Poop Strike

We are used to going to walks thirty minutes after their meals and Maru does his potty break outdoors at the same time. I still have a certain section in the apartment where the puppy pads are located in case I'm not home and Chloe still does her job on the puppy pads, she's so used to it that she won't ever potty outside.

These past few days, Maru seems to be on poop strike. He is totally messing up with his potty training. We still go to our routine walks, but all he does is sniff things out. Sometimes we're out for nearly an hour already but still no poop from him. Even at home, he won't poop on the pads and prefer the carpet to be a good place to do his job. Great.

I can't seem to find a reason why he's doing this, we don't have a big change going on (not that i know of) and we are really following our daily schedule. Puzzling, I should think a different approach on this.

Beware, for I will poop on your carpet! -Maru

Pups Separated

They want to play with each other so badly, but this separation has to be done because first, I'm crate training  Maru, which I obviously failed with Chloe. Second, I'm still potty training my little pup to go to the puppy pads, and lastly, Chloe's rough play is still too much for Maru, she tends to bully him showing him who's the boss. I still let them play together once in a while, but only with my supervision to be sure no one gets hurt.

I sure hope they're not talking about me in that video.

Potty Training

Whoever said potty training/ house training was easy? I don't think so.

First Potty accident: On our first day home. As I said on my previous post, I just went out for a bit and Chloe had a potty accident on the floor mat. Second accident, third, fourth, fifth, i can't remember anymore and it's too many to count.

I'm aware that having a puppy is going to be a handful. You have to devote your time, especially on potty training. I live in an apartment, I do not have a patio, I go to work for eight hour periods, there will be times that she'll be left alone, and the vet told me not to take Chloe anywhere outside because of the risk of puppy diseases. Wow, isn't that really convenient?

I have no choice but to resort to disposable puppy pads. At first, I have no idea how to get her to pee or go potty on the pads, so i figured out on some ideas to accomplish this:

• I'll watch her till she goes, catch her on the act, stop her, carry her to the pads, and praise her when she goes. 
• Watch her EVERY minute, or even every second. Just one moment of not paying attention or looking, she will have an accident. 
• Nature's Miracle, as the name implies, it works like a miracle. It removes stain and odors on carpets and floors that has been soiled by your pet.
• Put a little piece of her poop on the pads, leave it there and let her smell it.
• Change position of the pads. Chloe goes and relieves herself in the pads, but she also had a lot of accidents in a certain corner of my apartment, so I decided to put the puppy pads permanently on that corner.
• Potty training aid. It's a spray with some kind of substance that attracts the dog to go and eliminate when they smell it.

It took me one to two weeks to house train Chloe. She goes in the pads now, but she still misses sometimes by a few inches from the pads.  Here are some important key points I learned from this whole process: Always praise when she eliminates on the right place; Be thorough in cleaning accidents, to make sure no trace is left and to make sure that they don't eliminate on that spot again; Consistency is the key; and lastly, Potty training never ends.