Pugsley training!!

[gemma1979]

I have got my first pug and she is now 4 months old!! She wees on the newspaper ok but sneaks behind the back of the couch to do a poo!! Wonder why she won't poo on the paper lol I just keep getting her mid flow and putting her on it!! When shes paper trained I want to then get her going outside any tips?

Gemma xxx

[mattjs]

Just a basic question, when you find her leaving a deposit behind the couch, do you spray the area with an enzyme cleaner like Nature's Miracle? When Oscar (our shihtzu) has an accident, I make sure to do that. It should break down the scent and (hopefully) prevent the pup from going there again.

[Hellas]

Hi!
I find that many dogs are quite particular about where they like to do a poo. Most of them will want some privacy. Both of mine prefer tall grass or bushes. They will always seek a private spot if they can. So, I think that your girl likes to poo behind the sofa because it gives her privacy.

Personally, I would advice against paper training a puppy, unless you absolutely have to. Your ultimate goal is that the dog should always pee and poo outside. The easiest way to do that, I think, is to start working on that right away. The risk with paper training is, that it teaches your puppy that it's ok to do her business in the house. Friends of mine paper trained their chi, and she's still not properly housebroken at 3 y.o.

I think the most effective and least confusing way, is to make sure that she's always able to go outside when she needs to. Do you have a garden/back yard or other spot of grass near your house? This is where I would take her immediately after every nap, after eating, and after playing. If you're patient, she will pee and poop. Some accidents are to be expected, but at 4 months, she's beginning to have decent bladder control. The key is to be really diligent and take the puppy out often. We used this method with our pug boy and he just breezed through toilet training. He's never had an accident in the house after the age of six months.

If you really want to papertrain, I think the general advice is to move the papers closer and closer to the door and eventually outside the door, etc etc. I'm sure that works too, but to me it seems like a roundabout way of doing it and I would also be concerned that it might be confusing to some dogs, as exampled above. Since your puppy won't poop on the papers, I think she's telling you that she wants to be taken outside, where she can choose a good spot :)

[Melody]

I second not paper training.

[Tinker's mom]

When we got Tinker at 12 weeks the breeder had started to train her to use a paper pad inside. When I brought her home I never put any papers down. We walked first thing in the am then took her out every 3-4 hours. She had a few accidents but they were when we didn't stick to the schedule. Establish a schedule, treat and praise when she goes outside and clean up and ignore when she goes inside. Patience and consistency will get her to do what you want.

[Snifter]

I thought all the same negative things about paper training first time round and did not do it with Snifter.

The breeder started paper training Toddy from the get go (for which I am eternally grateful) so I just carried on. Toddy was fully trained to go outside at about the same age as Snifter but the whole process was a lot less stressful. Pugs really don't signal when they want to go and it was a great blessing on the occasions when he ran off to find his papers rather than used the carpet. We had no issues with transitioning outside - from the start we used both outside and papers inside so there was not a big sudden change.

[rachzilla]

I have a question on this actually, Bertie was pad trained with us inside till his injections were fine to go out, so he always goes outside to do everything, occasional accidents in house, but we always keep a pad down inside his pen as we never hear him cry at night so at least he has somewhere to go thats easily cleaned up as his crate is attached to his pen. He is like 5 months now but he is starting to pee on the carpet next to his pad intermittently. My mum seems to think it may be his way of telling me he doesn't want to use them them anymore? Any likelihood in this?

Also is it better to keep him on a strict routine for going out to do his business? He poops 5 times a day usually as hes on 3 meals but we have to play when to take him out to pee by ear as its always random. Would all the muscles develop to hold it in properly if he knows hes due to go out every few hours or should we be trying to leave it longer before taking him out? He gets taken out at set times even if hes showed no inclination for needing to go but now im starting to wonder if this is the right way to be doing it, Will never perform after eating, always about 4 hours after a meal will he go out to do his business.

[Snifter]

Is he lifting his leg yet? He may be starting to think about that and just be missing the pad as a result. I'd try removing the pad and working very hard on only going outside now he is 5 months.

Once he gets to the leg lifting stage he will want to mark everything outside so lack of performance should stop being an issue.

He will be able to hold if you set a strict schedule - although at his age there will still be a few accidents. If there is somewhere he always pees (mine have a grass verge near our house where they will perform, come what may) then if he does not perform in the garden try taking him there. You don't want him only to perform somewhere away from the garden, so don't start by going there, but use it if you absolutely HAVE to get him to go and know he should need to.

[rachzilla]

I haven't seen him try lifting his let yet, has just started the 'I REALLY like this toy a bit too much' stage and bouncing around on the carpet like a loon though, so hoping as he is starting to mature a bit he may start with the leg yet. He does normally go outside, but if he refuses to go one time, he will make up for it in the night, if he goes 5 times in the day he is fine overnight, but then if he has gone in the night he wont go in the morning... kind of a vicious cycle there!

Currently is a 6.30, 11, 3, 7 and 10/11 or whenever we are going to bed, then random visits out to pee in the day, if he sniffing around and circling his pad 20 mins before he is due to go out then he goes a bit earlier and just carries on with the schedule.
He is very good at going in the garden though, a lot better about going outside on walks now as well but recently the only time I am forcing him to go and refusing to go back inside until he does do something is last thing at night, hasnt been unusual to be out there for an hour before now so I didnt have a mess to clean up in the morning! Will keep him on schedule though, and will probably take the pad away during the day but put one down last thing at night until he sorts his schedule back out, 2 weeks ago he was able to go all night without doing anything, but hes somehow slightly out of tune atm. Probably due to being stuck at home with the inlaws for most of the week as work is a slight bit hectic!

[Hellas]

@Snifter: That's interesting. The only people I know who went the paper training route are the ones with the chi who's never stopped peeing indoors, so I'm obviously prejudiced.