So before I got my Mochi I did my research. I got books…consulted friends…did as much as I could do before Mochi got home. Just like any other mother would do…right?
Well…I thought I got him down the first week or so. He learned not to pee or poop in the house, that is only when I was there. Leave him alone and he is an escape artist! 4 baby gates and a crate with 2 locks recently left me with poops in the hallway along with poo paw prints covering the laminate floor. How he can scale a 5 foot barrier and not want to go up and down steep stairs baffles me. And it is just the poop from what I can tell…he understands not to pee in the house but poop…well, I guess it is OK in his mind.
With wine in hand and TV off I focused my attention on researching house training. I mean…it shouldn’t be too hard as long as there is redundancy and positive reinforcement, right? But the information about how to house train your dog is as big as the WWW. Many compared it to potty training a baby…so I Googled that and let me tell you…there are far more opinions on dog house training than there are on baby potty training. Many that are more controversial than I even thought…
Rubbing their nose in it: Why would you even do that? Would you do that to a baby because it pooped? Of course no! So why would you consider doing that to your puppy? If there are good reasons…please enlighten me.
Potty Pad Training: Which many say produces an environment that says, “You can poop in the house. It is OK!” And then when you try to move them out…ughhh, “Where is the Nature’s Miracle.”
Newspaper Training: Much like PPT but not as successful apparently. Teach them to soil on a newspaper and it basically teaches them to soil on the floor. That is unless you clean up after them extremely well and make it so they can’t smell any left of what was there before.
Crate Training: Seems mean…doesn’t it? I mean keep them confined in a crate while you go about your business and forget that they are there. Well, it seems as though they actually benefit from this. Being den animals they are supposed to want to enjoy these small spaces. Not sure about how I feel about crate training yet but this is my current method of making sure there isn’t a smiley puppy at my feet with poo scattered around the house.
Mochi seems happy and that is all that I want for him. I want him to feel loved and live a long life…but we got to get this poop thing down. Mochi if you are reading this…because I know you are an escape artist and if you can get through the obstacles that I put out then you must know how to use a computer…
Stop pooping in the house. It isn’t nice…nor is it sanitary. If you need to poop, not because you are nervous because I will always be back for you, then please hold it. There are plenty of kisses and hugs to be had.
July 30, 2010 at 8:54 am
the poo poo delema … we had the same problem when my parents first brought our juney home. she was so tiny and her poops were actually so small they seemed cute (lol) … but the idea of letting her continue to do it in the house was not something my parents wanted to entertain. so for about a week we watched her. first we pad trained her so she would go in the house on the pad and she did that with no problems. then, we timed her bowel movements and around the time she would have to go, we would take her out for a walk or just to the backyard to play. we played with her or walked with her until she went poo outside. we continued this pattern for a couple weeks and before you knew it, she would only poo outside as that’s where she thought she had to go. we still leave a pad out in the bathroom for her so she goes on the pad if she has to go badly and is home alone, but most of the time she will bark now or let us know she wants to go for a walk and she usually does her business outside.
g’luck. raising a pup is like raising a baby. but they’re just so darn cute!!!
July 30, 2010 at 3:55 pm
I tried the pads but he just seems to think they are a play thing…he shreds them to pieces so I ended up taking them out.
I think I have him on a time schedule now and today I had him crated and had a friend check in on him in the middle of the day. She said he didn’t make a sound and when she took him out he went poop right away so I hope this works out and he keeps on schedule.