puppy advice please

[telestar_1]

HI all great forum

ok here goes......

we are in love !!!
we just bought a cavalier king chargles spaniel he is almost 5 1/2 months old

we have him home 2 weeks and no matter what i do he will pea on the wee-wee pads but never and i mean never go poopy on the pad

so from what i have read it looks like most say crate training is for me
here are my concerns any info for a newbie like me would be great

1) the dog is very very very sensitive will he think that now he has been on the loose for 2 weeks that the crate is a punishment and will he be depressed?? :(

2)is he too old to start this kind of training???

3) is there a guide to go by for step by step instructions for this training method

[chell78]

I have had no experience with crate training, but i suggest you find out (if you can) what sort of training was already done with your pup before you got him, it might help you understand why he wont go poos on mat, its never to old to train them, all you need is lots of praise, rewards and PATIENCE, always reward him for doing correct thing with food and praise immediately. Never punish him for doing deed where he not suppose to especially if you havent seen him do it ( they forget within 2-3 seconds of doing something they have done it) If you catch him starting to go where he not suppose to quickly pick him up and take him to where he is suppose to go. and wait and wait as soon as he has gone praise praise and praise. He will get the jiff sooner or later you just need to keep it up for a while. The reason i say never punish them for pooing or weeing in front of you where not aloud is because they will think you are punishing them for doing it in front of you and will always hold on till you not around and go off and hide to do it. Its very easy to accidentely train your dog the wrong way to do something. GOOD LUCK :)

[Renee750il]

Put some of his poop on the pad and show it to him. When you show it to him, pet him so he'll get the idea it's a good thing.

Also, try scolding the poop that's in the wrong place - not the pup - the poop! I really, really wish I could remember whose idea this was because it's such a great one, and I don't want to take credit for someone else's genius idea.

Also, if you're going to want him to go outside eventually you need to start training for that now. If he learns to use the pads, then you try to switch him to the outdoors he'll just get confused.

[telestar_1]

thanks for advice this week he has gone on pad 2x it seems like he knows its wrong to go on floor and right on pad but not ready to commit yet