I recently adopted Roo, a Basenji cross who was a stray. She is a very nice little dog, and the shelter people told me she was house-trained, but she wasn't. She very rarely goes outside (exactly 4 times since I got her three weeks ago), and since I'm at work and the horse barn quite a bit, I've decided to train her to go on pee pads. Does anybody have any particular tips? She sometimes goes on the pads I've had in my house but I know I haven't been consistent enough and have let her be free in the house while I'm gone; I've got a system in place now to keep her in the laundry room and her puppy playpen, and am going to put her on a feeding schedule instead of making kibble available all day. Anybody have any idea how long this will take? She hops in and out of the dog litter box (with the pee pads inside) just fine but she doesn't seem to want to go when I'm around. How often should I take her to the litter box? How long should I wait before giving up for a while and trying again? I really don't want to crate her-she is miserable in there.
Also, I have a problem with "warning signs" - she doesn't have any! She sniffs around all the time and circles all over, but then doesn't do anything for hours. It's basically impossible to tell when she is going to go.
Also, I've been letting her sleep in bed with me, but she gets up in the night and makes a mess. I suppose I need to put her in the laundry room at night until she is in the habit of going by herself, correct?
Pad training is relatively the same as training a dog to go outdoors. You start by keeping them confined in a small area where you'll likely keep the pads, your laundry for example, while they are in the house, and so they get used to going to the bathroom there. Then you gradually enlarge the area of the house that the dog has access to, one room at a time, or area of the house at a time (babygates are a big help with this!). As soon as Roo goes to the bathroom somewhere she shouldnt, you set the area back one step and start over from there.
It shouldnt take too much back and forth with moving gates, most dogs catch on pretty quickly. Give at least 2-3 days in a new area of the house before expanding again, and keep a close watch right after Roo eats. I wouldn't worry that she doesn't go with you around, its not really an abnormal sign.
As far as sleeping, it probably is best to keep Roo out of your room until the pad training is up to that area, otherwise you might have more accidents, and it might delay other progress with pad training.
I hope this helps, definitely let us know if you have more questions!
Well, we've been making some progress, happily. Problem is, I can't keep her in the laundry room-there is no door (never has been one since I bought the house-no idea why). She jumps the baby gate and any other obstacle I put there to keep her in; am going to try sticky-tacking a couple of foam-core boards above the baby gate when I go to work tomorrow. Situation is worse when I'm in the house, so I've been keeping her with me and trying to keep a close eye on her. If the foam boards work, I will gradually expand her area while I'm gone, as you suggest.
Also went to vet and got some antibiotics; he thought she might have UTI since she is holding it for so long and then going suddenly. She has been making it through the night without going, so I think that we are getting her regulated better (hopefully). Will keep you posted.
Glad that some progress is going, and thats its hopefully not a UTI!
As far as blocking her in the laundry, if it comes down to it you can always get some chicken wire or the like and put that across so she cant jump it, but you can easily unroll it to get into the room with her
