Re: house breaking and behavior

In Reply to: house breaking and behavior
Category:   House Breaking
Posted by:  Sandra
Posted on:  December 27, 2002 at 10:48:08

: Hi! We've had our "Winnie" for a week now and she's doing quite well with house breaking. She's only had a few accidents.
: I am just wondering how I can get her to use just one area of our back yard to go to the bathroom. She seems to use the entire back yard for the bathroom.
: Also - she seems to be getting comfortable with us now and as the days go by she gets more hyper and agressive when she plays. She'll bite and pounce at your arms, hands, feet and face. When I tell her "NO!" she barks like mad. Is this normal and what can I do about this?
: Thanks a lot!

Response:

Dear Sandra,

Taking a pup to a specific area of a yard to go potty is one of the best ways to encourage a pup to eliminate outdoors. This means that you not only have to take Winnie (on-lead) to the area but also stay with her to encourage/praise her efforts. Additionally, you need to pick-up her feces daily; dogs can easily "smell" where they've eliminated so they don't need, or want, piles of poop in their "area."

You are correct that Winnie's behavior is an indication of her feeling more at home with your family; this is a good thing because you all see the "other side" of what it means to own a cute little puppy. Just telling her NO! won't work, Sandra; NO! requires a verb to be considered a command.

Our Search Engine is full of information regarding training pups to specific potty areas as well as techniques for dealing with new pups in general; I am providing links to some FAQs to get you started. Good luck and hang in there.

Regards,
Leslie