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Ugodog training help needed

2K views 12 replies 7 participants last post by  krandall 
#1 ·
Ruby has decided that she won't go potty outside if it is raining and that is going to be a problem as the fall weather begins. So I bought a Ugodog potty. I lined it with newspaper and dribbled a little of her pee on it (from a puddle on the back deck). In terms of training her to use it, I gave her a treat for going near it and eventually for sitting on it so she has positive associations with it. But I am not a clicker trainer, or even a very patient person, so now I am stuck on how to get her to pee on it. Thanks for your advice.
 

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#2 ·
I used a ugodog for both of my dogs, and neither one really required any training. I kept it in the ex-pen with them, and they just sort of knew what to do with it. Sorry, wish I could be of more help. One tip though, I lined the ugodog with pee pads instead of newspaper - might be a little easier to clean up. Good luck!
 
#3 ·
When I transitioned Rex to the Ugodog from just a pee pad, I put the Ugodog in his pen and placed a slightly used pee pad on top of the Ugodog. For the first 2 weeks I just kept replacing the pee pad on the Ugodog. Then I slowly cut down the size of the per pads so that more of the grate around the perimeter of the Ugodog was showing. Over a few weeks the pee pads I used on top of the Ugodog got smaller and smaller. I placed a pee pad under the grates as well. I think at one point I moved too quickly and had to back up and go more slowly in reducing the size of the pee pads on the grate. Rex learned to use the Ugodog with the pee pads under the grates. He went through a phase in which in would place his front feet on the floor beside the Ugodog and his back feet on the Ugodog and pee. This resulted in urine on the floor beside the Ugodog. I didn't praise and treat these attempts. It took quite a while but he seems to have self adjusted so that the last few times he has used his Ugodog to pee he has kept all 4 feet on the grate so the urine has ended up on the pee pad below the grate. That said Rex developed a VERY strong preference to potty outside and went for several weeks without using the Ugodog at all. He has begun using it sometimes when we're not home or when it rains really hard. Praise and treat when your puppy uses the Ugodog just like you do when puppy goes outdoors. He/she needs to learn that the Ugodog is an appropriate potty option.
 
#4 ·
I did not start Molly out with an indoor potty option. When I needed one due to bad weather issues it was a challenge. I ended up making a bad weather potty area in my basement. I put a tarp on the floor and put newspaper over the whole thing. I set up her expen on it and put her in there when she can't go outside. She isn't crazy about it but will go if I give her some time and her potty command. I tried potty pads at first but she just wanted to shred them.
 
#5 ·
Good luck with Ruby- our 16 week old pup is going on the Ugodog 99% of the time - unless we time it just right then she goes outside.
The other 1% is accidents due to human error! lol

When she first came home, she had been using both Ugodog and doggie door at the breeders-
I needed to be sure she was 100% on the Ugodog so we started using it right away because we won't be able to have a doggie door.
Her 1st poop accident, I placed it on top of the Ugodog so she had that scent on there. (luckily not a poop eater!)
I have it located in her Richell crate and have a divider up and also and ex-pen attached - she had a few accidents on the plastic floor of the Richell crate
when her bedding was being cleaned & wasn't in there- ...but I just cleaned it up and moved on... she never had an accident in the
ex-pen part on my tile floor .. so pretty sure she didn't differentiate the plastic I guess.
If we see her go on it- we say "go potty" and click if we can get to the clicker in time- and then praise heavily and treat.
It doesn't stop her from going outside if she needs to when we take her out.

I don't use pee pads or newspaper- I just remove poop as needed & dump then
rinse the entire thing every other day with very hot water & wipe it down with paper towels.. it cleans up well.

Pretty sure I read on here someone (maybe Karen) uses some type of pellets- I meant to find some, but this is working out nicely so I haven't bothered.

Do I remember correctly- Ruby has moved on from her ex-pen?
 
#8 ·
Good luck with Ruby- our 16 week old pup is going on the Ugodog 99% of the time - unless we time it just right then she goes outside.
The other 1% is accidents due to human error! lol

When she first came home, she had been using both Ugodog and doggie door at the breeders-
I needed to be sure she was 100% on the Ugodog so we started using it right away because we won't be able to have a doggie door.
Her 1st poop accident, I placed it on top of the Ugodog so she had that scent on there. (luckily not a poop eater!)
I have it located in her Richell crate and have a divider up and also and ex-pen attached - she had a few accidents on the plastic floor of the Richell crate
when her bedding was being cleaned & wasn't in there- ...but I just cleaned it up and moved on... she never had an accident in the
ex-pen part on my tile floor .. so pretty sure she didn't differentiate the plastic I guess.
If we see her go on it- we say "go potty" and click if we can get to the clicker in time- and then praise heavily and treat.
It doesn't stop her from going outside if she needs to when we take her out.

I don't use pee pads or newspaper- I just remove poop as needed & dump then
rinse the entire thing every other day with very hot water & wipe it down with paper towels.. it cleans up well.

Pretty sure I read on here someone (maybe Karen) uses some type of pellets- I meant to find some, but this is working out nicely so I haven't bothered.

Do I remember correctly- Ruby has moved on from her ex-pen?
Yes, I use wood pellets. In an open topped litter box I use only Equine Pine (or the generic equivalent horse bedding from Tractor Supply) because I know the wood is safe for animals. If I can't get that, I don't mind using wood stove pellets under the grate in the UgoDog. My dogs would not use a UgoDog or other potty with pee sitting under it. The smell would turn them off immediately. even with the highly absorbent and odor absorbent pine bedding, one of my girls won't use a litter box that already has a pee in it... I have to scoop out that section first! ;)
 
#6 ·
Thanks for all the tips. Ruby doesn't have an xpen anymore. She was very reliably potty trained until she decided she wasn't getting her feet wet! She just holds her bladder and whines at me but just huddles if I take her out even under an umbrella. If I put her on the ugodog she expects a treat but doesn't seem to think of it as a potty place despite the smells on the newspaper. And when she can't last anymore then she just has a big pee on the floor. Aargh. I will see if I can catch her mid-pee and then quickly move her to the ugodog and then treat.
 
#7 ·
Any tips that work would be appreciated. Loki is still in an expen and will use the UGoDog during the day if he has to between walks and he will use it first thing in the morning if I don't get downstairs as soon as he whines (if it is too early i just let him use the pad.) Otherwise, he only wants to go outside and will ring the bell until one of us comes to let him out. He is baby gated in the family room which is puppy proofed if I can't watch him. His expen is open so he could use the pad but won't.

We are headed to my mother's this weekend - 7th floor condo. I sent them a portable playpen with a bed and pee pad. They got a gate to block him into the Kitchen/tv room where they spend most of the time. I am worried that he won't use the pee pad and won't know what to do to let me know he needs to go out.

I can't get him to use the pad. I have tried when he rings the bell putting him on the pad and telling him to go potty but he just looks at me and whines or tries to escape to run back to the door. Hopefully, when he can't see the outside he will use the pad.

I am stressed already!
 
#9 ·
It's REALLY, REALLY hard to train a dog to use an indoor potty once they have been convinced that outdoors is the only appropriate place to go. A few people have managed it, but it's not easy.
 
#11 ·
They do develop their individual idiosyncrasies! After Panda's UTI's, she REFUSES to pee in the litter boxes...she'll poop in them though. :laugh:

_I_ hated there pads under the UgoDog because the smell really bothered me the minute one of them peed on it!
 
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#12 ·
Oh- forgot to mention...
PSA about Ugodog- my kid found one of four clear, round, silicone "feet" from the bottom of the Ugodog in pup's pen! :surprise:
It had come off and I did not noticed when I took it out to clean it- thank goodness it was not found by pup first! Could have easily been ingested.
Make sure you are always checking that they are still attached!
 
#13 ·
Didn't even notice that it HAS silicone feet! OTOH, since my dogs have ingested countless silicone ear bud covers, which seem to come though without problem, I wouldn't worry about it too much! :laugh:
 
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