have a sensitive nose. I can smell a pee pad the moment I walk into someone's house.
 
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#14 ·
The pellets are pretty small, and you only need a thin layer. For a while I used more but if the layer of pellets is too thick, the ones below the surface break down and the pellets on top stay firm, and it’s a little harder to dig out the dust beneath them. Maybe that’s just the brand I used or other people scoop out all of it.

They come in a big bag so I bought an ikea container like this for the pellets. My husband uses them in the garage for wood pellets for smoking and they stack up out of the way but are easy to access.

In my mudroom I keep some in a small ice bucket with a dustpan set. It’s right by the guest bathroom so I didn’t really want pellets it in like a plastic bin but I didn’t really try to hide it, either.

When I took a picture to post, I noticed he’s been using it! This is a big deal to me because I thought he wasn’t using it anymore. You do have to use it periodically after your puppy is outdoor trained to keep up the skill because they like going potty outdoors best, and I unintentionally let it go. I kept the setup because if I place him on it and tell him to “go potty” he will do it, he just doesn’t seek it out. Recently it rained and I did that because I just didn’t want to go outside. Since I cleaned it out right then, I know he‘s used it since then.
 

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