I have totally confused my puppy!

[judyb]

I have had no luck at all trying to housebreak my Lexi to peepad or outside. She goes when she wants to and many times as often as 5 minutes apart. There has never been any rhyme or reason to her routine. Yesterday I woke up with the attitude that I was going to train her and it was going to work.

I took her to the kitchen and put her on her peepad and decided to wait until she peed and reward her. I would not let her leave until she did it. I had the treat in my hand and I sat, and sat, 15 minutes, 20, 30, at this point I am thinking .You never wait this long in the house on the carpet. I waited longer, 45, 1 hour, I thought if I give in now I have wasted 1 hours of my time so I waited longer, 1 hour and a half. She just kept laying down and trying to sleep, I kept picking her up and saying "Go potty" After two hours and 5 minutes I gave up and took her outside and she pottied right away. So, I am thinking, Forget the peepad, I will train her to go outside. I went to petsmart and waited while she got her first puppy cut. (Really Cute) I picked out some peanut butter flavored treats and she goes wild for them. I am thinking ," Wow. She will do anything for these treats." I decide to try to teach her to sit. She learns right away. I am thinking "You are so smart." I continue to take her out to potty often. It looks like we are finally making some headway. She only has one accident yesterday.

So today, I just took her out and I had noticed her doing this earlier but I did not put it together in my head. She ran in front of me and turned around and sat looking up. I kept walking saying "go potty" She just kept running in front of me sitting and looking up at me. She does this over and over until I realize she is trying to sit for a treat! I felt so guilty I handed her her potty treat. Now I don't know what to do. She still does not get that I want her to potty. She is 3 1/2 months old. Any advice out there?
Judy

[shecass]

Originally Posted by judyb

I have had no luck at all trying to housebreak my Lexi to peepad or outside. She goes when she wants to and many times as often as 5 minutes apart. There has never been any rhyme or reason to her routine. Yesterday I woke up with the attitude that I was going to train her and it was going to work.

I took her to the kitchen and put her on her peepad and decided to wait until she peed and reward her. I would not let her leave until she did it. I had the treat in my hand and I sat, and sat, 15 minutes, 20, 30, at this point I am thinking .You never wait this long in the house on the carpet. I waited longer, 45, 1 hour, I thought if I give in now I have wasted 1 hours of my time so I waited longer, 1 hour and a half. She just kept laying down and trying to sleep, I kept picking her up and saying "Go potty" After two hours and 5 minutes I gave up and took her outside and she pottied right away. So, I am thinking, Forget the peepad, I will train her to go outside. I went to petsmart and waited while she got her first puppy cut. (Really Cute) I picked out some peanut butter flavored treats and she goes wild for them. I am thinking ," Wow. She will do anything for these treats." I decide to try to teach her to sit. She learns right away. I am thinking "You are so smart." I continue to take her out to potty often. It looks like we are finally making some headway. She only has one accident yesterday.

So today, I just took her out and I had noticed her doing this earlier but I did not put it together in my head. She ran in front of me and turned around and sat looking up. I kept walking saying "go potty" She just kept running in front of me sitting and looking up at me. She does this over and over until I realize she is trying to sit for a treat! I felt so guilty I handed her her potty treat. Now I don't know what to do. She still does not get that I want her to potty. She is 3 1/2 months old. Any advice out there?
Judy

I would most definately forget the pads. I'm not a big fan of them to me it's like putting pull-ups on a toddler you are trying to potty train. No offense to anyone this is just my opinion. I would just take her out every hour as soon as she wakes up and if she plays a lot I would take her out when she is through playing. Remember just be patient she will get the hang of it.

[yorkieusa]

Concerning sitting outside for treats instead of going potty...she's still very, very young. She'll pick it up. She's still a baby, though. It all takes time IMO.

You might try a different phrase when you take her outside and try telling her to be a good girl and go potty or whatever you have been saying to her. Tell her, "You know what good girls get." After she goes potty, tell her good girls get a treat. She'll catch on very quickly.

[Olivier]

As the others said , she is very young and with time and patience she will learn .