housetraining

Question
QUESTION: We have a 10 week old retriever/collie female puppy.  We live in a highrise so I started to use puppy pads on the patio and near her crate to start housetraining her.  That worked most of the time, she's had occasional accidents, but we're getting better at predicting when she's most likely to go.  During the day we take her out as much as possible (when she wakes up after a nap, after meal time) but now she's doesn't want to go outside at all.  We have to drag, bribe her to go outside.  Every time she goes outside we praise and treat her, but she still just wants to go back in.  I think I can understand, we live in the city and it's very noisy outside with lots of distractions, but since she's hasn't had her 2nd booster, we can't really explore the neighbourhood very much.  Any suggestions to get her to be enthusiastic to go outside?

ANSWER: It sounds like she may be going through a bit of a fear period, which is common at her age.  Try to lure her with a bit of special food, such as roast beef, so that she can get past the scary area, but still associate it with a good thing:-)  
Also, very important to get her to puppy class quickly.  She needs to see other dogs and pups, and play with them, or she may never be ok doing that - so ask a local trainer about class now before her optimal socialization period has passed (8-12 weeks).  It's a risk, sure, but the flip side of that risk is a dog that is never ok with novel situations, other dogs and strange people.  Of course, that doesn't mean you have to frequent areas where lots of dogs eliminate - for example, I bleach my floors every day after class.  So, talk to your local positive trainers about when they are willing to take your puppy in to class.

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------


Juno   QUESTION: Thanks for that.  I've convinced my hubby she needs puppy kindergarten classes.  I have checked out classes in my city and they request that puppies have their 2nd series of shots (including the bortadella one) so I will have to wait til May 14th when she is scheduled for a booster.  Should I take her to a quiet park or sit with her on the steps of my apartment?

Answer
Definitely do not wait to socialize her.  Stay away from areas where a lot of dogs urinate or defecate, but sitting on the steps, even downtown at the post office or at the mall is fine for socializing her to people.  What she needs is socialization with dogs, too.  Sometimes you can find get togethers on Meetup.com or on craigslist.  Or, call other trainers who might be more progressive.