[Niblet022812]

Hi,
I am a newer member of the forum, and haven't checked in for a while, but some of you may remember me if I tell you I am Niblet's mommy (because a lot of you loved his name)!

Niblet is now roughly 4 1/2 months old. From the very beginning, he was doing exceptionally well with his potty training. He used the litter 95% of the time, and did so until just recently.

However. I recently took him out of the small pen we had him in because he simply outgrew it and needed more room. We gated off the kitchen/breakfast area for him, and as soon as I did that, he totally stopped using his litter at all! I figured it may be because it was such a change for him - but it's been a week and he's still not using the litter - only a very little bit. I'm kind of getting upset about cleaning messes when he was doing so well, but other than continuing to put him in his litter, and praising him when he DOES use it, is there anything else I might try?

Thanks so much for any help - this is getting frustrating. He's such a great little puppy and we love him like crazy, but I just want to get him back on track. Thanks again!

 

[Niblet022812]

Anyone with any suggestions? He seems to be using the litter maybe a 1/4 of the time only. It's just really frustrating! Thanks so much.

 

[svdreamer]

How long during the day is he in his pen? Also, he's hitting his teenager years, ie: hormones, and they seem to forget everything for a bit, then they settle back down and remember again.

 

[LittleGemma]

Gemma started going backwards in her potty training just before she hit 4 months when I had given her more space to roam. I cut back down on her freedom and started watching her like a hawk again and since then she has been almost perfect with pottying on her pads (she still does the occasional surprise poop somewhere every other week). She's 5 months now. I think they just hit a stage where they start forgetting what they've learned and you need to go back to basics. It worked for me and Gemma.

 

[Hollipops]

I'm just training Ralph now to use his pee pads! It's not going well.... Then again it has only been three days! I have this awful fear he won't ever learn, but I'm being persistent...

We have wood flooring and a big rug in our living room (not far from his crate and his pee pad) he tends to wee on there a bit so I'm ordering if he's confusing the soft texture with his pad!

We can do it! X

 

[LittleBean]

Yes, the only down side to using pee pads is the fact that anything soft = pee spot! If you are going to use pee pads in the long run and don't plan on phasing it out, I would suggest keeping it at one spot and one spot only, none of that "one in every room" business.