Shredding puppy pads & using litter box?? (long)

Well, I am disappointed not one person has offered any advice on this. 
 
However, I think I may have found a solution.  My boyfriend made the space smaller that we had them in and I'm not sure why that made the difference, but they have not chewed up the puppy pad since he did that yesterday.  They have also both been using the puppy pad without fail (knock on wood).  I'm really happy about this.  However, as soon as we get the back yard cut we are going to start taking them out there to go potty as much as possible.

Hey there - I was waiting for someone to respond to you too, our 8 month old pup is almost housetrained, but I still don't trust him entirely.  Also, when it rains, he won't poop outside, where he usually poops.  He won't poop on his pads, only pee.  Hubby wants to look into litter box, but I don't know how to train him to do that, and my assumption of the pup making a mess with the "litter" proved to be true after reading your post.  My pup used to shred the puppy pads until I started to spray the edges with bitter apple. I had to use the pads that stick to the floor and now, I can put the pads down witout the sticky strips and bitter apple.  But I made sure he saw me spray the bitter apple. These pups are smart. 
Please don't get too discouraged though, your pups are soo young, they are babies.  I think that everything you are doing is good so far, just be patient and persistent.  I think making their space smaller did help.  Alot of this will be trial and error, and eventually you'll find what works best for you.
Now if I can only figure out the litter box thing for poops.....Good luck!

Have you tried placing some of the pup's poop in the litter box for him/her and showing it to them?  Also when they poop elsewhere pick them up and take them to the litter box immediately and say "This is where we potty" and praise them when they use it.  I'm sure you know that since you've been working with him/her for months now.
 
Making the area smaller did help some for our pups, but they did shred the pad the next day.  Now we have tried using bricks on each corner to hold the pad down and they don't shred it, but it gets bunched up and at first Callie didn't want to poop on it...I guess she found something weird about the bricks.  She uses it now.
 
We were concerned that using the pads with the sticky stuff on the back would leave sticky stuff on the floor.  Did you not have a problem with that?  I was wondering if the bitter apple would work for that, but I was concerned that they may stop wanting to use the pads to potty at all because of the smell.  I guess you didn't have that problem?  Well, I'm going to try that.  I'm almost out of puppy pads so next time I'll get the sticky pads and I'll get some of that bitter apple stuff and see if that finally solves the whole problem.
 
My babies are so funny.  I know one thing that worked (if only we could do this all the time)....I took them outside and they ran around the back yard so much that they had to go potty.  My pup, Sassy, would hardly stop running to go, but she did do both outside.  She played so hard.
 
I need to get some pics of them up on here.  I'll work on that.

Hi Missa -
As for the sticky stuff - it really doesn't leave any residue, and when it does, it comes off very easily with a fingernail.  We have granite flooring in the kitchen.  When I put them in the bathroom, I didn't have any problems with the sticky stuff at all.  It's just strong enough to hold - kinda like the sticky on a maxi pad! 

 I only sprayed the edges of the pad since that's where he would start nipping, he'd grab a corner and then just go nuts.  I didn't spray the bitter apple on the cotton part of the pad though.  I use the bitter apple on everything, so invest in the large bottle - trust me, you'll use it as they get older and start teething.

I haven't tried the litterbox thing yet, I don't want to confuse him since he's been doing this for 4 months now.  We do take lots of walks and he poops and pees during our walks, but I've noticed that after vigorous playing or running, it definately helps them go poop - it's like they need to shake things up a little to get it moving!

Yes we want to see pictures!!!
Chris

I think a pic of them should be set as my profile pic now....we shall see

Hi Missa,

What a couple of little darlings.  Two toy poodle puppies is alot to handle at once, you have alot of work ahead of you, but I suspect you already know that.  On the positive side, these two darlings will be wonderful playmates for a very long time.  And, as you can see by my avitar, I am a toy poodle owner also.  I love them. 

As for the shredding of the puppy pads, they are just being puppies having a blast.  They probably think it's just a grand time. 

First of all, they are too young to expect them to be reliable on house training.  You can't really expect a dog, especially a toy sized dog, to start to house train until about 14 weeks of age.  So, you may be expecting a bit much this early on. 

Secondly, it sounds to me as if they are very rambunctious and need lots more play time than they are getting.  Their days should have a rhythym to them that includes play time.  An average day may be:  Get up, go out to pee and poop, come in and play with mom and dad and toys and each other, drop in their tracks tired.  Nap.  Get up, go out to pee and poop, come in and play with mom and day and toys and each other, drop in their tracks tired.  See what I'm getting at?  Make sure they have a collection of interesting toys, keep them in a box in the closet, and each play time rotate two different ones into their play area, so they always have something "new."  You will get to a point in these cycles where you will know when they have to pee/poop--you will be the one that is trained and as time goes by then they will be trained along with you.

I can't really address the litter box issue, as my youngest poodle, who I tried it on, was scared to death of those tube-shaped pellets.  When she'd get in the box and they scatter about she was outta there.  So, I outdoor trained her first and then trained her to use tinkle pads. 

For good advice on litter training toy poodles, there's a member here, bunni.com, a toy poodle breeder.  On her website she has great advice on litter training a young poodle.  Search for her by name, click on her profile and go to her website to get some advice. She seems to be able to get her pups litter trained at a very young age, which I think is when you have to get it done for it to work.

Sorry I couldn't give you more concrete advice.  All I can say is don't get frustrated this early on.  They are very young dogs and it is going to take lots of time and patience to house train them.  Remember, they are small dogs, and need only a small area, do not give them any freedom in the house, they will just use it as a toilet at this point and then you'll really have problems. 

Thanks for the advice.

My babies are doing better I think.  I'm amazed myself, but they actually do not mess in their crates overnight and they don't even wake us up now until 6:30 or 6:45 in the morning.  We don't even have to get up in the middle of the night.  Callie is almost 13 weeks and Sassy is almost 12 weeks now.  Callie is the main culprit for chewing up the puppy pad....she did it this morning.  However, I bought some of the pads with the sticky bottoms last night and put one of those down this morning after Callie shredded the regular one this morning and I sprayed bitter stuff all the way around the edges AND I have put bricks on each of the corners.  If that does not keep them from destroying the puppy pad...NOTHING will.
 
I do take them outside and let them run like the wind.  I love to watch them get out there and just run run run...and it usually leads to them going potty out there too.  Sassy can't wait to get down and run when I take them out...she is usually about to jump out of my arms to get to the ground.  It is so funny to watch her.  She will run so fast that she stumbles and eats grass, but it doesn't stop her...she gets right back up and runs some more.  I love them so much.  They are my babies and no matter how frustrating it can be at times when they do things like shred the pads...I wouldn't give them up for anything!

Ok....well...remember how I said if my using the sticky pads, spraying bitter all around the edges and putting bricks on the corners doesn't stop them from chewing up the pad then nothing will....well....it didn't stop them!  They still destroyed it yesterday.
 
So...I went back to using the plastic frame to lock the pad into place and this time I sprayed the entire pad down with the bitter spray and let it dry before I put them in there with it.  They are still using the potty on it fine...so I guess the smell does not cause a problem at this point.  I guess it may have if I did that early on in their training, but they know by now that they are supposed to go potty there and when the pad is in one peice they usually do.  Sassy will still pee on the floor even though the pad is right there for some reason, but she usually goes on the pad.  Callie uses the pad all the time unless she has already destroyed it and we have not gotten to it to clean up and put a new pad down.
 
I will have to wait until I get home today to see if I have prevailed over the puppy pad war and stopped them from chewing on the pad.
 
Let me add....Callie is so funny...when I put her in her crate at night she usually is not ready to go to sleep for some reason (even though we play with them on the bed for a while before putting them in their crates).  She acts so pittiful that it breaks my heart and I can't even stand to look at her.  She whines and whimpers and throws a tantrum, but I just tell her "Night, Night" until she stops.  I have not given in, but it has been hard to watch her smoosh her face up against the crate door and look at me with those sad eyes...she even starts licking the metal bars on the door and whines.  She never used to do that, but she has been doing it for about a week now every night....and we don't put them to bed until around 10:30 or 11:00 at night.
 
Hopefully I can break her of that if I just don't give in.