Hi, everyone. I'm Calvin, the latest foster. Since I hung around a little longer than Chester -- and need a lot more training than he did -- I get a chance to guest star on the blog. That's me above. I'm pretty cute, so if you're looking to adopt a potty trained puppy, let us know. I'll make a great companion.
In case you're wondering what such a young pup would have to say, let me get to the point. I just made it through my first day without having an accident in the house! This is a big deal because I was a pain to potty train, especially compared to this Muggsy my foster mommy keeps blubbering about, apparently.
First of all, Foster Mom tried to follow all the rules. She put me in a small area while she was gone with only a potty pad, a bowl of water, some toys and a place to sleep. She took me out every half hour and left me in this area when she was gone. However, there were a couple of problems with her paint-by-numbers strategy. 1. I hated being in a crate and would cry, cry, cry. 2. I run through my mess rather than avoiding it as this Muggsy did.
But that's the exciting part about dog training. Not every method works for every dog. So sometimes, you have to do some modifying. After her third day of scrubbing poopy footprints off every inch of her bathroom floor, Foster Mom did just that. Her first order of action was to leash me and lead me out the doggie door every time I started to sniff. This is pretty standard, but Dad liked to carry me, and that had to end. Of course, I got rewarded each time I went. When I didn't go, I would get leashed to the couch rather than put in the crate. This reduced the crying. She had to spend some time teaching me independence before really cracking down. This consisted of a few minutes spent in other rooms with doors closed and putting me on a bed near her rather than the couch. Just a few minor changes can really make a difference. Now I can even lie in my crate for a few minutes without panicking. I've even fallen asleep in there!
The other change she made was to break her cardinal rule and give me more freedom. She put me in the living room with all the doors closed, way too much area for most puppies. However, I don't chew things up and I seek comfort in the other dogs. This immediately stopped the panic elimination and allowed me to focus on getting outside in the right time. She still put down potty pads in the spots I commonly relieved myself, but I only needed those for a few days.
Finally, when she was home, I started getting a little more independence. I would get more rewards when I would go out the doggie door without prompting than when she had to take me out herself. It wasn't much independence because she would still follow me everywhere, but if I ran to the doggie door, she would just wait to see what happened. A couple of times, I tried to go right in front of the door, but she would rush over and push me out, just to reiterate her point. Humans get so panicked when you go in the wrong area. I just wasn't sure how far out the door I needed to go. Geez.
Anyway, I finally made it! Potty trained! Of course, my new owner will have to teach me the rules in their place, too. I'm not a mind reader. But I'm off to a great start. And Foster Mom got a good lesson, too, because she remembered that sometimes to be an effective trainer, you have to break the rules a little.
Love, Calvin
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