Puppy peeing and pooping on newspaper 80% of the time

[NiLREM]

Hi,

I've notice that my puppy seem to pee and poo on the newspaper most of the time. She is about 7 months old. However at night, when she does it by herself, she usually pee or poop outside the newspaper (near the edge of the newspaper). When I am there with her, she does it correctly on the newspaper, is this because it can not see at night? Or afraid of the bush or something? I've been crate training her for about 2 months now, but mostly at night time. Any idea how to fix this, so she gets it 100% of the time? Thanx.

[Crossfire Bulldogs]

I know I'd have trouble seeing the paper in the dark. Time is what she needs, it sounds like shes doing very well and in time she'll have it down to a science.

Are you trying to train her to keep going on the paper or go outside?

[NiLREM]

I see. I'm trying to train her to go on the newspaper all the time, so that when I take her inside and leave the newspaper in the bathroom, she will know to use it there. Newspaper is cheaper and easier to clean than other style. For some wierd reason, when I leave the newspaper in the bathroom and take her there and say "go poo poo" or "go pee pee" she will not do this on command. When this happen (even though I know it is her time to pee/poo) she won't do it on the newspaper in the bathroom. But usually if I take her outside to the newspaper outside by the bush and repeat the command, she will do it willingly. Any idea why?

[Crossfire Bulldogs]

It sounds to me like she prefers to go outside and at seven months I'm not surprised. Most dogs prefer to go outside than to use what they consider their den as a place to potty.

There are many small breeds that have been trained to use a litter box but papers down on a floor usually doesn't work once they start to mature for the reason I stated above. What breed of dog is she?

[NiLREM]

Hrm. She's a chow/golden retriever. http://www.geocities.com/n0spamz/Karla/karla.jpg

So how can I train her to either go outside or go on newspaper when inside the house? Keep on trying to get her to master the newspaper then gradually bring it inside?

[Peanuts]

I am not sure what your situation is (living arrangements), but with a chow/golden retriever, I would probalby prefer to train her to go outside, due to the large quantities of ... waste that will result, and the mess to clean up will be at less, and the smell. That is of course just a personal preference.

By the way.. she is absoblutely precious!

[Cassiepeia]

If you have a fenced backyard, I'd get a dog door, train her to use that and then let her do her business outside. She's going to be too big a dog (in my personal opinion) to allow to do it anywhere inside the house, even if it is on paper. If you're worried about her going at night or whilst your not in the house, stick to crateing her when you're not able to let her in and out of the house freely.
I'm not sure many people have success with teaching a dog to go both indoors and outdoors.

Cass.

[Barrett]

For litter or paper training a dog does better if it can see a boundry of where to go. Most people use a litter box of some sort whether home made or store bought. This helps the pup see excatly where it is allowed to go because they step into the litter box. Once your pup gets full grown she will probably be too big for a litter box. I have two mini dachshunds that are litter box trained. My bigger one is too long for the store bought box and has a hard time turning around, she ended up hanging her hiney out of it and peeing on the floor. I made a longer box for her out of a plastic horse water tub, LOL. I can imagine a chow mix will get pretty big and out growing any litter box very soon. The doggie door option sounds like the ideal situation for you. Now that you have been teaching you pup to use newspaper you might have a very hard time getting her to only use the bathroom outside.

[Crossfire Bulldogs]

I agree, she really is going to be too big of a girl to allow her to use paper inside throughout her lifetime unless you plan on keeping a horse sized shovel and haz-mat suit in your closet for clean up.

She is also getting towards that age were she can hold it for longer periods of time than a younger pup. Crate training and going outside will be your best bet. She really is a little cutie too!

[Pugdawg1]

I agree with the others.. can't imagine wanting a dog that size, pottying indoors. I'd take her out, when she potties, maybe pass her a treat, lots of PRAISE, and go inside and play. Sounds like she's on the right path on her own. Smart dog.