My husband and I just moved and my 15-year-old Miniature Poodle-Maltese mix is going to be left alone for many hours through the day while we are at work. We bought her a dog door and have been training her for a month and a half to use it to go potty. She refuses to go out on her own unless we are right there by her side, but she comes in on her own without hesitation. We have used treats (meatballs, yum!) to get her to go through the door, and she does really well with that. She will even go through the door with coaxing but she will not go through it on her own. Instead, when we come home from work, she just pees in front of the door.
We thought that maybe she just really didn't like the dog door, but we had to have SOMETHING for her. We tried to start training her on a potty patch outside so that maybe if she got used to that, she could just use that instead inside. Every time she would starting peeing or pooping outside, we would set her on the potty patch and have her finish her business there and praise her for it. We have not tried using treats with it yet, but that is our next step. The winters are really bad here so it wouldn't be good to leave her outside or in the garage. We locked her in the laundry room today with her bed, food, and the potty patch with a piece of her poop on top of it and we are hoping this will help. I just don't know what to do.
She's my baby, and I love her, but I don't know how to get her to go through the door or use the potty patch. Thanks!
We thought that maybe she just really didn't like the dog door, but we had to have SOMETHING for her. We tried to start training her on a potty patch outside so that maybe if she got used to that, she could just use that instead inside. Every time she would starting peeing or pooping outside, we would set her on the potty patch and have her finish her business there and praise her for it. We have not tried using treats with it yet, but that is our next step. The winters are really bad here so it wouldn't be good to leave her outside or in the garage. We locked her in the laundry room today with her bed, food, and the potty patch with a piece of her poop on top of it and we are hoping this will help. I just don't know what to do.
She's my baby, and I love her, but I don't know how to get her to go through the door or use the potty patch. Thanks!