Bessie is nearly 16 weeks old. She'll still pee in the house sometimes, if I miss taking her out for an hour. It's almost always in one particular spot of the house. The garbage smells gross from the peed paper towels and I'm using a lot of Nature's Miracle and paper towels, and it's just a pain to constantly try to wipe up while she tries to eat the paper towels, etc. If I just laid a puppy pad in that area to ease the cleaning burden, would that set her back as far as house training?
I would imagine that if she already tries to eat the paper towels, she'll have that puppy pad shredded in no time flat. And/or she will pee on it, you'll still have stinky garbage and you'll still have to clean up the area with Nature's Miracle and paper towels (because puppy pee aim is unlikely to hit only on the centre of the pad). Plus you are reinforcing that, "Hey, it's totally fine to pee indoors" (they don't really get the distinction between peeing indoors in a pad or on the floor in my opinion). Can you tell I really don't like puppy pads? I just find them a total waste of time and money. Others might have different opinions, but I'd say as onerous as it is, stick it out with being vigilant about getting her out in time, keep buying stock in Nature's Miracle and take out the trash as often as possible. Keep hope alive, she will learn and someday you will realise you haven't bought a new bottle of Nature's Miracle in ages! Now, if you WANTED her to learn to pee indoors in a specific location, that would be another story. A friend of mine has what is essentially the doggie equivalent of a litter box in her apartment for her chihuahua and it works great. Doesn't smell and keeps her from having to go down five flights of stairs in -10C weather in the German winter. But somehow I don't think it would work quite the same way for a Labrador.
Hi there, Dexter is our first dog so I've never used puppy pads but I agree with Emily that you would probably still have the smell with pads although they are slightly more absorbent than paper towels. What is the reason that you've been putting paper down ?Is it because you have to leave her alone? If you are around with her I'd say vigilance and being very conscientious taking her out will help you break what sounds like a habit ...although she's still only young and some of them do take longer than others to learn to hold.....
Thanks! That all makes sense and I'll skip the puppy pads. @Dexter - I haven't been putting down paper, just using paper towels to clean up the puddles. One of the issues is that before we moved in, these floors were peed on many, many, many times by the six Pekingese that lived here before. When we moved in, I sanded them myself and saw the stains once the finish was off; it was awful! I spent weeks treating them and letting them dry before I oiled them. Recently, we had them sanded and polyurethaned, but I'm sure there are molecules of urine in the cracks between the boards that I'm not sure anything will get out...so I have a feeling they scream, "okay to pee here!" I'm being as vigilant as I can, but sometimes I miss and she really doesn't care -- if she has to go, she goes. She doesn't pee on any beds, sofas, etc, just a couple spots near the door.
