This is a specific conversation about Puppy training — the right tools from the start — ask about yours and get one honest answer for your exact situation.
inparticular.ai
Switching from puppy pads to outdoor toilet training halfway through is one of the trickier situations — your Poodle has already learned that going indoors is acceptable, so you're not starting from zero, you're actively rewriting a habit. That's doable at 13 weeks, but you need to be consistent and give them a clear new signal for where to go. The first few months really do set the patterns for life, and the right tools now will make this switch much less frustrating for both of you. Can you tell me a bit more — is your Poodle a toy, miniature, or standard? And when you take them outside, are they going at all, or are they holding it and then coming back in and using the floor?
She's a miniature Poodle. She does go outside sometimes but it feels random — she'll go out, do nothing, come back in and then wee on the floor five minutes later. We stopped putting pads down three days ago.
inparticular.ai
That's a really classic pattern when pads are removed — she still associates indoors with the right place to go, so outside feels like just a walk rather than a toilet trip. The missing piece is usually a scent marker. Dogs are strongly triggered to toilet by the smell of where they've gone before, and right now the outdoor grass has no cue for her. What I'd recommend is a toilet training attractant spray — you spray it on a specific spot in the garden, and it signals to her nose that this is the toilet area. It dramatically shortens the time it takes for outdoor toileting to click. Have you tried anything like that, or has it just been taking her out and waiting?
No, we've just been taking her out and waiting. Sometimes we stand there for ten minutes and nothing happens.
inparticular.ai
That ten-minute wait with no result is exhausting, and it's not your fault — she genuinely doesn't have a scent cue telling her that spot means anything yet. Here's what I'd recommend: Pee Here Training Spray by Pets & Leisure. It's widely available on Amazon UK and it does exactly what you need — you spray it on one specific patch of grass, take her to that exact spot every time, and let the scent do the work of telling her brain this is the toilet. Miniature Poodles are bright dogs and they respond well once the cue is clear. Combine it with going out first thing in the morning, after every meal, and after naps — those are the windows when she's most likely to need to go — and you'll start getting consistent outdoor results within a week. Reward the moment she goes outside with a calm, warm 'good girl' and a tiny treat. Don't make it a big party or she'll get distracted mid-wee.
That makes sense. Should I put the spray where she used to wee on the puppy pads inside, or only outside?
inparticular.ai
Only outside — never inside. The whole point is to build one clear association: that one outdoor spot is where toileting happens. If you spray it indoors you'll just confuse her. If she has an accident indoors, clean it thoroughly with an enzymatic cleaner so the scent trace is gone completely — that's important because if she can still smell it, she'll return to that spot. An enzymatic cleaner like Simple Solution is worth having alongside the attractant spray. Between the attractant outside and removing all scent cues inside, you're giving her a clear answer to the question her nose is asking.
Brilliant, thank you. I'll grab both of those.
inparticular.ai
You're in good shape — she's young, she's clever, and three days in isn't long at all. Give it a week of consistency with the spray and the regular outdoor windows, and this should turn around noticeably. The main thing is just patience in that moment outside: go to the same spot, let her sniff, wait quietly. Once she goes, make it worth her while. You've got this.
