Toileting Issues

[Nushie]

Hi guys,

I am currently at a loss as to what to do about this. We live in an apartment with only a balcony which we will eventually get a dog door installed onto it so that Jager (6 months) can toilet outside on a pet loo. At the moment we have a play pen set up for him so that when we are at work he has his pet loo, bed, water and toys.

The problem being that when we are home he is has access to the lounge, kitchen and study which is where we spend all our time when we are home. When we are home, he always toilets on his pet loo. Without fail, no issues at all. He runs over goes and when we know that he is going we make sure that we praise and treat him. We have tested leaving him out for short periods (for the half hour after i leave for work and my boyfriend getting up) and if he needs to go he wont go on the pet loo, he goes on the carpet (he does pee in the right spot, just doesnt poop there).

I have no idea how to fix this, as he hasnt had a mistake while we are home in months. We praise him and treat him when we are there so that he knows that is the right thing to do, but how do we fix it if he only does the wrong thing while we arent there?

I am hoping that we can get the door done this weekend as i have 4 days off so hopefully that will give us some time to get Jager used to going through the dog door and going out to "go".

Do you think that because his toilet has always been inside that he just assumes that the house is just a giant toilet tray? Will moving his toilet outside help him understand the difference between where he should go?

I dont particularly want him going to the toilet on the concrete on the balcony, but if it comes down to it and it is that or the carpet, the concrete is easier to clean and get rid of the smell.

He is due to be desexed soon, will that assist at all?

I have had a few people say that is just a fluke that he goes in the right place when we are home. But not one mistake in the past months when we are home and without fail, if he needs to poop while we aren't there, it is on the carpet.

I think i am starting to blabber on a bit, but his pen gets cleaned every week, grass gets replaced for clean grass twice a week.

I know we probably made the mistake of not starting out with the toilet outside, but he we didnt want him out the balcony all day while we were at work when he was so young. Once the dog door is in, he will have access to the balcony (which we have secured) and we will set the play pen up inside around the door so that he can also come in and sleep inside if he wants (with the laminate that we currently have under his pen so that he doesnt ruin the carpet).

Any ideas / suggestions on how we can teach him to go to the correct place while we aren't there is greatly appreciated.

One last thing, he doesn't always go in the same spot. And the carpet is cleaned properly and then vinegar used to neutralise the smell.

He has done so well in all other ares of training and there are times when i would like to leave him with access to the lounge area when i go down to the shops for 10minutes but until we get on top of this, i can't as i dont want him to get into the habit of 'mums away, poop where ever'

I dont know if this is just going to be something that we will just have to put up with and continue doing what we are doing and hope that one day it will stick.

I think that is it..... thanks guys

[BCPuppy]

Dont despair, he will get there eventually. Maybe when you get the door and move his loo outside things will change, he is still only a baby. I have had a different but similar situation in trying to teach my girl to go on a pet loo on the balcony when she has always had access to a garden, I had been trying for months months before we moved in and I thought it would never happen, but it did, as soon as we moved So keep up the good work and good luck.

[Nushie]

Thanks BCP - i know its not a major issue at the moment as i dont mind leaving him in his pen during the day. I would just like to enforce as many good habits as possible while he is still young. Just thought there might be something that i have missed in his training or something else i can do to reward the good behaviour while we are home so that when we are out he thinks twice before going on the carpet.

If not, then i will just keep doing what i am doing and hope that over the next couple of months it starts to click for him.

Cheers