This weeks mission is to paper train Minnie! She's an occasional house soiler, and we can't walk her outside at the moment because it is 6 degrees out and she turns into a popsicle (and is still recovering from kennel cough so we don't want to prolong that). But this little pup is STUBBORN, even though she enjoys peeing on my floors she doesn't want to do it on the pads... Came home from work at 5:45pm and she'd been holding it since 8:00am, right into the bathroom with the pads "go potty, go potty", nothing, got her some water which she drank, nothing, hung out for an HOUR, nothing, back to the crate for 1/2 hour, back in the bathroom, "go potty" nothing, back in the crate, nothing, 8pm, finally success! Luckily I was there for the blessed event so I made the biggest possible fuss with treats and delighted squeals and hopefully this will sink in that we LOOOOOOVE IT when you go potty on the pads, and then you are free to roam the apartment and assume your position on top of the couch.
aaaannd something else good did come out of all our quality time in the ladies room, we are in the beginning stages of learning to sit! Time well spent I guess... This is a really helpful command, Minnie is a little willfull and it will be good to use SIT for the whole "nothing in life is free" stuff, I will milk this sit for everything I can think of! Her little butt will have to sit for every treat, meal, walk, and this will hopefully keep her from becoming a tiny tyrant ; )
I don't wanna go on the pads!
nope, just going to sit here....
I apologize if this is the grossest video post ever
but after all that I needed to document her success!
post potty freedom! if you would only learn to use
the pads you can hang out on the couch all day every day!
She's learning;)
Update: Next morning... FAILURE...
Put her in the bathroom first thing for 20 minutes. Decided to feed her breakfast, perhaps add a little internal pressure? She was eating while I held her leash, I looked away and smelled pee, arghhh, she does it in a flash, any chance to pee on shiny hardwood floors and she goes for it! I think she needs to stay only in an area with wee-wee pads and no hardwood floors for a few days, have to reconfigure... why Minnie, why?
ok, we'll try this for the day.
Crate sized comfy area with toys/food...
actual bathroom/new doggie bathroom.
...and we'll even mostly close the door to the bathroom
so she feels it's a different room and hopefully won't feel
like its the her area and hold it to avoid messing her bedroom!
as recommended in this episode of Dog Star Daily
http://www.dogstardaily.com/radio/202-–-loo-logistics
I think this will be a long week, she clearly prefers going on the hardwood floors (they say they have surface preferences?). So although it will be a hassle I'm going to try to leave her only in the bathroom area unless she's on the couch with me. It's a hassle but she's had quite a few accidents so far and if it continues it will become a solid habit, hopefully it hasn't already... The toughest part is feeling like you are keeping her in "jail", obviously you want them to be free and able to play and follow you around but confinement it is till we figure this out, house soiling may have been the reason she ended up in the shelter in the first place! Wish us luck!
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