house breaking

Valenas has given you very good advice. I can only add to take the pup to the same spot every time so he know that is what he is out there for. I refuse to play with one I am housebreaking when we go out to 'potty'. I take him out to play shortly after we get done with our potty time. I also used a leash for potty time so they don't wander too far from the 'spot'. But no leash for when we went out to play. I have house broken several that I got because they wouldn't stop going in the house.

"I take him outside three times a day..." There is your problem, or at least a leading factor. A puppy should be taken outside every time he: 1) Wakes up 2) Eats and/or drinks. 3) After a lot of "play." Your dog has yet to realize that outside is the only place that he should be using the bathroom. You need to take the dog outside to use the restroom before he even has the chance to use it in the house. Three times a day is simply not enough. Think about yourself. When you eat, you have to go to the bathroom soon after, sometimes more than once. When you wake up in the morning, the bathroom is one of the first places that you go. When you wake up from a nap, usually you go to the bathroom soon after waking. Even after exercise, you may feel the urge to go. If you take your puppy outside and he has recently eaten, but behaves like he does not need to potty, he actually does. Play with him a bit and get him to run around, as that sometimes speeds up the process. Do continue praising him for going outside, and scolding him for going inside. Use the terms "Go potty!" or something similar while he is outside, and then praise him after he goes. That way, he knows what you want him to do, and knows that he has done what was asked of him after he has finished. If you do this, he will start associating the outdoors positively, AND as the right place to potty, and will soon learn that doing so indoors is an undesired behavior.

How old is he? Puppies need to be taken out much more often than three times a day. When I was potty-training my dog, I put a clock on to ring every 30 minutes and took him out then, as well as every time he ate, drank or woke up from a nap. It was a lot of work but he never had any accidents under my watch and he was totally housetrained and reliable when he was four months old. The key is to never ever let the pup out of your sight. Do not give him the option to go inside. The more often he does it, the more ingrained behaviour it will become and the longer it will take to train him out of it. As it is he simply doesn't know that inside is not allowed. When you are watching him, leash him to you so he can't slip away from you. When you cannot watch him, put him in a crate. When he does go outside, food-reward him for it with something extra he really likes. Just make going outside to be like the best thing in the world for him, and play a little with him outside after he's 'done' so that he learns that once he's done his business he gets to have some fun outdoors. If you happen to catch him in the act indoors, clap your hands to startle him, tuck his tail and carry him outside to finish. If you find it after the fact, just clean it up with an enzymatic cleaner without punishing him in any way as he can not connect what he did to the punishment. All he'll know is that you're upset but not over what. If anything you should be blaming yourself for not supervising the pup good enough.

just continue using the pads. what's the big deal? i used those pads for my adult 3 late shihtzus, especially when i wasnt home, i left it out for them to pee on. it is just another indoor pet toilet regardless of age...like a flat sheet of animal diaper.