Eeek
Posted By: Quitefrankly on 2008-06-19
In Reply to: Puppy pads. sm - Anon
As a person who worked with a trainer for a long time, please don't start using pads unless you are sure you can wean the dog from them when its older. They always create havoc in older dogs who then want only to potty on the pads and never go outside. Its a disaster. Are you taking her outside and setting her in the grass and giving her time? Are you giving her a ton of praise in a high pitched exciting voice? You have to make it into a game when they are that small and make them rewarded when they do potty outside so they want to all the time. It takes a lot of patience... like potty training children. If you can't watch her, then my advice is feed her, kennel her while you are busy so there are no accidents and then take her outside. DON'T SCOLD HER WHEN SHE POTTIES INSIDE. She doesn't know why you are scolding her and it will scare her. Dogs have a limited recognition to actions and punishment. For example, if someone has a dog who keeps getting in the trash and they scold them after the fact and not exactly at the very instant, the dog isn't going to understand why you are mad. The same is true for people who take a dog over to where its had an accident and rub its face in it and stuff... you can't put human emotions and understanding like that onto a dog. That dog has no idea what is going on. Make sure you only reward the positive and make sure its something really good as a reward. Also, make sure that the dog wins the "game" all the time. That's really important.. you can't set them up to fail. And remember, attention for negative things (i.e., "don't jump on me," "don't bark") etc. is all attention whether good or bad. Dogs will do what they know gets them the most attention, good or bad.
I hope that she learns soon. She's still pretty little, so just take her out a lot and try to make it a fun game she's playing and be excited... I hope that helps.
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