I took in a dog a couple of months ago from a friend of mine who said the 1 1/2 year old Bichon was paper trained. Well, that was only partially true. It was more hit or miss. Some days she does great & others not so much. Sometimes she will not even go at all and wait until I get home. to take her out However, when I'm home, she will sometimes go on the carpet. I tried removing the pads in hopes that she would learn not to go in the house, at all but again it's hit or miss. Yes, I do have a problem with picking up on clues for when she needs to go outside. Sometimes I think she trying to let me know, I take her out and NOTHING. Anyone out there that can give me input on how to train her and myself better, that would be great! PS: I've used the pet carpet cleaning sprays to attempt to get rid of the smells from previous "accidents" but she will still go in and around the spot.Anyone who has real life experience with retraining a dog that had previously been paper trained, Please help!

Most important. Regulate when your dog gets food and water. It should get all the water it wants but when you give it water it will have to pee shortly thereafter depending on the dog.

At first, after your dog has had its fill of water, take it outside and wait for it to pee. When it does reward it somehow. food, affection, toy whatever. Remember how long it took from when it finished drinking until it peed. That way you wont have to stand outside with it for 30 minutes to an hour next time.

Same goes with food. Dogs that eat once or twice a day will have to poop shortly after eating. Reward when it does it outside. Ignore it when it does it inside, unless you can catch it early enough to stop it and get it outside.

Good luck

Originally Posted by MGM

Dogs should ALWYAS have access to water, that should never be used to curtail urination and to potty train. This is a dog who is just getting adjusted to changes, be consistent on how you want her to go, and it will eventually take. You really need to start noticing the "tells", that will help. Crate training is wonderful, and with the smaller breeds you can litter box train(don't use dog litter, it stinks, use cat litter). Decide on how you want to train, stick with that method, don't confuse the dog even more, and have a good schedule with the dog.

Does your dog have access to water while it sits in its crate?