I wake up around 6:30am and he gets fed. I then take Dixie for a walk and Bacon stays in his ex-pen. When I get home, Dixie gets breakfast and they both get a treat. I try to take him outside for a bit, as long as its not too cold. Including commute, I'm usually gone from the house from 8am to 6pm-ish. I know, I know, that's a really long day for the dogs. But lets not talk about the tremendous guilt I feel over leaving them 'alone'. And by 'alone', I mean with each other. But that's a whole other post.
When I'm out of the house, Bacon stays in an ex-pen with a bed and his pee pad. The ex-pen is in the hallway and is located around the pee pad. I've got a good spot for the pad in the hallway and don't want to be moving it around while he's training. When I'm home, he's free in the house and spends the majority of his time either snoozing on his blankets in the bedroom or puttering around the living room. When I'm home, I spend the majority of my time in the living room. When it looks like Bacon is going to go potty, I try to (very calmly) take him to the pee pad as quickly as possible. There's a problem here in that he is one fast little bugger! If he doesn't want to be caught, he won't be. The good thing is that he usually just runs on circles, so its easy to predict where he's going. If I have to chase him, I still take right to the pad, even if he is clearly done doing his thing. He then scampers off and goes back to his blankets. And I....sigh/scream/tear my hair out. He's never investigated the pad on his own and I have yet to get him to the pad to actually pee.
I'm going to try belly bands. I've heard they can be very effective and a few other people with mill dogs have recommended them for house training. From what I understand, I leave them on him for a set amount of time then take him to the pad to pee. He does not wear it when I'm not home or when he is outside.
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