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Fig Finds Out #2 – Toilet Training (ha ha ha)
Written by Sarah Foard
Well, this is stressful. Everything I thought I had it cracked he’d look at me and then pee on the floor.
When we brought Fig home, he was 8 weeks old. His breeder said ‘he goes on newspaper so just make sure you put that down’ – then there was a mad scramble to get newspaper, I mean who reads a newspaper these days. Luckily some mummy friends came to my rescue and delivered us loads of newspaper. I also had the puppy pads from the pet shop, 100 of them. I thought “ha – I won’t need to use all those”. Little did I know I’d be buying another 100 before too long.
The first night he just slept on a Cosy rug in the carpeted lounge with us and didn’t move all night (pictured above). I thought my puppy was broken. He just sleeps in the evenings how glorious. Well we’ll put that down to the journey home because on night 2 after 3 wee’s and a poo on my lovely carpet he was banished back to hard floored areas only and that’s where we’ve stayed! I’ve hardly spent an evening in my lounge since he arrived.
He just isn’t getting it. I’m doing everything all the experts say ‘watch him and every 10 minutes or when he starts to sniff put him out’ – so I’d been doing that and he still would just nonchalantly walk in from the garden and then spread his legs back a little and pee on the floor…. in front of me. With a ‘what? What am I doing wrong?’ expression on his face.
It was a very anxious time. I was trying to work at home but literally spent a few minutes typing and then would be scanning the kitchen that we were in for the next puddle. If he fell asleep that might give me 30 mins to concentrate on work, but then I’d get involved in something and look up to see a puddle and a load of wet footprints covering a 2m squared area. Out comes the mop again for the 40th time today. Why oh why did I bring this stress into my life.
I’m relieved to say at 15 weeks old now he is a little better. He can go for about an hour without me having to put him out, but if he’s been asleep then we just put him straight out when he wakes up. The back door is open a lot of the time now the weather has improved, but he still goes and plays out there, and then comes in and wee’s in the kitchen. Its like he’s just too lazy to go back out there, or he just forgets. As a mother of 2 small boys, this is very familiar to me (although thankfully they don’t wee on the kitchen floor).
As for the ‘toilet training pads’, they should be relabelled – ‘rip up and eat toys’ for puppies. He barely ever wee’s on the pads, he’ll choose a completely different spot every time. So for all the ‘experts’ who say, “put the pad in the place they like to go and then gradually move it towards the back door” – Fig says “poppycock, I’ll do it anywhere I bloomin’ well like!”
We have for the last 2 nights let him into the lounge – with trepidation I might add, and 30-minute trips outside in between the latest box set.
He’s still very wet at night into the morning – there’s always a puddle by the back door, but I think he’s still very young so I hope that will eventually improve.
So sorry, no words of wisdom here for you, nothing has worked for me but time and patience. If anyone reading this does have a miracle training cure for toilet training (or any other puppy training vice) then please email [email protected] and let me know!