Overly potty trained... advice?

Hello. I have a 5 month old Westie puppy. I used scented puppy pads to potty train him. First I instructed him to go on them inside then slowly brought them by the door and then outside. It has worked great and he understands that he is supposed to use the potty pad, but now we are running into a problem. He doesn't understand that he can go ANYWHERE outside, not just on the puppy pad. I feel aweful because if we are out for the day he just holds it until I bring him to a puppy pad. Any advice?

Thanks!

This is a common problem when using indoor training. Dogs can believe it is ok to eliminate indoors (I never indoor paper train) for this reason.

Even if they are taken into the garden, they can become strata specific, eg if they normally eliminate on gravel, and there is none around they will save it.

However, it is perfectly normal for puppies to refrain from eliminating outside, it is a survival mechanism, in order not to advertise their vulnerability to potential predators.

I would tackle this by taking a puppy pad WITH you, gradually cutting down the size both at home and outdoors, until you fade it completely.

It is VITAL that dogs are taught to elminate on command on any surface to avoid potential problems in the future.

Cut the size of the pad..until there is virtually nothing there - over a period of weeks though, if you do it over night it won't work.

Then again, it's an idea and it may not work - but worth a try. This is why pads aren't very good IMO.

I`d get another dog in. Dogs copy each other - and I have yet to see a male who could resist getting into a pi**ing contest.

Agreed - even my bitch competes with the males.

Yep even the human variety.
All I can suggest is move the pads gradually to the door then to the outside.
Good Luck