Potty Training Tiny Adult Dog

[Annlyna]

I just adopted a 6lbs short coated dog who is a approximately 5 years old. He seems to be partially potty trained but is having a lot of accidents inside. Because of his size and our weather, I don't think it is an option to train him to go outside at this time but pads don't seem to interest him so I am looking for ideas on how to properly do this. Here are a couple of possibly important facts.

-If it is mild out, he will pee as a soon as I take him out in the morning but if it is windy and close to or below freezing, he has no interest in moving once outside
-He has had one stool outside in the week that I have had him, other than he goes inside and most recently, has began to poop close to me, usually when I am working at my desk (he is always by my feet anyway so I don't always catch him doing it)
-He peed on my foot yesterday while I was sitting on the couch
-When I do catch him, I clap my hands and say no and then bring him outside without any success
-I have pee pads down and have put his stool on it, he hasn't even looked at the pad except for when I bring him to it
-he is extremely under socialized and fearful and I do not want to use any strong corrections
-He is ok in his cage, not great but we are working on it
-I praise him to no end when he does what he's supposed to outside

Any ideas on how to move forward with this little guy? Would a big cage with a bed on one side and a pee pad down be an option?

Any help is greatly appreciated!

[Nighthawk61]

A large cage with a bed , with food and water dish, and a pee pad would be perfect for training him to use the pee pad outside of the cage. I would consider leaving him in the cage while you're at work until he shows he's understanding where to go and do his business. When you're home, you could leave him out to play with you, im, but if it were me, during the early stages i would crate train him whenever i wasn't there and when (not if) he pees or poohs on the floor , or your foot lol , i would gently put him back in the crate while saying "no, no , no " for the rest of the night. It might help also to have a spray bottle with a light spray on it, and when he does make a mistake, while you're saying "no" give him a spray of water in the face so he'll be able to better understand that peeing etc outside of pee pad is associated with a negative experience.  Don't worry, he'll still know that you love him.


Good luck and thanks for adopting an older dog.