Hi

My 18 month bulldog has started going to the toilet on her bedding/mat, this has started since I put down wooden flooring.

How can I stop her from using them as a toilet, no bedding/mat then she will only go to the toilet outside as before but as soon as a soft place appears she will use it to releave her self.

Thanks

Don't allow her the mat until she is properly housetrained.  for some reason she has developed a toileting association iwth this.  I have seen some breeders use towels instead of newspaper to toilet baby pups.  You could just put newspaper in her bed.  You can buy shredded white paper for bedding if you are worried about the newprint staining her, or her getting sore elbows from lying on a hard surface.

OK but she was fully house trained untill I changed the flooring. How do I make sure she will not keep using the bedding or mat in the lounge ?

I suppose only by being vigilant and not allowing access.

The mat is for her to lay on instead of the hard floor,  will have to keep an eye on her whilst  the mat is down. As to her bedding do you think she will keep using as toilet, at the moment she is in just the plastic bed but if I put the bedding back in I think she will just wet her self in the night

It sounds to me that if this has only been going on since you changed the flooring
its the flooring.
Can she walk/balance ok on it ?
If she isnt sure about it then its easier to wee in bed than struggle on a
slippery floor.

Could you put more rugs out for her to walk on to get out?
The other thing is this horrible weather,my bulldogs would rather
burst than go out and get wet.

Yes this has only been since I changed the flooring and no she does not have a problem walking on the floor, I think it might be the mats as she has used them quite a lot and although I have washed them they could they still leave a sent thus make her think this is the place to go to the toilet ?

Washing doesn't allways remove the scent of a dogs urine - try spraying with white or surgical spirit (test an area first ;))  I'd still be concerned about the possible link between the new floor and this behaviour, she seems to be expressing her stress about something in one of the only ways she knows how, and if this outlet is removed, she may resort to something else - can you lay a carpet runner across the floor so there is somewhere with a familiar surface she can walk on?

Well since the first post I have removed the soft bedding from her plastic box which she uses at night time and only had a soft mat in the lounge whilst I have been there and since then no going to the toilet in the house, however I did place a towle in her bed last night to see what would happen and sure enough it was wet in the morning. Having gone 3 nights with no problems and only the 4 night with a towle it seams clear that she has a problem with soft bedding at the moment.

But why ?