Dog training

[margimello]

So I think Carl is slightly retarded. I still can't get him to go pee outside consistently. I think I may have scared him into thinking that peeing and pooping is bad. I did, however, teach him to sit. How is it that my dog can sit but not pee and poo? That makes me sad.

Comments

[margimello]

He's 4 months old.

For me, the weirdest part is that he only pees like 2-3 times per day and poops only once a day. It's really hard to do operant conditioning if he never performs the response. I wonder if he's "special".

[max666]

My friend put a bunch of bells on a string on the door and trained the dog to ring the bells when it needs to go outside. Sounds pretty brilliant to me. I can ask him more about his methods but it sounded like he had to ring the bell with the dogs paw as he took it out to do its business the first billion times until it caught on. And then there was something else he had to do to prevent it from ringing the bell just to go outside and play.

Finally he said its super important to not punish the dog for anything unless you catch it in the act, because it will not understand what the crime was if you punish it later...

[margimello]

Yeah. It's really hard to not punish him when he poops in ur parents' room under their clothes...or when he hides under your bed to pee. But he's so darn cute and friendly.

[frstjade]

he has to stay in his crate and come out every hour to try and use the bathroom. if he doesn't, he goes back in his crate - no play time unless he goes potty! how often are you feeding him, and i take it he has free access to water?

[margimello]

I've been doing the crate thing but he's so pitiful when I have to leave the room the crate is in. He cries like a banshee. Am I supposed to carry him around from room to room?

Anyhoot, he got better today. This morning, he peed and pooped and he got treats. This afternoon, he peed again on command! YAY! I think we're finally getting somewhere.

[frstjade]

do you have something for him to chew on, like a bully stick or a kong stuffed with something frozen that'll keep him occupied? you have to make the crate a good place to be. and you can't let him out when he cries, because that just teaches him he'll get what he wants if he cries.

even now, sammy gets restless and will scratch at the crate door for a minute or two before he figures out we're not letting him out, and then he just gets bored and settles down to sleep.

[margimello]

I think Carl is too little for the Kong. He doesn't so much as chew on it as licks at it so it's only really good for peanut butter or wet dog food. Though I recently started putting his dog food kibble in the Kong and he finally got the hang of getting it out but he just kinda bats at it or pounces on it until the stuff falls out. He's hilarious to watch.

Who knew dog training was such a science? Such a frustrating science...