Does a Ugodog create Confusion in Potty Training?

This morning, when I came downstairs the first thing I did was visit the puppies.   The room is stinky since the puppies have used the potty trays during the night.  The puppies bark and whine to tell me they are hungry for breakfast.  After filling their bowls with food and fresh water, I take away the dirty Ugodog trays outside to be cleaned.   I grab a few fresh Ugodog trays and put them back in the pen.  The room smells so much better!  As the puppies are finishing up their breakfast, I recruit a few kids to take the puppies outside for a romp in the grass.   The timing is perfect, since the litter will need to go potty soon after eating their breakfast.  I don't want them soiling their Ugodog trays that we just brought in.  It is a beautiful morning and the puppies seem to have a ball running and playing in the grass.   They come inside thoroughly exhausted.  Time for morning naps!   We will repeat this process again at noontime.  Meals, outdoor playtime and naps.   The Ugodogs will stay clean all day while we keep this schedule.

This is a much more relaxed schedule than you would have if you were strictly "Crate Training" a puppy.   With Crate Training a puppy is confined to a small crate and gets taken out every few hours.   But when a puppy is not 'forced' to hold their bladder, and is not tightly caged (the crate door is open to a pen with a Ugodog), we have the ability to wait for 4 hours before taking them out.  If the weather is too cold or too wet, I would not take the puppies outside, but would let them use the Ugodog potty and then open the pen so they can run around the Nursery/ Office Room.  After they have had lots of time to run, I put them back in their pen for naps.

You can continue a very easy schedule like this one, when you take your puppy home.   It will make caring for your puppy almost fool proof.   As long as you keep periodically taking your puppy out to play, he will not see his pen as a prison.  But a place to eat, drink, nap and relax!

But you won't find this advice on most Puppy Training websites or books because most puppies are not kept very clean at their breeders and do not know how to use a potty tray..  Dr Ian Dunbar does describe a good setup in his book, How to Raise a Puppy.   He suggests a potty train lined with real turf.  Turf is far too much trouble....and rather stinky.  But it works better for puppies that were not raised with a Ugodog from birth.   Lucky for us, our puppies already using a Ugodog trays, which is much more practical than turf. 

Here are a few questions people have asked me about Ugodog trays vs Crate Training......

Does a Ugodog create confusion for a puppy when training him to use the outdoors?..

I have never found that using a Ugodog confuses potty training.   I used the Ugodog exclusively with Coco from 2-4 mths.  She spent those first few months in her pen with her crate and Ugodog.   Yes, we took her out of her pen to play with her.   But the weather was so cold and wet, we played inside on a washable floor.  We always took the Ugodog out so it was in the play area with her.   It was always accessible.   When the weather warmed up and  I started taking her outside to potty on a regular schedule.  She just stopped using the Ugodog on her own....even though it was still available for in her pen.   The reason for this is that when you take a puppy outside, they start running around, which stimulates the elimination functions.  Also the multitude of earthy smells also encourages them to go potty.   So if you are taking them out to go potty, they will prefer the outside to their Ugodog.  

Even my puppies that are 6-8 weeks old will do the same thing.   They use the Ugodog when they need to.....but they do NOT have to LEARN to go potty outside.  This is a natural desire for them.   As they get older and they are eliminating larger amounts of liquid and solids, it is to our advantage to take the litter outside on schedule.   When we take them outside, they always go potty within the first several minutes.   Again, running around, and smelling all the earthy smells is natural for them to go potty on the dirt or grass.  

If I had an 8 week puppy that I was raising as my own I would surely continue to keep a Ugodog available until 4-6 months of age.  (longer if I was in the thick of winter at 6 months!)

Here are the PROs of Using a Ugodog tray:

1) It is awesome not to have to take your puppy outside in the middle of the night .

2) It allows you to go places for several hours at a time, and not worry that you have to get home fast to take the puppy outside. 

3) If you get snow or rain, the puppy will NOT want to go outside.  You and your puppy may get soaking wet, and he may still not go potty.  Often the puppy will wait until he is back inside and choose some corner inside to potty.   If your puppy on the other hand has a pen with Ugodog, you will not have any problem. 

4) If you do not have a Ugodog, and you forget to take the puppy outside or don't give him enough time to finish all his business, then the puppy will potty inside as well. 

Please note:  Once you take the Ugodog away, the puppy might forget what it was all about, and it may never use it again.

Important note about Crate Training:  Crate training requires you to lock a puppy in a crate until you take him outside to go potty.   You have to really be diligent to keeping a schedule and spending a lot of time playing with your puppy after he has gone potty.   It is your responsibility to exhaust your puppy so he doesn't mind sleeping in his crate at intervals during the schedule.   But REMEMBER...it is cruel to leave a puppy in his crate too long.   A good rule of thumb is no more than 1 hour per month of age.  And a maximum of 4 hours when he is older.   Do not go away from home and leave your puppy for dog for 8 hours in a crate!   That is cruel..    If you keep your puppy in a large pen with the crate, he can come out, walk around, vary his position and it will be easier.   And eventually an adult dog can be left home  in a safe room while you are away for the day..

 Here is a list comparing the two methods of Outdoor training:

Advantages for Puppy of the UGO Dog while Outdoor Potty Training

The puppy is never confined to his crate with door closed.

The crate door is always open to his pen with Ugodog access.

The puppy can walk about, eat food, drink, and play with toys.
Feed meals on schedule and take puppy outside soon after he eats!

You can have longer gaps between taking the puppy outside to potty
Puppy is safe, since he is not left to wander the house before he is reliably potty trained.
Puppies pen area can be gradually increased  and eventually he can be kept in a small room.
If you keep the regular schedule the Ugodog will mostly stay clean.

But the Ugodog is there....Just in case the puppy did not finish his business when he was outside.

Disadvantages of Crate Training exclusively

Puppy is given water on a schedule. (increased danger of bladder infection or dehydration)

Puppy is confined to a closed crate according to a schedule.

Owner must play with the puppy on regular schedule throughout the day.   (you cannot avoid this)

Owner cannot go away from the house and miss the puppies schedule....or else someone has to come to the house to take the puppy out regularly.

Every Potty training expert will tell you that Potty accidents in the house are major setbacks to potty training.   So isn't the Ugodog also creating problems too?

The Ugodog is very different from a Potty accident.   The Ugodog is a specific place, with grate under foot that the puppy associates with going potty.  The plastic tray keeps the urine and the smells contained to that particular area.   There are no urine odors soaking into your carpet or floors.   (Please remember to always use some kind of washable pad or disposable pad underneath the Ugodog, in case the puppy misses his mark.)   Because all the mess is in one spot, the puppy will prefer that spot to some random place in your house.  The Ugodog has the distinct advantage of being removed completely whenever you are ready to remove it.  And your floors and furniture do not have any urine stains on them.  When your puppy no longer has the tray to go potty, there is no smell or association to temp the puppy to go potty in your home.   However, again, when you remove the Ugodog, it is your responsibility to give the puppy access to the outdoors on a regular schedule.  If your puppy is not fully potty trained and you are not on a strict schedule he may again choose to go potty some place inside.   That would have nothing to do with the Ugodog, but with you not keeping to his schedule.

I have had other customers use the Ugodog with a crate and a pen just like I do.  Most people use it until they feel their puppy is reliably potty trained for the outdoors.  (and can easily hold his bladder....4 or more hours).   Some will keep their Ugodog accessible to the puppy  through the Winter and discard it in the Spring.   Everyone tells me it is a great convenience.  I have never had anyone tell me it was a problem for potty training.   I personally would never raise a puppy without a Ugodog.  It is the only way I know to eliminate potty accidents completely.  (this may be a huge money saver....carpets are expensive!)   In my experience the Ugodog tray takes away all potty training frustrations for owner and puppy.   I am always interested to hear about your experience with the Ugodog as well!